Munif AtassiAdvanced Technologies | Deloitte Consulting |
04/11/2018
“The struggle between Islam and the West has now lasted fourteen centuries. It has consisted of [rather than included] a long series of attacks and counterattacks, jihads and crusades, conquests and reconquests. Today much of the Muslim world is again seized by an intense— and violent— resentment of the West. Suddenly, America had become the archenemy, the incarnation of evil, the diabolic opponent of all that is good, and specifically, for Muslims, of Islam. Why?” -Bernard Lewis, “The Roots of Muslim Rage” Atlantic Monthly, September 1990.
“The underlying problem for the West is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture, and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power.” – Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997), p. 217.
Few authors have been able to frame the conflict between the West and the Muslim World in the Western mind as successfully as Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington starting in the early 90’s. Their seminal work offers clues today’s discussions of “Islam”, “Islamic Extremism”, “Islamic Terrorism” and other similar telling contrived epithets. Unfortunately, the West currently remains entrapped within the constructs of Lewis and Huntington since the early 1990’s – outlining every discussion about the West’s relationship with Muslims across the globe. These constructs have resulted in the unfortunate consequence that framed the view of Muslims through the prism of distrust and cynicism. Conflicts are easily created but almost impossible to completely eradicate. The human mind has an inherently negative bias. Unpleasant news, experiences, and pictures stay in our minds much longer than pleasant one. There is compelling body of research and scientific evidence proving that we react, take positions, and activate actions based on unpleasant, negative imageries and stories. There is no shortage of negative views of Islam across the West and some of the conflicts we see today – including violence can be traced back to such calamitous views. Islam and Christendom have a long history dotted with theological, political, economic, and military conflicts that date back to the seventh century when Muslim armies of worriers defeated the Byzantine Empire. Armed conflicts continued for another 200 years during the Crusaders era and the expulsion of Arabs and Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula during the fifteenth century. Later the defeat of the Ottoman Empire marked the return of the Western powers to the “lands of Muslims” in the Middle East in 18th and 19th centuries continue until today. The West and Islam seem to be living in a perpetual state of bouncing between open hostilities and mild friendships with more of the former and less of the latter.
The 5 Myths of Islam
Summary The claim that the West is at war with Islam is a convenient simplification introduced in the late 20th Century by Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington and followed later by scores of authors, opinion makers and politicians. In turn, the Muslim World perpetuated the same counter ideas of a clash with the West as a reaction to colonialism, artificially drawn nation-states, Western support for autocratic regimes, and the overwhelming support to the state of Israel. The clash is about injustice, betrayals, competition for natural resources, and a power struggle. It is not about a clash between Islam and other religions. Islam is a static text codified by the Quran and the Hadith – the oral recitation of the Prophet’s sayings. Islam is, therefore, as a codified text cannot be changed nor should it be. Unfortunately, Islam today is defined by the actions a small minority of Muslims rather than the practices of its clear majority. The failure to distinguish between what Islam teaches and what some Muslims do is a core problem that we must face. Islam does not need reform but Muslims do. Reforms are needed to transition Muslim thoughts and practices to be aligned with modernity, pluralism, constitutional liberalism, and democratic practices with the family, the mosque, and the states in which Muslims live. |