John Louis Esposito Tentang Dialog Peradaban Islam-Barat

Abstract

This paper aims to provide explanation about John Louis Esposito’s insights on the relationship between Islam and The West. The relationship is a fluctuated one, some tensions and even open conflict may occur. Some events become the entry point to the relationship, for instance, the crusades that is not only happened physically but also, through this war, the meeting between Islam and The West establishes inter cultural dialogue among them. John Louis Esposito’s views on the relationship between Islam and The West is positioned in view of some Muslim intellectuals and orientalists to emphasize its originality. The intellectual positions do not put it on pros or cons side in the context of the relationship between Islam and The West. Historically, the relationship between Islam and The West actually has a theologically strong bond that there is common ground and similarities between Islam and The West. Islam and The west are inherited with Jewish and Christian traditions. Islam like Christianity and Judaism are religions ‘of the sky’ that are allied in Abrahamic religions. Therefore, according to John L. Esposito, based on historical fact, there was a real strong bond between Islam and the West and it started centuries ago.