Direct contact with Muslims shaped imperial perceptions of Islam.

Evidence

Americans and those Britons serving in India often differed in their perception of Muslims. Few Americans benefited from actual contact with Muslims that many Britons experienced occasionally, if not daily. However, after 1857 Britons in India eyed Muslims more warily as a source for potential rebellion. In both the American and British cases, European imperialism made more known about Islam than ever before although such information was often inflected by administrative anxieties and Christian concerns. — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 118

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to literature on orientalism and how colonial administrative knowledge was shaped by contact vs. distance, e.g. Said’s Orientalism. — connects to: Positive depictions of Islam emerged only where real daily contact occurred.; Mughal religious tolerance tempered some British Islamophobia before 1857 — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear:…, 57; Anglo-American observers explained Muslim expansion as caused by inherent religious fanaticism. — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear:…, 85 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Sustained daily contact tempered hostile European images of Muslims. #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 51
• Personal contact with Muslims predicts more favorable attitudes toward them #corroborates (0.75) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 400
• Western attitudes to Islam have shifted across history rather than forming a constant clash. #expands (0.35)