ABSTRACT
Not being based on a thorough understanding of the context and culture of Islam, the study of Islam in the West has frequently led to many faulty interpretations. For example, some writings, especially in the field of orientalism, view Islam only as the religion of prayers and fast, of polygamy and slavery, of the sword and expansion, and of the tent and tribe. Even some people inside the field of orientalism seem to have little knowledge of what Islam is and who Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was.! Orientalism,2 according to Edward Said (1978:3), is an academic approach to the East (particularly to the Arab-world), a style of thought, and a corporate institution directed at 'dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the orient'.
