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| Director General | Education | Sciences | Culture | CPID | Cooperation | Secretariat of GC & EC | | Home | Contact |
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The Islamic World and the West: Challenges and Future (*)
Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri
I deem it necessary and convenient to speak to you, from the rostrum of this prestigious University having wide academic influence in Chile and accross the whole Latin America region, on some issues of concern to intellectuals, thinkers and decision-makers in the Islamic World whom I have come to represent this evening, in my capacity as the Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -ISESCO-, the Secretary General of the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World, a university lecturer, and a member of many Arab and Islamic academic and scientific institutions, intent upon presenting a true image of the relationship linking the Muslim world to the West and the negative or positive ramifications that arise from this relationship.
Why did I choose this subject in particular? Simply because today the Islamic world has become the center of attention for so much of the public opinion and because more than 50% of the news broadcast or published by the world media have as their background and arena the Islamic world. This is a regional phenomenon which deserves in-depth study.
As such, a number of questions can be raised by the researcher on this issue:
- Why is the Muslim world experiencing such instability today?
- Why do more than 70% of the world's refugees belong to countries of the Muslim world?
- Why are growth levels dropping in the Muslim world?
- Why have the relations between the Muslim world and the West been marred by turmoil for so many consecutive decades?
I thought it suitable to ease towards answering these questions by going a little back in modern history, to look at the political background events which represent one of the major factors of influence in the Muslim world and of which the impact is still felt today.
The European colonialism of the Muslim world began in the 16th century when the Dutch occupied the Indonesian Islands, in 1552, an occupation that was to last for three centuries and a half, coming to an end only in 1945. Then the Czarist Russia invaded Qazan, capital of Tatarstan in 1602. In 1757, the British Armada set anchor at the Indian peninsula starting the occupation by England of India, at the time under the rule of an Islamic state. This British occupation lasted for one hundred and ninety years till 1947, date on which India gained its independence.
In 1798, France invaded Egypt under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte. The French campaign lasted for three years. In 1830 the French occupied Algeria where they stayed for one hundred and thirty-two years (until 1962). In 1882, Britain colonized Egypt where it remained till 1923. In 1881, France occupied Tunisia, and in the same year Britain occupied Cyprus. In 1829, Britain occupied the south of Yemen which remained under its dominion until 1967. Senegal remained under French occupation from 1857 until 1960. Nigeria was occupied by Britain in 1903.
In 1884, Spain occupied the Moroccan Sahara, located in the south of Morocco, and renamed it the Spanish Sahara, remaining there until 1976. In 1912, France, and then Spain within the same year, occupied Morocco under the pretext of setting up a protectorate. In 1911, the Italian armies invaded Libya (Benghazi and Tripoli), triggering the two-year long Italian-Ottoman war (1911-1912) since Libya formed at the time part of the Ottoman Empire. During World War II (1939-1945), France occupied the Libyan Fezzan region while Britain occupied Benghazi and Tripoli. The Franco-British occupation of Libya lasted until 1952.
Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, Europe set its eyes on the Ottoman Empire which was described at the time as the “Sick Man of Europe”. Some European countries began instigating Czarist Russia against its Muslim neighboring countries. Russia began by invading the Kurum region, then waged long wars in its drive to lay claim to the lands north of Caucasia. In the second half of the 19th century, Russia expanded its dominion and brought Middle Asia under its control, occupying Azerbaijan in 1828.
Late in the 19th century, conflict erupted again between the Muslim world and the West in the form of the Russian-Ottoman war which raged on between 1871 and 1878 with the connivance of Europe. During World War I (1914-1918), the Ottoman Empire was defeated and ripped apart into several provinces which soon became full-fledged states. France and Britain laid claim to the Arab provinces which were annexed to the Ottoman State, including Mesopotamia or the Greater Syria (consisting today of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine), and Iraq. The occupation of these provinces, which took the shape of mandates, endured till 1943 for Syria and Lebanon by virtue of a resolution issued by the League of Nations. The East Jordan principality (the core of modern times Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan) was created in 1921.
