Over the last century, the image of Muslims in the West went through three major transformations: the lost, almost childlike Bedouins; the uncivilized, filthy-rich sheiks of the 1960s through the early 1980s; and then, the fanatic, bloodthirsty terrorists of the mid-1980s through now.
Stereotyping is not unique to Muslims. It is a natural human instinct when a group of people targets another because of either fear of the unknown or the need to feel superior. Examples are the image of Jews in literature as greedy, rich and unpatriotic; Northern Americans' portrayal of Southerners as less productive and slow; and the lazy, drunken Irish in English jokes.
Sept. 11, 2001, was the beginning of a new chapter in the old relationship between the Judeo-Christian Western tradition and the East, where a substantial number of the population is Muslim. The fact that the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were not only Muslims but also presented themselves as defenders of Islam made the previously unsubstantiated fear of Muslims a sudden reality.
The reaction to the new reality was understandably severe. Ordinary people in some cases attacked -- either physically or by some other means -- those whom they perceived to be Muslims. But the more alarming phenomenon was the change in the focus of the stereotyping from the people to the religion itself.
Today, you do not need to be Internet savvy to find hundreds of Web sites, as well as books and radio and TV programs, questioning the validity of the religion and debating the evil nature of all that is sacred to Muslims.
Throughout the past five years, many so-called experts have used Quranic text to prove that Islam is built on violence and that the only solution is to face this emerging danger head-on by pre-emptive strikes so a specific version of democracy (American) can be enforced on the people of the Middle East to provide security to the rest of humankind.
Throughout the same period, I debated whether I should explain that Islam is not the problem. One in five humans is Muslim. A small fraction of them have grudges against the West and are using Islam to promote their agenda.
I wanted to explain that scripture taken out of context, translated incorrectly or misinterpreted could prove anything. This applies to all religions. But in the end, I decided not to defend Islam.
World War I produced some 37 million casualties; World War II contributed about 62 million victims. The most horrific act of genocide in modern history is the Holocaust. The scandal of pedophilia rocked the Catholic Church.
All these events took place within the past 100 years. Believers of the Christian faith participated in all these events.
Did we ever debate whether Christianity is an evil religion? We did not, and we should not.
Leaders and ordinary people have used religions throughout history to promote political ideologies.
When we concentrate on the religion instead of the root cause of the ideology, we let the fire grow. We play into the hands of extremists. Usually, by the time we identify the real reason for the violence, it is too late.
This is why I refuse to defend Islam. But I welcome the debate on how to fight extremism.
I believe the first step is to identify the real target, the leadership of these movements. But we cannot win through military strikes.
We have to defeat their ideology of hatred through policy changes that reflect an American commitment to peace and justice. We need a policy that presents America as sincerely respecting the people and their religion. If we implement such changes, we will stop new recruits, and Muslims will hunt the extremists.
I am an Egyptian American born in Alexandria. I immigrated to the US in the late eighties, during this time lived in many places in US and Europe. I work as an IT manager and love it. I love to travel, it makes me feel young, and it awakes in me sense of adventure and curiosity. I love knowing people from different cultures; it never fails to amaze me how we all live in our little worlds that never meet. History is my second amazement, it always differ depending on who is winning, that leads me to my third hobby, politics is it history or human nature that is the culprit?
I wish I could say that most people feel the same way you do, but I don't know if that's the case. So many Americans allow their views to be molded and influenced by the media. As a Christian I am appalled by what I see taking place in the name of that religion as well, but realize that many inside and outside this country define it by the words, if not acts of its extremists as well. It seems to be just another part of the larger problem of a lack of critical thinking on the part of Americans (I'm not sure if that is also true overseas). Unfortunately, a big part of me feels that is all intentional as it serves to further divide people to make them easier to manipulate to political (or religious) ends.
Whether it's religion or politics, I have no problem with anyone else's beliefs, as long as they are sincere and they can define and articulate their reasons for holding their beliefs, and they can do so without merely regurgitating the words of some partisan pundit.
Thank you for your article.
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Mark Petersen (9 articles, 73 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 50 comments)
on Friday, January 12, 2007 at 8:15:55 AM
As far as I am concerned you are very correct with your comments.
It is very hard to separate what is done for economical reasons in the name of religion, and what is done by the religion itself. I can only suggest that one study the foundations of each respective religion to see what it teaches, and then to test whether the followers are living up to the dictates of their foundations.
We do this in the United States everyday. We say our foundation is the Constitution and the Laws enacted by Congress.
The two basic foundations of the Roman Catholic Church are the Holy Scriptures (both Old Testament and New Testament) and the times when the Roman Catholic Church has spoken in "ex Cathedra" by the Holy See and the great Church Councils of fifteen hundred years.
Most Protestant Christians hold only to both the Old and the New Testament as their foundations of authority.
I only hold to the New Testament.
Islam whether Sunni or Shiite hold to the Koran, the Hadith (oral traditions and customs of Mohammed), and the Sunnah (the Muslim way of life or sometimes called "example"). The traditions of Sunnah are mandatory for all Muslims, and not to understand something about them is to be absolutely ignorant of Islam. The Koran, Hadith and Sunnah dictate all Muslim life.
Is what a group of Christins contradicing their basic foundation's teaching or is it what the foundation teachers? Is what a group of Muslim doing contradictory to what Koran, Hadith, and Sunnah teaches or are they doing what Koran, Hadith and Sunnah teches? I do not see how it could be more simple.
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pratliff94 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 940 comments)
on Sunday, January 14, 2007 at 11:34:10 AM
It is a pleasure to hear the voice of reason and dignity. Religions do not need to be defended. Smear of any religion is idiotic and malicious. We have to see the people, real ones, those behind the curtains, the 'good shepherds' of the evil. They do harm to all people and all religions at the same time. In short, they are cursed by all Gods.
Thanks, Mr. Abdelaziz. As a Jewish person by origin and an atheist by upbringing I sincerely applaud your dignified and realistic position.
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Mark Sashine (44 articles, 19 quicklinks, 228 diaries, 3254 comments)
on Friday, January 12, 2007 at 8:29:10 AM
