Belief in a timeless Muslim essence underwrote the East-West hierarchy of progress

Evidence

Finally, why? What are the purposes of these writings? Here again, at the risk of oversimplifying, I would put them in three main categories: to serve oneself, to serve others, and to serve posterity. To serve oneself covers, of course, the numerous apologia written to justify what one has already done or to facilitate what one hopes to do next. The two purposes are often linked. To serve others refers in particular to the religious works. There is no doubt about the religious sincerity of Ghazali or of Avicenna in writing for the intellectual guidance of their readers. And posterity is the intended audience of those who are concerned about their place in history, an important concern in Sunni Islam where, by the very nature of Sunni beliefs, the sense of history is strongly developed. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1918 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Western view of Islam was fixed by 1350 and persists today; Orientalism’s decline thesis attributes Muslim stagnation to an immutable inner essence; Essentialist views framed Muslim-majority societies as static and the West as dynamic (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Sunni Islam’s beliefs foster a developed historical self-consciousness #complicates (0.74) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1918