The British occupation of Palestine, in the form of a mandate and under an international façade, lasted until 1948 when the Jews pounced upon the opportunity to proclaim the creation of the State of Israel on 15 May 1948, in a blatant breach of the international law. In fact, this state was created on land inhabited by its original people, the Palestinians, who were deported and divested of their homeland. The unlawful and tragic situation which ensued from the occupation of Palestine and the deportation of millions of its people endures today. It is the major cause behind the degeneration of the situation and a threat to international peace and security, not only in the Middle East, but in the whole world. It is the most dangerous crisis threatening relations between the Muslim world and the West, whether now or in the future. This brings us face to face with the key to the international crisis that is manifest in the dead-end barring the road before any fair settlement within the framework of international legality, a settlement that would restore the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people through the proclamation of their independent state with Al Quds as its capital.
Thus, the Muslim world ushers in the 20th century while its lands still occupied, its parts torn apart, and the conditions of its peoples appallingly degraded in economic and social terms. The negative ramifications of these conditions persisted till after the emergence of the modern state in the Arab and Islamic world, generating back-to-back political crises and difficult economic conditions.
For more than two centuries, the political regimes in many Western countries rose against the will of the Muslim peoples and against their right to a decent life, countering their attempts to build a strong and stable society where political and economic life prospers and where people enjoy their legitimate rights. In reaction to the policies followed by political regimes vis-à-vis the Muslim peoples for such long decades, there emerged a public opinion current that lays the blame for these conditions on the West, leading to strained relations between the two parties on several levels.
If we add the background events which took place in the Middle Ages to these modern and contemporary events, we will find ourselves before a staggering buildup of historical disputes which were the result of misgivings and lack of trust, and of an escalating conflict which took various forms and wavered between secrecy and openness from one era to the next.
The reputed British historian Arnold Toynbee describes conditions in the Islamic world after the end of World War I in very precise words uttered at a conference which he gave early in the fifties of the previous century. In a moment of truthfulness and frankness, he pointed out that the West kept on chasing the Turkish man (referring here to the sick man, as the Ottoman Empire was then described), harassing him to bring him to abandon his faith because he looked down upon the Westerners as wild pigs, and when he did abandon his religion and followed the West, this West had nothing for him but contempt because he had nothing more to give.(1)
This is a refined summary of the civilizational crisis that has afflicted the Muslim world. It is one true fact of contemporary history which uncovers for us some aspects of the plot hatched in the 19th and 20th centuries by European countries to rip the Islamic world apart, enfeeble it and exploit its natural resources to build the then prosperous economies. From this ensued political, emotional and cultural repercussions which affected the overall relations linking the countries of the Muslim world to Europe and the United States of America which stands, in all its power, behind Israel and supports it in all fields.
For the sake of historical truthfulness and scientific objectivity, we underline here that all these background events played a part in shaping the relations between the Muslim World and the West at the collective subconscious level and in actual reality. There is no way to understand the nature of these relations or grasp their dimensions today unless we take a look at the historical events we mentioned above and which continue to wreak havoc, and maybe will continue to do so in the future.
The conditions which were born from the European occupation of the Muslim world were not always conducive to development, progress and prosperity. Many Arab and Islamic countries found themselves in the aftermath of independence facing huge crises owed to the prevalence of poverty, ignorance, illnesses, mismanagement and corruption, and to the absence of the conditions necessary for the creation of new structures for the independent state. This situation gave rise to many problems which only worsened with time. Growth came to a halt in some regions, stumbled in others, and slowed down in most countries. Although a few Arab Muslim countries knew how to manage their resources and potentialities and achieved a degree of growth, progress and improved living standards for their citizens, the clear majority of the Islamic world's countries are suffering from the remnants of pre-independence times. This said, the factors behind the slow growth levels are not always owed to colonialism as many of them spring from inside and their causes are too numerous to be fully addressed here.
