The perception of Islam in the West and the teaching of history

Abstract

Islamic civilization was a powerful cultural and political force during the Middle Ages. It has greatly influenced the cultural, scientific and political development of Europe and inspired many Western travellers, explorers and academics, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Contemporary Western discourse, however, shows considerable fear and distrust in its relation to Islamic civilization. Important reasons for this lie in the lack of knowledge and biased writing about Islam, and therefore a more balanced discourse on Islam is needed which would be based on knowledge and dialogue between civilizations. The paper examines the presentations of Islamic civilization with regard to Slovene and American textbooks. In the Slovenian history curriculum for 7th grade students, Islamic civilization is only an elective topic. Moreover, faced with a wide choice of interesting elective topics, few students choose themes related to Islamic civilization. In the American context, certain history textbooks have been criticized by the American Textbook Council for their favourable presentation of Islamic civilization. The paper argues that such positions do not contribute to the understanding of and respect for Islamic civilization, because they equate Islam with fundamentalism and make accusations based on stereotypes. It is concluded that such an approach is destructive, as Islam is increasingly identified with extremist fundamentalism by the public, on the basis of stereotypes and a lack of knowledge. Such a presentation of Islam in textbooks could only make the situation between Islam and the West worse in the future.