Muslims were constructed as equals only while their empires could not be dominated

Evidence

Nabil Matar, who has written extensively on the relationship between Britain, Western Europe, and the Islamic Mediterranean, argues that English attitudes toward the Ottomans, whether as ally or enemy, always constructed the Muslim as equal. The Ottoman state was viewed as on par with England if not superior to it and other European states. Orientalism based on a notion of a superior Europe and an inferior Orient had not yet emerged, not least because it made no sense given the grandeur and advances of Muslim empires both in the Near East and South Asia. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 122 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Kumar is not a Critical Race Theorist like myself, but race is central to her argument and analysis. She writes, “My key argument is that notions of race and Muslims as inferior beings could come to the fore in a context where European nations were in a position to actually challenge and eventually dominate once-powerful Muslim empires” (p. 20), evoking the modernity of Islamophobia and its roots in longstanding Crusades-era narratives (which in part inspired the title of my book). Kumar’s book is a foundational interdisciplinary academic text, steeped in her area of research, media studies. It remains the most important text on Islamophobia as a transnational project, leveraged to advance American empire, today. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1826 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Napoleon co-opted Islam to win over Egyptians rather than demonizing it — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 157; Stereotyping of Muslims was constrained by England’s inability to challenge the Ottomans — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 140; Muslim inclusion within empire does not dent racism, so anti-prejudice remedies fail — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 90 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Muslims were viewed as inferior when Muslim states were weak, not when strong #corroborates (0.93)
• Orientalist racial hierarchy of Muslims required European military superiority to arise #corroborates (0.91) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 122
• European superiority over Muslim empires enabled racial notions of Muslim inferiority #expands (0.90) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1826
• Islam could be tolerated only in silent subjugation, never as an equal religion #qualifies (0.78) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 673