The degradation of economic conditions and the deterioration of the services provided by some governments to their citizens in most countries of the Islamic world, either as a result of scarce resources and poor financial means or because of mismanagement and lack of experience, have given birth of many social problems. Among these problems are the heightened sense of injustice and deprivation and the rising voices of anger and protest among portions of the population. This in turn has played a crucial part in the emergence of violent and extremist trends, in the spread of opposition and disgruntled movements, and in the attribution of all blame for these crises, the corrupt situation and the deteriorated conditions, to the former colonial powers. This has negatively impacted on relations between the Muslim world and the West.
There is little doubt that the politically and economically influential Western countries are partly responsible for the hard economic conditions experienced in the Islamic countries, and for the lack of stability and peace in the Middle East, in Palestine, Afghanistan, Somalia and other countries.
The grave deterioration of conditions in the Palestinian territories, the continued Israeli occupation, the policies of repression, assassination, deportation, displacement of the Palestinian population by the occupation forces, and the presence of thousands of Palestinian citizens in Israeli prisons, are all matters that engender intense dissatisfaction, bitterness and hatred, not in Palestine alone but among all Muslim peoples. It also consolidates a tendency to consider the West as responsible as Israel in the continuity of this injustice. This is what the West must endeavor to understand and redress in ways that could restore their rights to the lawful inhabitants and bring about peace and stability in this part of the world. Relations between the Muslim world and the West will not achieve stability unless this issue is addressed in a just and fair manner that reinstates balance and eradicates the roots of the crisis.
To get a full picture of the situation, I will share with you three examples of the irresponsible stances that are taken today and the radical opinions expressed in the West. Such stances have a highly adverse impact on the public opinion within the Muslim world and negatively influence the overall relations between the Islamic world and the West.
Former US president Richard Nixon contended in his book 'Seize the Moment' that Islam and the West are opposite entities. According to him, Muslims see the world as consisting of two poles: the house of Islam and the house of war and believe that the first group must triumph over the second one. He warned that Muslims were joining ranks to rise in a revolution against the West which must seek unity with the Soviet Union (before it collapses) to face this eminent danger as a unified front.(2)
This opinion, published in a book which was translated into many languages, including Arabic, contributes to intensifying animosity and to prejudicing large swathes of the Muslim world against the West. In the first part of his opinion, Nixon is going away from the truth. As for the second part, it reflects in fact a viewpoint shared by many decision-makers, intellectuals and the cultural elite, and by a broad section of the public in the West. This is an unsound stance which reflects a lack of wisdom and foresight and at the same time betrays intentions that are not innocent.
In an interview granted to the French daily Le Figaro, Paul Poupard, one of the cardinals of the late Pope and the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said that Islam “represented a fearsome challenge to Europe and the West, adding that it was not necessary to be a great expert to realize a growing distortion between two demographic curves. In the countries of Christian cultures, the demography is progressively dropping; while we realize the inverse in the young Muslim countries, or in the cradle of Christianity as cardinal Paul Popard says referring to the Middle East, and in particular to Arab countries. Christians worry about what the future may bring and whether their end may already be programmed. "The challenge stems from the fact that Islam is a religion, a culture, a society, a way of life, a way of thinking and a way of behavior' while at the same time in Europe, Christians, tend to take the Church to the margins of society.(3)
It is true that Islam is a religion, a culture, a society, a way of life, a way of thinking and a way of behavior. But to say that as such, it represents a challenge to the Christians has no relation whatsoever to the truth. In fact, such words only exacerbate an already tense relationship between the Muslims and the West, but are sadly adopted by large portions of the West's populations.
Islam is neither a challenge to any nation, people or religion, nor does it go against any international law. Islamophobia, anti-Muslim bigotry, discrimination, violating international laws and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these are the real challenges, not only for the West but for the whole world, a threat to the stability of international relations, and most particularly of relations between the Muslim world and the West.
