Islam as Europe's ‘Other’ in the Long Term: Some Discontinuities

One of the most important aspects of identity – both individual and collective – is the process known as Othering. One of the ways of identifying Europe, then, is through the fact that much of Europe shares its ‘Others’, at least to a degree. There is a partly shared, imagined European heritage of enemies, dangers, different people, alien forces, and threats: prime candidates for this ‘Other’ have been the remaining continents, the colonies, the United States, Communism, and especially Islam. Islam has been a prominent if not dominant ‘Other’ for a very long time, since its rise in the seventh century. It is argued that it has changed radically as an ‘Other’ or type of ‘Other’, and that it is not just an external but an internal ‘Other’. However, longevity (if not continuity) and current pre‐eminence justify the examination of Islam as Europe's ‘Other’ throughout history. A survey of the Islamic European ‘Other’ over the last thirteen centuries or so is followed by two illustrative excursions: the Ottomans as the Islamic ‘Other’, and Islam as an iconic symbol for Asia, which was often Europe's principal ‘Other’ amongst the continents. The article ends with an account of the discontinuities in this process, particularly the difference between Europe as a religious idea in the Middle Ages, and as a civilizational idea since the Renaissance.