wocihac2011_human_development

and Judaism, or the product of a genius man who was inspired by the previous
religions. In doing this, Hourani evokes the views of Edward Pococke, Gorge Sale
and Simon Ockley that Muhammad was not “immediately inspired by God” nor “an
inspired prophet” but he is of “remarkable achievements” in “knowledge and
wisdom of earlier times” apart from “moral reform”. As of the postcolonial scholars,
Hourani suggests that they had more direct experiences with Islam and their
attitude became more confrontational because of “the idea of opposition between
Christianity and Islam by the new religious spirit of Evangelicalism”. Also it became
more analytical and thus, Islam was regarded as “the faith in men’s hearts” by
Maurice, as representative “ecclesiastical faiths” by Immanuel Kant. Islam is
deliberated within the traditional perception of the western scholars who take Islam
as the enemy or threat to Christianity. Islam is said to have been developed by a
genius named Muhammad after being inspired by Christianity and Judaism.
Hourani’s conclusion on the view of Maurice is that “It cannot be said that the
whole content of Islam was taken from the Old and New Testaments: Muhammad
must at least have been inspired by them” (Hourani, 1991: 15-1617 & 21).
Suggested Theory of Cultural Vacuum
Theory of cultural vacuum is inferred from the strong suggestions of
Hourani who tries to be conclusive, by covering vast aspects of the orientalism and
at the same time, he tries to be final in his views on the criticisms on the
orientalists on Islam. His conclusiveness and finality suggest the workability of the
concept being constructed through a long course of time by the orientalists to the
completion of the concept. The workability of the concept as shown by Hourani
(1991: 76-83) on the space of culture, on the mobility of the people who are
portrayed as scarcely existing in the pre-history where the world seemed to be
dominated by ancient established cultures, and on the span of time where the
religion of Islam was said to have sprouted from none other than mere inspiration
and adaptation. The three aspects are indeed an expansion on the three
previously mentioned elements, the prophecy of Muhammad (saw), the adaption
of the religion of Islam and the nothingness or marginality of the culture of the
Arabs. The three aspects are to crystallized here to disprove the workability of the
merely proposed concepts explored by previous orientalists before Hourani.
The workability of the aspect of the space of culture is made possible by
diverting the concept of culture from the factual diversities, fractions, aggression,
counter-aggression, battles coming out from competition and uneasiness of
marginalization, denial and oppression which were characteristic of the ancient
West Asia as indicated in the Bible and the Quran. Conversely, Hourani (1991: 79-
83) seems to focus on theorized cultural development, and his arguments revolve
around the implications of the peculiar terms proposed by Marshall Hodgson of
Oikoumene, citied agrarianate societies, Oxus and Axial Age. On referring to
things related to Islam, he only mentions names, forgetting a deep analysis of
them. His analysis can be said to be focused on material cultural development,
not spiritual or religious cultural development as mentioned in both the Bible and
the Qur’an.
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