This unwise course of action which exacerbates animosity, discrimination and conflict is supported by what is said by Gianni De Michelis when asked about the reasons for the continued existence of NATO after the end of confrontation between the liberal West and the then communist camp. Gianni De Michelis, Prime Minister of the European Council in the nineties of the previous century, concurred that the confrontation with communism was no longer an issue, but added that there was another face-to-face that could take its place, namely between the Western world and the Muslim one. When the Newsweek journalist asked how such confrontation could be avoided, Gianni De Michelis retorted that Europe should solve its problems so that the Western model can become more attractive and acceptable to the others around the world, warning that if Europe failed to generalize the Western model, the world would become a highly dangerous place.(4)
Such words from such a high level official of the European Union carry an undisguised threat to the Muslim world. They are flagrant violations of international laws and of the peoples' right to preserving their cultural specificity.
There is a growing conviction among Muslims that Islam is targeted from many directions. People of reason within the Muslim world are endeavoring to dispel such misgivings and eliminate the conspiracy theory against Islam and Muslims, arguing that mistrust is one of the vices that the teachings of Islam warn against. I personally have engaged in intellectual activity in this regard for more than a quarter of a century through cultural, academic and information activities. However, sometimes we find ourselves before proofs and arguments that give credence to such misgivings.
I will, for example, refer to something written during the Colorado Conference held in 1978 in the United States. One of the conference documents describes Islam 'as the only religion of which the sources contradict the foundations of Christianity… the Islamic system is the most socially and politically harmonious religious system… we need hundreds of centers to understand Islam and truly and skillfully penetrate it… No matter could have a higher priority and importance than converting Muslims to Christianity.(5)
Such suspicious plans being hatched to conquer the Muslim world usually yield the worst results and engender the most dangerous repercussions. They contribute to antagonizing Muslim peoples against the West in general, and spontaneously trigger feelings of animosity instead of consolidating understating and tolerance. The concept itself of 'penetrating Islam' is one of the dangerous ideas circulating today within many spheres. It is similar in this to the concept of the 'clash of civilizations' which almost dominates the minds of decision-makers at the international scene. This concept is used to interpret many of the events unfolding at this point in history and to justify many of the radical and biased stances taken in total disregard of international legality.
For the sake of truthfulness and scientific integrity, I will very briefly mention the reactions triggered by the words of Pope Benedict VI during a lecture given at the Regensburg University in Germany on 12 September 2006 on the subject of reason and faith or reason in the Islamic civilization. I personally wrote an objective and gentle essay in reply to the Pope's words, and my reply was translated into French and English and can be found on the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's website. My response was published along with those of other intellectuals, including Dr Mohammed Sayyed Tantaoui, the Sheikh of Al Azha whose essay appeared in the 24th issue of “Islam Today”, a yearly academic journal published by ISESCO in Arabic, English and French.
With due respect to the Pope, I can only say that what he said in his lecture about Islam and the noble Prophet Mohammed Ibn Abdullah (PBUH) is in clear contradiction with the facts of history. The Islamic world was deeply shocked by these untrue words. Yet, a select group of thinkers and academicians, and I was honored to be one of them, responded to his words in all honesty and wisdom and refuted them, always maintaining the respect owed to the religious, scientific and academic status of the person who uttered them.
In fact, the gist of what the Pope said in his lecture has frequently surfaced in Western writings about Islam since the press was invented. What explains the huge clamor of indignation was the great status and the lofty position held by the figure that uttered these words. However, I think this matter is over now and the page has been turned. Still, we in the Islamic world hope for practical initiatives that would comfort our good will and put an end to the contempt shown to Islam, or rather to divine religions in general, and to the violations perpetrated against the sanctities of the faithful in all parts of the world.
The peoples of the Islamic world aspire to the future, to building new human relationships on the basis of divine religious principles, lofty human ideals and the body of laws governing the relations of states and peoples that humanity has adopted. However, appearances seem to confirm that the West, meaning here the superpowers holding the reins of international policy, is heading in the opposite direction.
