The video titled "Is Islam a Western Religion?" by Let's Talk Religion, a YouTube channel, explores the historical and cultural intersections between Islam and Western civilisation. The host, Filip Holm, who holds a master’s degree in Comparative Religion, delves into the origins of Islam in the Middle East and examines how Islamic thought, science, and philosophy have influenced the development of Western societies. The video challenges the conventional dichotomy between "Islamic" and "Western" identities, highlighting the shared heritage and mutual influences that have shaped both civilisations over centuries.
Holm traces the origins of Islam in the Middle East and explores how Islamic thought, science, and philosophy have significantly influenced the development of Western societies. He emphasises that Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is an Abrahamic religion, and thus shares foundational elements with Western religious traditions. The video delves into the contributions of Islamic scholars during the Islamic Golden Age, noting how their preservation and expansion of ancient Greek, Roman, Persian, and Indian knowledge played a crucial role in the European Renaissance. Holm also discusses the transmission of this knowledge through translation centres like Toledo, Spain, which facilitated cultural exchanges between the Muslim world and Christian Europe. Furthermore, Holm addresses the presence of Muslim communities in Western regions, illustrating that Islam has been an integral part of the Western cultural and historical landscape. He argues that recognising these connections is essential for a nuanced understanding of both Islamic and Western civilisations in his video, and also in his channel on various topics.
Holm begins his argument by addressing the perception of Islam as a Western religion:
“Referring to Islam as a Western religion, both from non Muslims in Europe who seem to very clearly see Islam as something other, something different from the west, right, in a very sort of colonialist and Orientalist way, but also from Muslims themselves who are, who seem to also have this dichotomy where the west represents something also other than Islam…”
Throughout the video, he continues this argument with further evidence and examples, gradually presenting a clearer perspective: Islam was not merely an external influence on the West, but also an internal one and the two are not so easily separated.
“So why do I call Islam a Western religion sometimes?
Well, partly to provoke people honestly, but not to provoke in a malicious sense, but rather in order to challenge people’s assumptions about these categories and how we talk about them, hopefully to lead to more nuanced and informed discussions.
But mostly it is because I firmly and legitimately believe that Islam is a very important part of the story of the so-called “West”…”
And in that regard, in that light of that cultural and historical interconnectedness, the main question becomes:
“If we want to define the “West” or “Western” in a way that makes any kind of logical sense, I see many public intellectuals today who shall remain unnamed, who talk about this thing called “Western culture” or “Western civilisation”,
And this very rarely includes Islam or the Islamic world,
And this makes me wonder what, like, what do they actually mean by this thing, this “West”, this “Western culture”?”
Lecture by Prof. Charles Burnett, Professor of History of Islamic Influences in Europe at the Warburg Institute, University of London, given at The Royal Society in London on the 24th of October 2011.
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