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In the name of Allah, the most merciful and gracious
East West: How do we view each other?
The cold war had finished and the world had been trying to coup with the loss of
confidence and trust between countries previously fallen to the game of divide
and rule between two superpowers. While expecting a new age of peace and
confidence, justice and development , social welfare and trade between old foes
, we heard a new voice: Samuel Huntington warning about new trends of divide and
mistrust, where the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of
international conflict will be culture and religion. He told the world that
these divisions are deep and significant. He predicted that from Yugoslavia to
the Middle East to Central Asia, the fault lines of civilizations would be the
battle lines of the future. He suggested to the ruling elite of USA, now the
sole caretaker of the world, to forge alliances with similar cultures (against
the opposite cultures and religions) and spread its values (globalization)
wherever possible. With alien civilizations the west must be accommodating if
possible (if the opposing culture and religion surrender and gives up to
resist), but confrontational if necessary (if it strives to preserve and
intact).In the end of his essay, he suggested that despite of the divide, all
civilizations would have to learn to tolerate each other. It was nothing than a
warning shot or a wake up call for new era of crises and bloodshed.
The dramatic event of September 11 and subsequently so called “open war on
terror”, now turned to be an “war of terror: with no end” for the people of
Iraq, Afghanistan ,Pakistan , Palestine, Lebanon confirms Huntington's
precisions that the world is poised to be on the brink of a global
intercivilization war without battlefields and borders.
Role of mass media in shaping the image
Clashes between civilizations, cultures and religions can occur in ways other
than armed conflict. There can be clashes of perspective and viewpoint, the
beginnings and outcomes of which are affected by information flows; how people
see the world shapes their attitudes toward other cultures and societies. After
the September 11 attacks on the twin towers in New York, the US and western
media turned their cannons towards Muslims and Islam despite of that fact, being
known to every one that terrorism is a menace having no faith, religion and
identity? Keeping in view the interaction developed by media between 9/11 and
Islam, the USA invaded Afghanistan in 2001 soon after the attacks in new York.
We saw a new phenomenon of war : Carpet bombing which killed hundreds and
thousands of afghan civilians including women and children celebrating weddings,
buying bread in shops, working in fields, grazing goats and sheep and the
ultimate result was a new trend of suicide bombing to avenge for the blood of
nears and dear killed by foreign aggressors for uncommitted crimes. It is going
on and taking lives of those innocent people , either in the streets of Kabul,
London, Madrid, Baghdad, Islamabad etc , who had never been party to this
borderless and faceless conflict and so called clash of civilization. They never
caught the single man for whom they invaded an entire civilization.
Media: Bridging or widening the gap
While the Muslims around the globe were still in shock and grief for what have
so for been physically happening to their brothers and sisters in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Gaza, Lebanon , Chechnya, Kosovo, Bosnia , Kabul ,Guantanmo Bay by
US and its allies under the pretext of war on terror, the world saw a new attack
this time not by military but media : twelve editorial caricatures , most of
which depicted the prophet of Islam ,Muhammad peace be upon him , were published
in the Danish newspaper
Jillian's -Posten
on 30 September 2005. The newspaper announced that this
publication was an attempt to contribute to the debate regarding criticism of
Islam and self-censorship. It led to a new wave of unrest and humiliation among
Muslims across the globe , resulting protests and widening of gape between east
and west. To reduce the level of harm it had caused to these nutriments of
billions of Muslims, diplomat's of big Muslim countries initiated an effort to
meet Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on 12 October 2005, in order to
communicate their view point and find out political solution to this issue, but
they were refused to be met. Had it been the end , the things could have quite
been different today , the most unfortunate episode was yet to come and the so
called right to freedom of expression had to show how far it can go to inflict
injuries and insult another people of other camp : called Muslims and Islam. On
March 27, 2008,dutch member of parliament Greet wilder released a short movie
called on the Internet in Dutch and English versions , in which Islam,Quran and
Muslims were portrayed as terrorists and source of confrontation. The basic aim
of this movie was to prosecute Quran ,the holy book of Islam and prove it the
basic cause of divide. This movie clearly state that Islam has to vanish , the
way other civilizations vanished from the surface of earth. One can expect tit
for Tate, but whom to be blamed for the consequences? All of these happenings
and supported by media have fuelled the perception that the clash of
civilizations as foreshadowed by Huntington is indeed well underway between the
religions and nations of east and west . Is this the beginning of what some
of us would like to believe as the inevitable clash between the two great
civilizations? Is this the slide in relations in the direction of the inevitable
and the irreversible? I like to believe that the answer is no! I believe that
the ills of this world are man made, not preordained. Therefore, it is the duty
of all people of Goodwill Bridge the gap in the relations between different
cultures and civilizations. The clash between the two great civilizations is not
inevitable, nor the slide in relations irreversible.