Suzanne Nicole, assistant to the Jewish anti-Zionist historian Dr Alfred M. Lilienthal(6), said in an article posted on the internet on 13/7/2005: “If America wishes to truly protect our homeland from terrorist attacks, it might help to know the real reason for their hatred toward us… They keep telling us the real reason, but we will not listen. To hear and to understand and to reply effectively, we would have to admit our nation's bias for over a half century against the Arab people and other Muslim nations. We created the reason for their hostility toward us. It is we and not they who started the grotesque “clash of civilizations” we now see facing us over the next generation or more.”
This is an in-depth, enlightened Western vision I wish to share with you, as it clearly demonstrates that the West should not be categorized into one single bloc. For they are wise people from the West who see things as they are and seek to establish peace, co-existence and dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions.
The concept of the dialogue of civilizations emerged in the Islamic world. The UN General Assembly adopted the call made by former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami from its pulpit for a consolidation of the dialogue of civilizations. The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation -ISESCO- played a sizable role that is a source of pride for it in concretizing the UN General Assembly's decision to proclaim 2001 as the “United Nations Year for Inter-Civilizational Dialogue”. ISESCO held many conferences and international symposia on the issue, some in cooperation and partnership with international and regional organizations such as UNESCO, the European Council, the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the Arab League Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and many others. At ISESCO, we published, in two editions, the White Book on Dialogue among Civilizations in Arabic, English and French, a compilation of the documents, decisions and declarations pertaining to dialogue among civilizations. On a personal level, I published a number of documents and studies on issues related to dialogue among civilizations and cultures and the consolidation of co-existence and understanding among peoples, most of which have been translated into English and French. The ISESCO charter provides, inter alia, for two main objectives, namely to consolidate understanding among peoples inside and outside the Member States and contribute to the achievement of world peace and security through various means, particularly through education, science, culture and communication, and to promote dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions, and work towards spreading the values of justice and peace along with the principles of freedom and human rights, in accordance with the Islamic civilizational perspective.
I would like to point out that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, established by the United Nations in December 1948, perfectly expresses the Islamic civilizational perspective, but for articles 16 and 18 about which we have some reservations.
Today, the Islamic world is represented by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference with its fifty-seven Member States and its four additional countries with the observer status: the Russian Federation, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Central Africa, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, in addition to the ethnic formation of Muslim Turkish Cypriots. More than ten Islamic organisations operate under the umbrella of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, including the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation -ISESCO- and the Islamic Development Bank.
Yet, we must underline that more than one third of the World's Muslim population, estimated at one and a half billion, are not represented by the Member States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. These include the Muslims of India, China, South Africa, the European Union countries, the Americas, and many other places. This is the reason why we at ISECSO grant special attention to the Muslim minorities and communities abroad, and to consolidating the cultural and civilizational bonds of these expatriated communities with their brothers in faith in the Member States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
In late June 2007, ISESCO supervised the organisation in Singapore of the 5th meeting of the Heads of Islamic Cultural Centres and Associations in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Similarly, ISESCO supervised the organisation in Santiago of the 6th Meeting of the Heads of Islamic Cultural Centres and Associations in Latin America and the Caribbean. At ISESCO, we devised the Strategy for Cultural Action in the West which was adopted by the 10th Islamic Summit Meeting held in Malaysia in 2003. This Summit represents the highest legislative body in the network of joint Islamic action. Within the framework of this Strategy, we created the Supreme Council for Education and Culture in the West which is in charge of coordinating the action of Islamic educational and cultural institutions in countries where Muslim communities and minorities live.
I would like to avail of this academic opportunity to point out that the term itself of “Muslim World” was originally coined by Western orientalists. A magazine called “The Moslem World” was published in English in 1911.(7) But today, the term holds a significance that has gone beyond the mere geographical boundaries of Muslim countries to encompass Muslims in general, irrespective of where they may reside. Muslims in Latin America and the Caribbean, for example, are an integral part of the Muslim world in the civilizational and cultural sense, not in the geo-political one. Wherever Muslims may be, they are the carriers of the message of the Islamic civilization, preachers of peace, co-existence and understanding among peoples, civilizations and religions.
