Strategy of Islamic Cultural Action in the West

Adopted at the Ninth Islamic Summit Conference held in Doha – State of Qatar, 2000

Chapter Five : Cultural Characteristics of the West and its Perception of Islam

Given that the West, with its social and economic realities, represents the implementation site of this Strategy, it is indispensable to shed light on the cardinal features of the Western cultural reality.

At the outset, it must be indicated out that the term "West" denotes an economic, social and ideological structure that emerged by dint of long-standing conflicts and interactions. Its cradle was Europe, whence it spread to other continents. The concept of the West does not necessarily refer to the geographic meaning of the term, but rather to its geostrategic content resulting from a historical continuity that started four centuries ago and culminated with the era of economic globalization.

Consequently, the issue of the West cannot be tackled without bringing to the fore the milestones of its history, its renaissance, its industrialization, its expansion, and finally its hegemony and its attempt to impose its cultural model on the non-Western world(1). The West has gradually turned into an invincible power in the economic, military, cultural and scientific fields. In this context, it forged an ideological project aimed to legitimate the hegemonic will accompanying its might and superiority. The project of Western cultural egocentricism was the result of interaction between cultural accomplishments, civilizational factors, utilitarian aspirations and the hegemonic will of the rising social categories of people.

The arrogance of the victorious West reached its apogee. The West began upholding, with no embarrassment or reserve, that its culture was a global one, and that it was so sufficient, it did not need to know about the positive contributions of the Islamic religion and the cultures of other peoples. The Western vision of the universe, of humans and of society was molded according to the Eurocentric paradigm, focusing chiefly on European cultural features. Various means and stratagems were wielded to legitimate this state of affairs. Different patterns of material and symbolic violence were used to further their expansion, foster their domination and enhance their breakthrough. The Eurocentric project discourse crystallized, therefore, through a never-ending historical continuity. This discourse always adapted to the epoch in which it unfolded. In the current economic globalization era, the cultural information breakthrough has become one of the sterling features of the cultural system of globalization.

The situation described in the previous paragraphs concerning the expansion attempts of the West and its endeavor to impose its model outside its setting is only one facet of the duality characterizing  Western discourse and its strategies. The second facet of the duality lies in the Western mastery of the basics of modernism and its full assimilation of rationalism. The West also managed to spread far and wide the values of democracy, freedom, equality, justice, equal opportunities and human rights. Such value system involves the recognition of difference and diversity and the refusal of any discrimination on grounds of color, religion or race. There were also attempts to engraft those values into constitutions and laws as well as in various political, social and economic institutions of many Western countries. The auspicious intellectual and social climate helped achieve and develop this modernist project. The remaining general features of Western societies may be summarized as follows :

- Values and criteria undergo rapid change in these societies.

- They are the cradle of scientific progress and state-of-the-art technology.

- They are the receptacle of knowledge, communication and informatics.

- They require from their would be members extensive knowledge, experience, skill, communicative ability and the capacity to undergo continuing training.

Yet, the West has been witnessing a new phenomenon for two decades now. It has metamorphosed into multicultural, multiethnic societies. Under the impact of Muslim and non-Muslim emigration, and with the right of family reunion, the second and third generations were born on European soil. Other constitutive elements were thus added to the European population. The European population tissue was also altered as a result of the grouping of Muslims in nearby zones. Add to this the keenness of Muslims to preserve their lifestyle and culture, and their strenuous endeavor to have an Islamic institution (mosque) close to them.

In this regard, one might wonder about the fate of the values of democracy, human rights, equitable opportunities and the related discourses, particularly in connection with the treatment of Muslim minorities and communities in the West. To what extent do the second and third generations actually benefit from all the civil rights bestowed upon them by the Law on the levels of schooling, culture, employment and integration ?

It seems there are numerous factors underlying the negative attitude of the West towards Muslim communities and their children in spite of the notable variations from one country to another. Some of these factors can be seen along the following lines

The first factor is the current image of Islam in the West. This image was forged as a result of a long-standing historical background deep-seated in the Western mind. This image has made the West adopt partial and subjective stances and outlooks, which are often tendentious. Consequently, the attempts to become acquainted with Islam were coupled with an arrogant feeling of superiority and paternalism. The fallacies and misconceptions about Islam were an offshoot of intricate events and circumstances extraneous to Islam. Stereotypes and value judgements about Islam grew in the minds of many Europeans who made no attempt to redress them. The misconceptions about Islam, added to the isolated events brandished to corroborate fallacies about Islam(2), all served to entrench the bleak image widespread today. As for the Western media, they spared no effort to fuel this strife by attempting to associate Islam with violent and terrorist practices in order to enhance Islamophobia in the West.

