Washington Irving argued Muslims were unsuited for democratic self-governance

Evidence

Similarly, the American author Washington Irving confirmed to his readers the inability of Muslims to self-govern. In his biography of the Prophet Muhammad published in 1897, Mahomet and His Successors, Irving concludes that adherents to Islam were better suited for theocratic or autocratic rule—in sharp contrast to Protestants’ free and democratic America. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 517

Categorization

• XREF: This is the seed of the modern claim, echoing in post-9/11 and contemporary discourse, that Islam is incompatible with democracy — connects forward to the book’s argument about racialization of Muslims. — connects to: US presidents echoed the colonial claim that Muslims cannot self-govern