Observing the Observer The State of Islamic Studies in American Universities By Mumtaz Ahmad, Zahid Bukhari, and Sulayman Nyang, eds. (London: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2012. 258 pages.)

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David H. Warren

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Abstract

This publication, a collection of ten essays incorporating both quantitative and
qualitative studies, has emerged as part of a lengthy research project conducted
by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and the Center for Islam
and Public Policy (CIPP) beginning in 2004 and concluding in 2007. Naturally,
given the state of relations between the United States and those countries perceived
as comprising the “Muslim World,” as well as regular controversies and
scandals relating to the American Muslim minority and those who purport to
observe, study, and teach others about them and their religion, such a study is
particularly welcome. The studies included are aimed at both students and specialists,
not only in the field of “Islamic studies” itself, but also more broadly
with regard to such related academic fields as theology and anthropology. Another
audience is the more general interested reader who might wish to learn
what may (or may not) have changed in that field attacked so successfully in
Edward Said’s great polemic, that its title Orientalism ultimately entered Islamic
studies as a truly condemnatory and pejorative slogan ...

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