Islamophilia

Islamophilia is the love of Islam and Islamic culture, especially when espoused by non-Moslems. In women, wearing a veil is a sign of such love.

Proponents
In Britain, Islamophilia is associated with Prince Charles and other members of the Royal family.

In Russia, the concept is known as Islamida whereby it is suggested that Russians should make common cause with Islam against the West.

Within more conservative Islamic countries such as Iran, Islamophilia has been described as a celebration of Islamic beliefs and a rejection of such secularization processes as Westernization and Globalization.

Criticism

Some critics of Islam such as Julie Burchill describe unwavering and uncritical admiration of Islam in modern political discourse.
She complained of "mindless Islamophilia" that was "considerably more dangerous" than Islamophobia owing to what she claimed was a whitewashing of Islamic History and its use as a way of stifling debate.

History
In 15th century Spain, islamophilia competed with the rival trends of assimilation and warfare in dealings between Christians and Muslims. The latter trend won out.

A wave of orientalism followed premiership and his support for the Ottoman Empire of the time Others have also drawn upon purported historical instances of Islamophilia. Karl Binswanger remarked on the "dogmatic Islamophilia" of many orientalists. Jacques Ellul complained in 1983 that "in France it is no longer acceptable to criticize Islam or the Arab countries." As early as 1968, Maxime Rodinson had written, "An historian like Norman Daniel has gone so far as to number among the conceptions permeated with medievalism or imperialism, any criticisms of the Prophet’s moral attitudes and to accuse of like tendencies any exposition of Islam and its characteristics by means of the normal mechanisms of human history. Understanding has given way to apologetics pure and simple."

There was a French craze for Islamic art and design in the 19th century in Paris. Islamophilia is seen by historian David Pryce-Jones as a constant theme in French foreign policy.

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