Lewis and Huntington argued Islam itself, not fundamentalism, underlies the West’s problem

Evidence

Lewis sets out his argument as follows: he begins with the historic separation of religion and politics in Christianity and then states that such a separation has not occurred in Muslim societies, which, he argues, have not seen the equivalent of the Enlightenment. He asserts that whereas their own historical conflicts forced Christians and the West to learn to separate religion and politics, “Muslims experienced no such need and evolved no such doctrine.” … Huntington, who popularized Lewis’s “clash of civilizations” thesis, took this one step further and argued that the “underlying problem for the West is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture, and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power.” What follows from this reasoning is that while certain “civilizations” understand the proper role of religion in society, others do not. Therefore, Islamist groups in contemporary society are a natural outgrowth of an anti-secular cultural tendency in “Islamic civilization.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 315

Categorization

• XREF: Quotes Huntington’s explicit claim that ‘It is Islam’ — the whole civilization — is the problem, a core assumption the vault’s anti-imperial critique targets. — connects to: Huntington’s clash thesis named all of Islam, not just fundamentalism, as the West’s problem — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 229; Huntington deemed Islam itself, not fundamentalism, the underlying problem; Lewis and Huntington originated the thesis that Islam never separated religion from politics — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 326 (+4 more)
• QUESTION: The phrase ‘convinced of the superiority of their culture’ inverts the civilizational-superiority accusation onto Muslims — worth tracking how this projection structures the clash thesis.

Broader Connections

• Huntington’s clash thesis named all of Islam, not just fundamentalism, as the West’s problem #corroborates (0.98) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 229
• Huntington deemed Islam itself, not fundamentalism, the underlying problem #corroborates (0.98)
• Lewis located Muslim hostility in Islam rather than Western conduct #corroborates (0.92) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 217
• Lewis and Huntington originated the thesis that Islam never separated religion from politics #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 326
• Lewis argued Islam inherently tends toward fundamentalist violence. #expands (0.85)
• Post-Cold War conflict was framed by Huntington as civilizational cultural clash #expands (0.80) — Sarah Bracke and Luis Manuel Hernández Aguilar, “They Love Death as We Love Life”, 174
• Huntington himself rejected a stark two-bloc Muslim-versus-West framing #qualifies (0.78) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 674