Sexual Liberality as Othering
The Case of Islam in Late Antiquity and Modernity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v41i2.10Keywords:
Islam, sexuality, orientalism, otheringAbstract
The article deals with the hegemonic and sometimes downright demonizing effects of sexual discourses that accentuate toleration and easygoingness over and against religious Others. The historical examples presented in this context derive from the early Islamic world and the author will show that while the early Muslims (7th-9th century) harnessed this strategy against the alleged puritanical Jews (and to some extent Christians too), a structurally similar strategy has now emerged and has been turned against Muslims in late modern Western diaspora by a variety of so-called Islam critics. Now Muslims are being criticized for being hyper-puritanical/patriarchal and sexually repressive; a topos that stands in stark contrast to the topos of sexual licentiousness promulgated in Orientalist discourses (including the visual arts). Present day Muslims, however, are caught in a double-bind since the charges against their alleged puritanism and bigotry runs parallel with charges against their alleged transgressive and patriarchal sexuality.
References
Ahmed, Leila. 1992. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate. Yale: Yale University Press.
Allen, Chris. 2010. Islamophobia. Farnham: Ashgate.
Ambros, Arne A., and Stephan Procházka. 2006. The Nouns of Koranic Arabic Arranged by Topics. A Companion Volume to the Concise Dictionary of Koranic Arabic. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.
Bauer, Thomas. 2011. Die Kultur der Ambiguität. Eine andere Geschichte des Islams. Berlin: Verlag der Weltreligionen/Insel Verlag.
Boudiba, Abdelwahab. (1975) 2008. Sexuality in Islam. London: Routledge.
Bousquet, G.-H. (1953) 1966. L’éthique sexuelle de l’Islam. Nouvelle ed. rev. et augmentée. Paris: G.-P. Maisonneuve et Larose.
Foucault, Michel. 1976-84. Histoire de la Sexualité. Tome 1, 2, & 3. Paris: Tel Gallimar.
Joseph, Suad, editor. 2003. Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures. Leiden: Brill.
Juynboll, G.H.A. 2007. Encyclopedia of Canonical Hadith. Leiden: Brill.
Lewis, Bernard. 1995. Cultures in Conflict: Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Age of Discovery. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Maghen, Ze’ev. 2006. After Hardship Cometh Ease: The Jews as Backdrop for Muslim Moderation. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Manji, Irshad. 2003. The Trouble with Islam: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Massad, Joseph. 2002. “Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World.” Public Culture 14:361–85.
Naghibi, Nima. “Women’s Studies/Gender Studies.” Tn Encylopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures. Volume I. Methodologies, Paradigms and Sources, edited by Suad Joseph. Leiden: Brill.
Prideux, Humphrey. 1697. The True Nature of Imposture Fully Displayed in the Life of Mahomet. London: William Rogers.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. 2005. The Crusades: A History. Yale: Yale University Press.
Said, Edward. 1978. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.
Stewart, Devin J. 2004. “Sex and Sexuality.” In Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an. Vol. 4., edited by Jane D. McAuliffe, 580–85.. Leiden: Brill.
Sultan, Wafa. 2009. A God Who Hates: The Courageous Woman Who Inflamed the Muslim World Speaks Out Against the Evils of Islam. New York: Saint Martin’s Press.
Wensinck, A.J. 1960. Handbook of Early Muhammadan Tradition. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Zebiri, Kate. 2004. “Polemic and Polemical Language.” In Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an. Vol. 4, edited by Jane D. McAuliffe, 114–24. Leiden: Brill.
Žižek, Slavoj. 2011. “A vile logic to Anders Breivik’s choice of target.” The Guardian 08.08. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/08/anders-behring-breivik-pim-fortuyn.
