Peering into the Mosque: Enlightenment Views of Islam

This article examines the Enlightenment’s views of Islam as articulated by, among others, Rousseau and Voltaire. The purpose is to provide a different view, not necessarily embracing or criticizing Orientalism, but enlarging the scope of our understanding of the Enlightenment by offering a perspective that accounts for the positive pronouncements proffered by the philosophes toward Islam and Arabic culture. While the discrepancy in the Enlightenment’s discourse about the Other attests to the philosophes’ struggle to come to terms with Islam, the discrepancy also speaks to a major cultural change that deserves our attention.