John Esposito transformed how the West understood Islam

John L Esposito, a salient student of religion and planetary affairs astatine Georgetown University, passed away connected July 15, 2026, owed to complications from bosom surgery.

He was a towering intelligence who published much than 55 books, chiefly with Oxford University Press, which person been translated into dozens of languages. He uniquely shaped the modern survey of Islam and Muslim societies during the precocious 20th and aboriginal 21st century, peculiarly successful the country of Islam-West relations during cardinal moments of friction pursuing the 1979 Iranian gyration and 9/11.

John was calved into a working-class Italian-American household successful Brooklyn, New York, successful 1940. His worldview was shaped by his devout Catholic parent and his father’s committedness to societal justice. He aspired to go a Catholic clergyman and, astatine a young age, joined the strict Capuchin Franciscan Order. John near the seminary earlier ordination and opted for postgraduate schoolhouse instead. He earned a doctorate successful spiritual studies astatine Temple University nether the supervision of Ismail al-Faruqi, the precocious Palestinian-American student of religion.

John’s household and friends questioned his vocation prime due to the fact that they feared for his employability. When helium entered the occupation marketplace successful 1974, determination was lone 1 advertised presumption successful Islamic studies. The survey of religion, peculiarly Islam, was absent successful galore institutions of higher learning, and planetary relations programmes astatine universities ignored the relation of religion successful planetary affairs.

Telling stories was 1 of Professor Esposito’s galore passions. Reflecting connected his career, helium often joked that helium owed his livelihood to 2 celebrated “radical” Muslims, 1 Shia and the different Sunni: Ayatollah Khomeini and Osama bin Laden.

After the 1979 Islamic gyration successful Iran, involvement successful the narration betwixt Islam and authorities skyrocketed successful the West. The aforesaid happened aft 9/11. John’s expertise was abruptly successful precocious demand. He responded by publishing respective groundbreaking books connected the narration betwixt Islam and politics, Islam’s normative ideals, Islam-West relations, and the divers governmental and societal structures of Muslim societies. He was often quoted successful the media, and governments present sought his counsel.

This communicative astir John’s career, however, has a steep downside.

The Western involvement successful Islam and Muslims emerged owed to threats to United States nationalist security. This meant the quality to recognize this taxable successful a free, unbiased and autarkic mode was absent for astir Westerners. The enveloping discourse that shaped the argumentation and nationalist statement connected Islam and Muslims was themes of governmental revolution, wide unit and perceived threats to planetary order.

John’s acquisition efforts were ever an uphill battle. Establishment academics dominated the intellectual, argumentation and media debates. Bernard Lewis wrote astir the alleged “Roots of Muslim Rage” astatine modernity that purportedly explained turmoil successful the Middle East. Around the aforesaid time, Samuel Huntington precocious a fashionable thesis connected the “Clash of Civilizations”. These views had a wide following, successful portion due to the fact that they reinforced pre-existing Western biases astir Islam and Muslims. They were further enhanced by US and Israeli nationalist information narratives astir an alleged Islamic menace successful the aftermath of the Cold War.

John was an aboriginal and courageous student who challenged Orientalist misrepresentations of Islam and Muslims successful an epoch of heavy polarisation. His assistance created country for knowing successful lieu of prejudice, and his intelligence insights allowed a younger procreation of scholars to physique connected and grow upon his pioneering research.

Professor Esposito precocious a caller knowing of religion by criticising the ascendant societal subject theories astir governmental development. He astutely drew attraction to a “secular bias” that informed mainstream intelligence debates successful the West connected the narration betwixt religion and politics. These modernisation theories purported to beryllium universally applicable based connected the presumption that religion was a relic of the past that nary longer mattered successful the modern world. In truth, these claims were ideologically biased, based connected a acceptable of specifically Western experiences.

By contrast, John interpreted the authorities of the Muslim satellite not from a Western normative model but alternatively from the Muslim world’s ain experience. In different words, not from the extracurricular in, but alternatively from the bottommost up, from the position of the masses, galore of whom held onto a spiritual identity.  In doing so, helium precocious a historically grounded and sociologically compelling investigation of spiritual authorities successful the Islamic world. Critiques of the bequest of colonialism, authoritarianism and US overseas argumentation were cardinal to his intelligence work.

Professor Esposito’s enactment connected governmental Islam was pioneering. He wrote astir the societal conditions and corporate aspirations that rendered governmental Islam appealing to divers constituencies crossed the Middle East and the broader Muslim world. While astir mainstream Western scholars and wide intellectuals focused connected the Islamist tendency to instrumentality “Sharia”, Esposito focused connected the halfway aspirations that animated governmental Islam: dignity, justice, self-determination, and absorption to outer domination. These aforesaid aspirations made governmental Islam a resilient and enduring force.

In reflecting connected John Esposito’s legacy, I’m reminded of an reflection by Edmund Burke III. Commenting connected the enactment of the precocious Marshall GS Hodgson, writer of The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History of a World Civilization, Burke noted that Hodgson, similar Esposito, refused to presumption Islam arsenic the “other”. Instead, helium understood the Islamic contented arsenic “a task alongside others that marked quality efforts to bring astir a conscionable and motivation world”.

We are improbable to spot a student successful our beingness again who tin lucifer John Esposito’s motivation and intelligence caliber. His interaction connected our corporate acquisition and knowing of Islam-West relations is unsocial and immeasurable. Those who attraction astir cosmopolitan values rooted successful planetary law, quality rights, democracy, and cross-cultural knowing are profoundly successful his debt.

John Esposito is survived by his woman of 61 years, Jean Esposito, his spouse and superior protagonist successful each his endeavours, and the enduring emotion of John’s life.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.