Akram Nadwi – Orientalism and Islamic Studies

			Part of the Islamic sciences
		

			are considering the Islamic literature, literature, Islamic ritual, personal treasure, and Islamic
science, electronic sciences and the sciences and the tech and all those things. Certainly no doubt
when Muslims who study the sciences, there are way of understanding and studying is so in such a way
that everybody can understand, but the same science that have been studied by those who are not
Muslims, and they're called like, no orient are interested because they are interested in Islamic
Studies. So, when it is studied by them, to their, you know, get it not their sciences, to their
basically, when they look at Islamic sciences,
		

			they look at some someone who has who has fresh eyes. So for an orientalist, basically Islamic
sciences kind of benefited in two directions, you know, people always find Orientalism something to
get it, but it really Orientalism is very, very helpful for the believers in two direction. One is
it many of these people, they love knowledge, they love a scholarship, they want to understand to
when they look at your own inner tradition, you know, they they compare with their own tradition.
So, sometimes they will apply it in your eye those aspects which you can't notice.
		

			So, you started started to looking from that angle to then you appreciate your own thing much more
to for example, a woman and a ritualistic looks into the Hebrew or you know systems of the chants of
narration impressed because he considered nothing like that, nothing is in any culture, in any
tradition to the past the things they are so much impressed by the whole thing to the look in mode a
deftly bring out the beauty of that, you can see to 100 line while being narcs for I had none of
this thing really how to look at our own traditions that you know more fresh than me anything we did
not attract to me when I was not at all. When I came to ask for it to become attractive to me, I
		

			started looking at these beautiful colors, there are these things which I did not appreciate really
even Arabic grammar. Sometimes we discuss while discussing with orientalist, I found really many
minutes TCL grammar, which is so amazing, but I did not notice that I have it. But they could notice
that because a lot of the grammar the people were not arrested, they did more work than other people
don't notice the beauty of their own language, but none other people have questions and India's when
they learn Arabic language they can compare that with the old tradition. So they can see how great
are we going with this. So they can appreciate why books are beloved and all both mostly written by
		

			non Arab people, because they are the one who can see appreciate the beauty of the language more
than anybody else, to many of these orientalist among them, who are actually no fear people. First
thing actually, you you should be more positive, you know, read their stuff, and the theory that
what are the specs that would attract them more and more. So, it will be helpful for you, the first
thing you do second is certainly in our tradition. So, there have been many problems, many
weaknesses, not necessarily those are the weakness of izanagi, silver, or weakness of the Hadeeth
actually weakness after people who have been serving those sciences, to some time many other
		

			rentals, they will point out the place of the weakness. And they will ask you the argument you are
Why do they say it it will help you to improve your argument to improve your presentation. Because
you can see there's some some problems there, you can improve that, to these two things where you
can learn from them, the first thing is really a fresh eye, which can point out to the place or the
beauty in your tradition. Second thing is a fresh eye, which also can point to you the weakness of
tradition to these two teeth, where you can get help from the from anybody who actually fresh look
at your tradition. There are another third aspect of this whole problem is that that is many of them
		

			in they they are not certain they are not Muslims, and also somehow they have gotten biased
sometimes some of them maybe hate Islam, maybe they don't don't tell very clearly, but they don't
like Islam. So what will happen is they will find a door that is in your tradition, which they can
use against you. They can make it a problem they can be more negative in presenting them many many
tests are the production of the Prophet has no nine why so married? This can be an issue that
conveys in the contract present such way it looks like the profit actually is not a profit of the
asset. He's more or less more want to enjoy the world. They will point out you know how he can marry
		

			a girl who was seven year old or something like that? How can you know he killed all the Jews from
Ubuntu forever? You know, he's a prophet must he not like that? So sometimes they will with many of
these questions. The Don't be scared the way learn them. And then you know really You are right,
you're right. To find out your argument. Improve your argument. The way not, don't become angry,
don't be upset. To it will make you to make more more effort. And when you do your research more
complete, it will actually make your people more happy. All the videos doing this study their stuff
and they read your thing what you have done, they can see clearly that you You are the
		

			More further, you are the one who worked more hard. It's not it actually makes us to do or to work
harder. But the problem is we want to be lazy, we don't want anybody to commit anything, so we don't
need to defend. And when you really study more, to make your puzzle clear, it actually increases his
knowledge of your own thing, then you can see to I think, really, this Orientalism thing, if we look
at properly, it will help us to be better in our sciences, to improve our learning, and to improve
our techniques of defense and understanding. So there are three aspects that were actually in all of
the three, I think a Muslim, should have benefit, and all of us should be ready to accept the
		

			challenge. And you know, and work hard, and I don't have to lie myself really, I know, in all these
three aspects that really benefit from them, I looked at my sunset in with fresh eyes to identify
exactly what are this allow, so I found a weakness and actually want to improve that I want to be
innovative in where the weakness has come. And the third thing also, I found that they actually
create a problem, you know, they want their head something to I want to present them in my history
or see that the process was done. And have you thought about the Quran in such a way that you know,
people can see very clearly they are the one who passed. And you know, I don't have that decree, yet
		

			there is activity not there. But that makes me to study more and to learn more