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AWEJ for translation & Literary Studies Volume, 1 Number 4, October 2017                                    Pp.68 - 82

References of Sexuality in Relation to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in 17th-19th Century Selected French and English Orientalist Travelogues

Ummi Nadhirah Binti Mohammad Rosli

Department of English Literature
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication,
University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia.

Noritah Omar

Department of English Literature
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication,
University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia

Abstract:

Abstract PDF

This article examines references of sexuality in relation to Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him)[i] within selected French and English 17-19th century Orientalist travelogues. It uses Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism to demonstrate how ‘sexuality’ as an attributed Western discourse about the Prophet (pbuh) developed into exotic ideas embodied in the image of the Arabs and Turks. The analysis explores three main leitmotifs that help shape the idea of the ‘Prophet’s sexuality’, namely the harem, slavery and the notion of the ‘Mohammaden Paradise’, all of which have implicit or direct referencing to the Prophet (pbuh). This article attempts to show how Orientalist travelogues in particular, have contributed to a very negative conception of Muhammad (pbuh) and his marital life—an image that unfortunately persists until today. The discourse carries with it a familiar yet dangerous binary attitude that continuously positions the West and Muslims antithetically. And in the centre of this narrative, the Prophet’s image gets convoluted by the predominance of the Western Orientalist discourse.

Cite as:

Rosli, U. N. M., & Omar, N. (2017). References of Sexuality in Relation to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in 17th-19th Century Selected French and English Orientalist Travelogues. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies, 1(4).

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Ummi Nadhirah Rosli graduated with a degree in French language in University Putra Malaysia
and is currently completing her PhD thesis in English Literature under the same institution
(without pursuing Masters). Her research interests include the study of secularisation, the
construction of discourses and the culture of Islam in the modern world.

Noritah Omar received her Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. She is an
associate professor with the English Department at Universiti Putra Malaysia, where she teaches
Literary Theory, Malaysian Literature in English, and Feminism and Social Change. She
specializes in narrative and critical ethnography, and gender studies. Her research interests
include postcolonial literature and theory, the culture and politics of Islam in modern Malaysia,
the history of Malaysian literary criticism, and the transformation of popular culture in Malaysia.