Media Stereotyping
Let me suggest that the international media, consciously or unconsciously, bears
a certain amount of responsibility for the current state of affairs. With a lust
for profit and best ratings, media present the sensational lies as the whole
truth. Extremism, violence and gore become front-page news of the world. Indeed,
the international media might have fallen prey to the plotting of the
terrorists, whether individuals, groups or states who orchestrate their cruelty
in order to capture the attention of the widest possible audience. One of the
main causes of the misperception and misrepresentation of Islam and ordinary
Muslim in the west lies in the fallacy of mistaking the extreme for the norm. No
one in the entire Muslim world knew about the name of al-Qaeda before 9/11. It
was a repetitive usage of this word by western media in post 9/11 coverage that
converted this myth into a vague reality. Al Qaeda and the war on terror are
having some similarities and it gives an indication if both have been the
brainchild of one mastermind, as they are having no specific location, agenda,
aims and objectives. It is very sad that people like Bush , Tony Blair, Usama
Bin Laden or Aiman al Zawaheri who are preaching hatred , intolerance and
confusion are portrayed as leaders of Christians and Muslims by no one other
than media it self. I would like to quote the golden words of Mustafa Ceric, the
Grand Mufti of Bosnia, who commented upon the attitude of media while covering
the issue of terrorism that the current perception in the West that not all
Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims is not only morally and
politically corrupt, but also factually unsustainable.” Ceric also said that
Islam should not be labeled a “terrorist religion,” because “the violent small
minority of any faith does not represent the peaceful great majority of that
faith.” Therefore I strongly believe that it would be very incorrect on behalf
of anyone to allow or assume that such fanatics should speak on behalf of
Christians or Muslims respectively. It is not up to these monsters having
support of nuclear bombs , daisy cutters , stealth jets or bunch of few dozen
armed men to decide the fate of the world but it is up to the mothers, daughters
, sons and fathers of this earth to make it a place worth of living at pace. All
the religions of universe preaches a clear message of peaceful coexistence,
understanding, unity on common grounds and tolerance, can we afford to turn our
backs on divine call for the sake of these monsters. Lets join hands and take
Actions In the face of this ongoing damage and divide, even today, being
powerful and capable , the media can heal the wounds, bridge the gape, and guide
the followers of all civilizations to live in peace with each other. They have
legal and moral obligation to assist to promote the voices preaching moderation
and tolerance. The calls for dialogue and understanding between civilizations
must be given sufficient space. The international media must recognize that on
both sides of the civilization divide, there do exist genuine well-wishers,
facilitators and communicators who wish to build bridges of goodwill between the
cultures and religions of the world. I plead, therefore, that the international
media should play their part to promote the voices of conciliation and
rapprochement, and muffle the voices of those who preach extremism and hatred,
no matter they are sitting in Washington , 10-downing street , Tel Aviv or
mountains of Afghanistan. The freedom of the press should be used for the good
of humankind with a strong sense of responsibility instead of playing with the
sentiments of others by making mockery of their values and beliefs. We all
should stand united to prevent the freedom of the press being misused by the
enemies of humankind. It is worth mentioning that Huntington’s clash is not
solely between the West and Islam. In The Clash of Civilizations, he
provided maps and descriptions of his version of how the world is divided. He
wrote, “Western ideas of individualism, liberal-ism, constitutionalism, human
rights, equality, liberty, the rule of law, democracy, free markets, the
separation of church and state, often have little resonance in Islamic,
Confucian, Japanese, Hindu, Buddhist, or Orthodox cultures.” Scholars and
policymakers are also looking beyond Islam as they try to anticipate where
crises may arise. Zbigniew Brzezinski has written about the volatile character
of Japanese and Korean nationalisms that could turn anti-American, igniting a
regional Asian's identity that defines itself in terms of independence from
American hegemony That analysis may be speculative, but such a problem is
certainly is possible. This is just the kind of issue that news organizations
should examine and plan coverage for instead of targeting single religion or
group and if it continues like that it may be too late for the crisis to
explode.
