Discourse Contestation in Islamic Studies: A Critical Analysis of Stefan Reichmuth's Orientalist Approach and Muslim Intellectual Responses

Islamic studies conducted by orientalists often face criticism because they are considered to have an epistemological bias that tends to view Islam from an external and secular perspective. One orientalist thinker who studies the network of scholars and the transmission of Islamic knowledge is Stefan Reichmuth. Reichmuth uses a critical historical method to analyze the development of Islamic knowledge, especially in education and intellectual networks. Although his approach contributes to understanding the dynamics of Islamic knowledge, his analysis has several limitations, especially in accommodating internal perspectives. This study also explores the responses of Muslim intellectuals to Reichmuth's works and how these responses reflect the dynamics of power relations in the production of global knowledge. This study uses qualitative methods and a critical discourse analysis approach to understand how Islam is studied and understood in Western academic spaces and how Muslims respond actively and reflectively. Reichmuth's approach has limitations in accommodating the internal perspective of Islam, so more objective Islamic studies should integrate historical methods and Islamic epistemology and involve more Muslim academics to enrich a more balanced and authentic scientific discourse.