The monolith myth underlies all other claims of Islam’s inherent traits.

Evidence

While today only those on the far right would claim that Islam is a false religion, it is often taken for granted that Islam is homogenous. This is in large part because Orientalists, like their medieval counterparts, propagated the myth that Islam is a monolith that can be fully understood through its classical texts. Only working from such an assumption can anyone make claims about a static entity called “Muslim civilization” with a core set of unchanging values, or about the “Muslim mind” (viewed, of course, in the singular, as though all Muslims shared a hive mind). It is only by denying the diversity of Islamic history and practices that one can then argue that Islam has certain inherent, unchanging characteristics that render it antidemocratic, violent, sexist, and so on. The myths discussed in this chapter emerge from this core assumption that Islam is a monolith. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 158

Categorization

• XREF: Grounds Grosfoguel et al.’s critique of U.S. empire in a homogenizing epistemic move. — connects to: Nineteenth-century Orientalism portrayed Islam as a monolithic, fixed, inferior essence. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 194; The monolithic Islamic mind is a projection, not a reality; Perceiving Islam as monolithic and static drives most Islamophobia — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 53 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The monolithic Islamic mind is a projection, not a reality #corroborates (0.85)
• Nineteenth-century Orientalism portrayed Islam as a monolithic, fixed, inferior essence. #corroborates (0.80) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 194
• Perceiving Islam as monolithic and static drives most Islamophobia #expands (0.80) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 53
• A novel can undermine its own polyphonic argument by monolithically portraying Muslims. #exemplifies (0.65)