Although some European countries have made considerable headway towards recognizing Islam, and some countries have granted civil rights to emigrants, other European countries still impose numerous obstacles in the face of such openness. They still continue to view some Islamic aspects, such as the veil, as a symbol of extremism and dogmatism. They go so far as to refuse to admit veiled girls into schools with the plea that European schools function under the a  laic system. In addition, procedures are fraught with obstacles when it comes to building a mosque or Islamic cultural center. As a result, the Muslims' perception of the West is often one of frustration and disappointment due to the incompatibility of discourse with acts. Wherever a Muslim goes, he is treated with mistrust, sometimes with humiliation, hatred and blatant racism.

The second factor is the impact of Islamic awakening and the events happening in the Islamic world on the Western treatment of the Muslim community. It is a fact that The increased awareness about the importance of Islam and its role as a cultural and intellectual option as well as a method of action in the face of the modern intellectual challenges has stirred many circles in the West, particularly in the aftermath of the regress of major ideological doctrines on the international arena, and the emergence of new alternatives founded on faith as a method.

Likewise, the western media coverage of events occurring in the Islamic world, in particular the conflicts and wars that sometimes flare up for political and ideological reasons, bears  a strong impact on the Western treatment of Muslims in Europe. The West often lives under the fear stirred by the Western media about the phenomenon of fanaticism, extremism and violence, described as the most dangerous threat leveled against the values of modern West. Extremism and violence are a psychological and social phenomenon which may be found in any society, whether oriental or western. It may be linked to religion and may not. At any rate, Islam cannot be associated with extremism as circulated by the anti-Islamic western circles. Islam is a faith, a civilization and a culture which aims to achieve harmony, coexistence and cooperation. It condemns violence and exhorts for the respect of human's right to life in dignity. Certainly, the behavior, principles and orientations of the Western society are largely molded by the media. Hence the need for these media to adhere to accuracy, objectivity and rigor in dealing with the matters at hand.

The third factor is the Role of the Muslim community in the West. It must be emphasized here that alienation and exclusion led some members of the Muslim community to affect the image of Islam in the West albeit unconsciously. Here are the major drawbacks of such a situation :

- Harnessing the strong religious feeling of youth looking for an identity and stimulating feelings of fanaticism and extremism in them.

- Diversity of religious backgrounds, which leads some Muslim leaderships to ignite conflicts deleterious to the image of Islam in the West.

- Manipulation of the auspicious climate of political action in the West in order to gear Islam to achieve ephemeral political interests.

The duty of defending Islam and improving its image in the West mandates that the Muslim communities in Europe endeavor to streamline the Islamic awakening(3) and to enjoin the faithful youth to call to Allah with wisdom and sound admonishing. This approach must be founded on moderation, dialogue and harmony without excess, fanaticism or extremism. Almighty Allah says in this context : "Thus have We made of you an Ummat justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations and the Apostle a witness over yourselves".

Efforts must be exerted to create a serene social climate free of factors of friction likely to harm the good relations between Muslim communities and other people. This climate must be pervaded by stability, serenity and cooperation. The Muslim community must abide by the laws in force in its country of residence, and take advantage of their legislative and legal facilities as well as their traditions and circumstances. They must all the while preserve their Islamic identity, their faith, their distinct traits and their legitimate social rights.

Efforts must also be pooled to crystallize coordination between all Muslim entities and leading scholars in Europe within the framework of joint Islamic action. All factors of conflict prejudicial to Islam and Muslims must be abandoned in accordance with Almighty Allah's saying : "and hold fast, all together, by the Rope which God (stretches out for you), and be not divided".

Redressing the image of Islam in the West constitutes one of the urgent tasks lying with the West and Muslims themselves. The gap between Islam and the West cannot widen any further to the extent of jeopardizing security, social stability and coexistence between Muslims and others in Europe. The first step might be to open a real cultural and religious dialogue between Islam and the West. This dialogue must be initiated without any feeling of superiority, and must build on the mutual recognition of the valuable contributions made by Islam and the West to build human civilization. It must also build on the mutual conviction that the modern civilization project needs the Western contribution as much as it needs the pioneering contributions of Islam to universal civilization, culture and ethics. Such  civilizational dialogue cannot achieve the goals sought unless the Western media review their systematic association of Islam with terrorism whenever a crisis arises. This dialogue must not, however, seek to enjoin Muslims to relinquish their cultural identity and sever their ties with Islamic civilization.

Notes

1. Hichem Djait, l'Europe et l'Islam, Seuil, Paris, 1974, p. 22.

2. Mohamed Farooq Al-Nabhan, Factors Underlying the Forging of the Image of Islam in the West, Proceedings of the University of the Awakening, Ibid., p. 64.

3. University of the Awakening, Islam and Muslims in Europe, Ibid., p. 364.