Husna Qayumi

Volume 8 Issue 1 | Jun 2025

DOI: 10.31841/KJSSH-8.1-2025-80

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Abstract

Orientalists claim to have undertaken impartial and objective research on Islam. However, such assertions obscure a deeper entanglement with Western ideological frameworks and power structures. Muslim scholars argue that these works, far from being neutral, are shaped by entrenched preconceptions and culturally specific biases that perpetuate the asymmetrical dynamics of Western dominance over the East. A notable example is the Encyclopedia of the Qur’ān (EQ), celebrated in Western academia as a dispassionate and authoritative study but representative of a broader tradition that reinterprets Islamic knowledge through a Western-centric lens.This paper is an attempt to critically review and analyze the entry of “‘Ā’isha bint Abī Bakr” by Denise A. Spellberg and see if the presumptions and conclusions relied upon by Spellberg are reasonable and supported by reliable sources or otherwise. In this entry, the author discusses controversial issues, such as the accusation of adultery and leading the first civil war between Muslims, in relation to Ā’isha bint Abī Bakr, wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) apparently in an attempt to portray the persona of Ā’isha as a controversial and questionable one. In doing so, the author allegedly relies on Shi’ī view of her without proving it right. This paper argues that the author adheres to traditional Orientalist methodologies to undermine and discredit Ā’isha. By selectively utilising sources that reinforce Orientalist biases, the author undermines the academic integrity necessary for conducting objective and impartial research.