Starting from this idea that Muslims are a race, Orientalists claimed to be able to explain the “Muslim mind” or the “Arab mind.” Because race-based theories assume that the members of a race are all alike, scholars within this tradition could make sweeping generalizations about how Muslims think and behave. Most of all, the “Muslim mind” was disparaged; as the British poet Rudyard Kipling wrote, “You’ll never plumb the Oriental mind. And even if you do, it won’t be worth the toil.”

XREF: Connects to Edward Said's Orientalism and broader critical race theory about how racial categories enable sweeping dismissive generalizations.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 126