Positive depictions of Islam emerged only where real daily contact occurred.

Evidence

Muslim rule over the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France) lasted for eight centuries before the Christians finally drove their Muslim rulers out in 1492. During this period, Christians and Jews were tolerated as “people of the book” and were allowed to practice their religion if they paid a fee. This sustained contact mitigated and tempered the more hostile images. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 51 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

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 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Early Christian writings about Islam existed before any real contact with Muslims.; Sustained daily contact tempered hostile European images of Muslims. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 51; Rare positive portrayals of Muslims cannot offset the dominant dehumanizing narrative (+1 more)

Related

• Sustained daily contact tempered hostile European images of Muslims. (similarity 0.92)
• Direct contact with Muslims shaped imperial perceptions of Islam. (similarity 0.90)
• Europeans before 1099 had almost no direct contact with Muslims (similarity 0.81)
• Islam served as Europe’s constitutive outsider against which its civilization defined itself (similarity 0.81)
• Personal contact with Muslims predicts more favorable attitudes toward them (similarity 0.81)
• Muslim visibility in Europe paradoxically increases perceived non-integration (similarity 0.81)
• European hostility toward Muslims exceeds even hostility toward other immigrants (similarity 0.81)
• Anti-Islamic discourse in Europe was codified in absence of direct contact (similarity 0.80)
• Physical contact with Muslims forced medieval authors toward greater accuracy (similarity 0.80)
• American Islamophobia borrowed British stereotypes because Americans had little contact with Muslims (similarity 0.80)
• Islam symbolized lasting trauma and danger, so its representation tamed it for Europe (similarity 0.80)
• For four centuries Europe knew virtually nothing of Islam as religion. (similarity 0.80)
• Direct exposure during the Crusades did not reduce anti-Muslim mythmaking (similarity 0.80)
• Early Christian writings about Islam existed before any real contact with Muslims. (similarity 0.79)
• Crusader contact reinforced fantasy rather than correcting misconceptions (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Sustained daily contact tempered hostile European images of Muslims. #corroborates (0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 51
• Direct contact with Muslims shaped imperial perceptions of Islam. #corroborates (0.80) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 118
• Rare positive portrayals of Muslims cannot offset the dominant dehumanizing narrative #qualifies (0.60)