Wide-Ranging Dialogue between the West and Islamic Civilizations Is the Need of the Hour
By
Mohamed Elbaradei
31 Dec 2020
The
difficult political and social transitions in much of the Islamic world mean
that many Muslims feel the need to rely even more on the certainties of their
faith
What is
badly needed is a wide-ranging dialogue between the West and Islamic
civilizations that puts all issues on the table, with the hope of gaining a
sympathetic understanding of the other’s perspective
The year
2020 demonstrated, once again, that the relationship between the Western and
the Arab and Muslim worlds remains muddled, complicated by lingering memories
of colonization, wars, and atrocities that date back to the Crusades and, in
modern times, to Algeria’s war for independence from France and the recent wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is a relationship marred by suspicion, distrust,
and resentment on the part of many (if not most) Muslims, as well as many in
the West. The thin knowledge that both sides of the relationship have of other
cultures doesn’t lend itself to mutual understanding—a grim fact that radicals
(again, on both sides) cynically exploit.
A plethora
of recent initiatives have sought to promote intercultural dialogue and foster
deeper understanding between civilizations and cultures, particularly Islam and
the West.
Regrettably,
these efforts, including the establishment in 2005 of the United Nations
Alliance of Civilizations, have remained mostly confined to the well-educated,
and their efforts have had no impact on ordinary people. On the contrary, an
extremist attack or utterance overwhelms such initiatives and reinforces the
perception of two antithetical cultures locked in an inevitable and immutable
conflict. The recent renewed uproar in France over cartoons of the Prophet
Muhammad, and the shocking atrocities that followed there, clearly demonstrate
the deep cultural divide that continues to roil relations between Islam and the
West.
Why have
these cartoons deepened this fissure anew? Non-secular Muslims perceived these
caricatures in a strictly religious framework, and the resulting anger and
indignation spanned the entire Islamic world, from North Africa to Indonesia.
Many Muslims regarded the images as another deliberate and vicious
Judeo-Christian attack on Islam, a continuation of the Crusades by other means.
Why, some ask, are attacks on Islam and its sacred symbols permitted, or even
encouraged, while criticizing Israel or Holocaust denial is regarded as
anti-Semitic and even punishable by law? Likewise, why are the French flag and
national anthem protected against desecration, while the most revered symbol of
the Islamic faith is not?
Many in the
West, on the other hand, regarded the beheadings in France, and previous and
subsequent barbaric killings of innocent civilians in European cities, as
outright assaults by “Islamist terrorists" against Western culture and the
West’s way of life. These infamies, they say, were an attack on the West’s
defining values and freedoms. In the wake of these attacks, public awareness of
the depth of the cartoons’ offensiveness has diminished.
With French
President Emmanuel Macron at the forefront, Western leaders have argued for a
strong and unwavering response to the recent murders in France. Even though the
overwhelming majority of Muslims have always denied that murderous extremists
represent their faith, these tragic events became yet another opportunity for
some on both sides to score political points and promote their own narrow
agendas. While some opined that Islam needs reform, others claimed that the
solution is to restrict Muslim immigration to Europe—a course of action
trumpeted most loudly, unsurprisingly, by US President Donald Trump’s
administration. And some Muslims, in response, want all Muslims to hark back to
the Caliphate, a time when the Islamic world was united and powerful.
The truth
is that the two cultures have profound philosophical differences regarding the
meaning and scope of freedom of expression and belief. Secular Western culture
has an expansive view of these freedoms, regarding them as ultimate guarantees
against oppression and authoritarianism. The West thus gives precedence to
freedom of expression over the sanctity of religious beliefs, regarding the
latter as ideas that, like any other idea, should be open to criticism and even
derision.
Islamic
culture, by contrast, regards religious beliefs as sacrosanct and above the
temporal fray, and considers mockery of any Abrahamic religious belief or
symbol to be an attack against everything that Muslims hold sacred. The
difficult ongoing political and social transitions in much of the Islamic world
mean that many Muslims feel the need to rely even more on the certainties of
their faith as a counterweight to the rapid changes in the world. They are not
willing to tolerate an attack on the one constant in their lives that gives
them solace, hope, and true meaning.
Given all
the upheaval, confusion, and polarization in the world today, the last thing
that either Islamic or Western civilization needs is new reasons for division
and conflict. What is badly needed, instead, is a wide-ranging dialogue between
the two cultures that puts all contentious issues on the table, with the hope
of gaining a sympathetic understanding of the other’s perspective and thus
narrowing the gap that exists between both.
Whatever
the ultimate outcome, the goal on both sides must be to agree on some formula
of mutual respect and self-restraint that takes into account each culture’s
particular sensitivities. But for any dialogue to succeed, it must confront
head-on the larger issue underlying the recent crisis: the distrust that exists
between the two cultures. The discussion should therefore take place at the
grassroots and not be limited to the elite. And it should frame intercultural
engagement not as an inevitable clash of civilizations, but as an indispensable
opportunity to seek mutual accommodation.
Only with
this shift in perception and mindset will it be possible to build a genuine
partnership of equals between Islam and the West.
-----
Mohamed
Elbaradei is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Original
Headline: West-Islamic clash needs a mindset shift
Source: Livermint
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