By Wael Hallaq

Publisher: Columbia University Press (July 3, 2018)

Since Edward Said’s foundational work, Orientalism has been singled out for critique as the quintessential example of Western intellectuals’ collaboration with oppression. Controversies over the imbrications of knowledge and power and the complicity of Orientalism in the larger project of colonialism have been waged among generations of scholars. But has Orientalism come to stand in for all of the sins of European modernity, at the cost of neglecting the complicity of the rest of the academic disciplines?

In this landmark theoretical investigation, Wael B. Hallaq reevaluates and deepens the critique of Orientalism in order to deploy it for rethinking the foundations of the modern project. Refusing to isolate or scapegoat Orientalism, Restating Orientalism extends the critique to other fields, from law, philosophy, and scientific inquiry to core ideas of academic thought such as sovereignty and the self.

Restating Orientalism offers a bold rethinking of the theory of the author, the concept of sovereignty, and the place of the secular Western self in the modern project, reopening the problem of power and knowledge to an ethical critique and ultimately theorizing an exit from modernity’s predicaments. A remarkably ambitious attempt to overturn the foundations of a wide range of academic disciplines while also drawing on the best they have to offer, Restating Orientalism exposes the depth of academia’s lethal complicity in modern forms of capitalism, colonialism, and hegemonic power.

Source: Amazon

The Sunday Mercury reports Birmingham councilor Mariam Khan alerted Amazon to the offensive nature of the products, which bear the prophet’s name in Arabic script. She took action after being contacted by a number of constituents who were offended that Allah’s name featured on a product for wiping feet. The 26-year-old said that the mats flew in the face of the current Amazon Christmas advert, which promotes racial and religious harmony.

In the commercial, a Christian priest and Muslim Imam order gifts for each other from the popular cybersite. Amazon said, were placed on its site by a third party seller, who simply used Amazon as a platform to sell its products. Councilor Khan has praised Amazon for reacting so swiftly to her concerns. She said: “I think it would be offensive for anyone of any religious faith to have items such as this on their doorstep with their religious scriptures on them to wipe their feet on. “If these items had words from the Bible on them, they would be just as offensive. “I feel it is targeting Islam and flies in the face of what is a very good TV advert for Christmas that includes an Imam and priest. It highlights a multi-faith approach.”

Councilor Khan immediately took to twitter. On Monday she posted: “These mats are extremely offensive to Muslims and out of order. “Please remove these items from your site immediately.” The grassroots politician later typed: “After a lot of confusion, I’ve been told by Amazon that they will remove the items and apologize for offence caused.” Her protest garnered large amounts of support. Hifzha Shaheen, who tweeted: “Disgraceful! After such a heartfelt advert by Amazon, clearly more monitoring needs to be done.” A spokesman for Amazon told the Sunday Mercury: “We can confirm that the products are no longer for sale.”

Source: The Daily Mirror