This Islamic civilizational bloc is a power of peace and security in the world, a source of cultural enlightenment in all directions, and a powerhouse for the efforts of the international community in consolidating the values of co-existence, understanding and dialogue among cultures, civilizations and religions.
The image of the Muslim world is today marred by many dark shadows, probably the result of acts of isolated groups of Muslim radicals who commit terrorist crimes here and there, acts which we strongly condemn and reject as contrary to the teachings of Islam. However, we must not forget that many countries of the Islamic world itself are the victims targeted by these crimes in the first place. Therefore, the Muslim public opinion stands against all forms of extremism and unreservedly rejects terrorism under all its forms because it causes extreme prejudice to Islam and Muslims in the first place. The Holy Quranic says in verse 32 of the fifth chapter (Al Maida): “If any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” This Quranic verse is the strongest and most eloquent expression of the vision of Islam to any form of terrorism. It reflects Islam's unwavering stance vis-à-vis the perpetrators of terrorist acts no matter what their motives and objectives are, perpetrators who are murderers and represent no one but themselves. Therefore, there is no justice and no fairness in holding all Muslims responsible for the deeds of groups that have veered away from the path of Islam and from the reign of law.
Relations between the Muslim world and the West should be built around common interests, the respect of international laws, and serving human causes anywhere in the world. The events taking place in Muslim countries and the alarming developments unfolding in many parts of the Islamic world all urge us to close ranks in order to overcome these crises and settle them. First and foremost among these issues is the crisis of the Palestinian people which constitutes, by all standards, the most serious challenge facing these relations.
Future horizons are opening up before the Islamic world as it battles the backlog of problems owed to old and new colonialist policies. It is striving to improve its conditions and face the civilizational challenges which will go on worsening as long as the leaders of the superpowers persist in their pressure policy and seek to impose a uniform civilizational model at the expense of the cultural and civilizational specificity of peoples.
I believe that we are all, whether in the Muslim world or Latin America, confronted by the civilizational challenge that seeks to crush the aspiration of nations to freedom, growth, progress and the preservation of cultural specificity. Thus, from this academic platform, I urge for the consolidation of cooperation between the countries of Latin America which we hold in high esteem and respect, and the peoples of the Muslim world, and between them and other world nations; for such is the way to building a safe future for humanity.
(*) This article was originally a lecture given at the University of Chile (Center for Arab Studies) in Santiago, on 26 July 2007.
(1) Arnold Toynbee’s essay on “Islam, the West and the Future”, translated by Nabil Sobhi, Addar Al-Arabiyah Littibaâ wannashr wattawziî, Beirut, 1969.
(2) Richard Nixon : “Seize the Moment”, pp. 135-138-139, translated by Ahmed Sedki Mourad, Dar Al Hilal, Cairo, 1992.
(3) Quoted in the London-based Ash-Sharq Al Awsat newspaper, 1/10/1999.
(4) Newsweek, 2 July 1990.
(5) “Christianization: A Scheme to Penetrate the Muslim World”, page 452, edition of the Centre for Muslim World Studies, Malta, 1991.
(6) Born in 1913 in New York, he was a historian and a journalist. In 1949, he wrote an article titled “Israel's Flag is not Mine”. He drew strong and wide reactions within the American Jewish community because of his anti-Zionist views. One of his most important books is “The Zionist Connection”.
(7) The magazine is still published but has new management and a policy that differs from the one which dominated it over so many decades. The missionary Samuel M. Zwemer was the first chief editor of this magazine of which the subtitle summarized the objectives behind its publication: “A quarterly scholarly and intellectual magazine reviewing the success of Christian Missionaries in the Moslem World and the events and news of the Mohammedans”. This phrase was subsequently removed from the magazine's cover.
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