CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Muslim world has provided great innovations in the humanities and science. Islamic society was admired until the 14th century. Unfortunately, just as Pope Benedict XVI's comments were taken out of context, the message of Islam has been distorted by fanatics of all faiths.
Inaccurately portrayed as a religion spread by force and the sword, Islam grew via peaceful means and by religious men of peace (Sufis, scholars and preachers) for a long time.
If force were the method of conversion, then regions under Muslim control for centuries, such as southern Spain and India, would have been wholly converted. On the contrary, the sword of Ferdinand and Isabella converted the Iberian Peninsula to Catholicism. With the expansion of Western colonialism, Muslims were forbidden to openly express their beliefs and culture. Often, they had to adapt to the culture and society of the ruling country. This still occurs.
In time, a minority of Muslims expressed anger at their neglect and rejection. Some reverted to ancestral practices of the "glory days" of the 11th and 12th centuries. One group characterized by this activity are the Wahhabis. A small, fanatical faction has created resentment towards the sect as a whole. Not all Muslims, however, can be characterized as similar. From the foundation of a few hundred initial followers, Islam has grown to 1.4 billion adherents worldwide. Apart from the Koran and the religion's five pillars, there exists an extreme amount of diversity in culture, language and perception of ideals. There is no cohesiveness in Islam apart from the Koran, but this religious cohesion is stronger than other aspects of society.
In most countries, the Koran is read in its original Arabic and application and interpretation is seldom provided in the local language. Therefore, few may have little concept of its content. This practice is only recently changing in select locales. In numerous areas, Wahhabi religious schools called Madrases were established during the past several decades by rich Arab states to promote a strict religious upbringing. This has a profound effect on poor societies where there is little interaction with those of other religions and where there is little economic opportunity. Children taught in this manner are often narrow minded and are exploited by radicals who extract small portions of the Koran and use it to justify violence.
This phenomenon in the Islamic world mirrors what occurred in Christianity eight centuries earlier. Only after many years of maturity, Christianity (as a whole) was able to reach its current state of tolerance and acceptance of the beliefs of others. Outside of the extreme right wing of Christianity there is a focus upon individuality and less on society. In Islam, however, the focus is on society and less on the individual. Because of this, I believe that it will take longer for Islam to reach the level of tolerance found among Christians.
Even at this, the majority of Muslims are law-abiding people wanting to live in peace and harmony. They seek to raise their children with dignity, strive to improve the standard of living through education, and have an overwhelming desire to become productive members of society. The Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Koran promote education, economic prosperity and obeying the laws of one's own society. These ideals are important as long as one's own religious beliefs remain intact.
Unfortunately, most Muslims live in third-world countries where education, finances and politics are impoverished. These conditions, combined with a strong political agenda against the West and the United States, have been responsible for the formation a small, fanatical group willing to sacrifice their own lives for the betterment of their society. It is important to remember that fanatics are not born. Cultural and environmental factors play a major role in developing this ideology and the destructive behavior. Often, these individuals are from a traditional, orthodox society that has the strong perception that the non-Muslim world and especially America is responsible for their present situation.
In the United States, Islamic immigrants are largely professionals who have been tempered by their education. They have more easily assimilated into American society.
But in Europe, Islamic youth are the children of Muslim immigrants following World War II. Brought into these countries to build the labor force, these immigrants were the subservient class relegated to life in the ghetto. The children of these immigrants have faced the problem of becoming yet another minority class of Muslims. Their sense of "otherness" has arisen from being accepted neither by the Western society in which they live nor by orthodox Muslim society.
Fanatical groups have targeted these disenfranchised individuals. Radicals use these differences to help boost an individual's pride in that they are unique. By killing Westerners, and especially Americans, these European Muslims increase their self-esteem. Additionally, they feel that their actions help to promote their religious beliefs. (Promises such as the 72 virgins are foreign to the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet, peace be upon him).
Islam and the Koran prohibit the killing of innocent people and, in my opinion, it is a sure way to be cast into hell. These actions also create a vicious cycle of Islam phobia which is promoted by some Christians and Jews.
The problem is exacerbated in some Muslim societies by the overwhelming lack of education coupled with tolerance of other religions. There is a perception that the Western world is morally and socially corrupt. Add to this the U.S. desire to propagate Western-style democracy, and the fire of fear is fueled in the Islamic world. Their perceptions, although false, have in essence become reality. These ideas are also advanced by Imams who are attempting to continue to manage their world. In order to remain in control, they promote the evils of Western society.
Another area of concern is that in Islamic society there is little or no separation of mosque and state. As it has occurred in the Christian West, it needs to occur in the Islamic sphere of influence. This separation must occur for Muslims to begin to have tolerance of other religions.
The political silence of Muslims, especially in the West, is another problem. On one hand, an American Muslim who speaks against the Iraq war may be characterized as being unpatriotic. On the other hand, a strong stand against the violent activity of fanatical Muslims may create a rift among their brothers in the faith. Therefore, people keep silent.
Finally, there is a lack of equality within the Muslim world. The sense of the economic and social superiority of Arab Muslims over other ethnic groups has complicated the issue. Historically, we can trace this to 1956 when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser seized political control of the Suez Canal. His Arab nationalist movement has caused more harm than good in the Muslim world as a whole.
This is further complicated by fact that the non-Arab world has readily accepted the economic and religious superiority of Arab society. Economic superiority is obvious from the oil-rich Arab regions of the Middle East. Religious superiority is because the Prophet (peace be upon him) was from Arabia and the Koran is written in Arabic. In contrast, the Prophet's (peace be upon him) own final sermon categorically stated that there were no distinctions between Arabs and non-Arabs; they are equal. We must remember that while religion provides an important role in the cohesiveness of a society, other factors play a larger role. These factors include culture, language and education.
Next week: Some cures for these ills.
Hasan, who is originally from India, is a Beckley psychiatrist and a member of the West Virginia Board of Medicine.
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