How to bridge the gap:
On the question of bridging the gap between different religions, faith and
civilizations of east and west, the way forward is for leaders on both sides to
commit themselves, their governments and their peoples to engage inesult in real
action. Dialogue will be fruitless unless followed by tangible action. Dialogue
can never be the substitute for action. Dialogue between the different
civilizations must result not only in enhanced understanding, but also in the
courage to right the wrongs. Ultimately, this means reviewing, at the domestic
level, any policy, which creates inequities among the population. At the global
level, it means reviewing one-sided actions that inflict injustices upon other
peoples and other nations. Both sides must cease presenting their worldview in a
certainormal quot text-autospace: none; margin-bottom legitimize certain
politics. Topping the list of items to be so reviewed and rectified is the
politics of domination and hegemony, which is sometimes disguised as the call
for modernization and democratization. I wonder whether these calls are, in
reality, attempts to establish benchmarks for modernity and democracy in
accordance with western standards. I hope there is no hidden message that peace
and harmony in the world are attainable only when all countries and peoples
accept western values, adopt western norms and practices, and emulate western
institutions. I call upon the leaders of the west and especially USA to reflect
deeply on what they would wish to accomplish in a dialogue with the leaders of
the Islamic world. To ensure that the dialogue achieves its intended purposes,
it isreligion.Islam is a civilization, a cultural entity, a way of life and a
system of government that is having the capacity to offer amicable solutions to
the problems of the world.
Common Grounds: an ultimate solutionp:
It is very unfortunate that the East and the West seem almost to have accepted a
future of endless conflict. Such a deterministic view makes it easy for people
from both sides to put great faith in religious interpretations of Armageddon
and mutual destruction. What is needed, however, is an East-West cultural
exchange. The overlap between their respective ways of life would become more
evident through cooperation in different ways of life , cultural and social
exchange , people to people contacts and dialogues , extension of support for
development of institutions like justice, social welfare, science, and
education. The time has come when influential stakeholders on both sides must
recognize the fact that blame game would not serve the interests of any one
rather it will widen the gape between hearts and minds of the people. We should
join our hands to prove that East is not the only home of terrorism or religious
fanaticism as well as West is not the only place of moral corruption and
materialistic designs. Extremism is not unique to Islam or to Christianity as
fanatical Christian beliefs are no different from fanatical Islamic beliefs.
Focusing on our common ground increases opportunities and possibilities for both
worlds. It is important and necessary that the East and the Wes reevaluate their
assumptions and opinions of each other. Neither western arrogance nor eastern
righteousness is productive. Eastern religious values and western logic,
economics, and science all have places in the world. It is in our common
humanity that we must place our hopes and strive for a better tomorrow.
Dialogue and common word
For the Muslims, dialogue and unification on common word with the followers of
other religions and civilization is not only constructive but permitted and
commendable. The holy book of Islam the Quran we clearly says ,'O people of the
book' (a term which particularly refers to Jews and Christians) 'come to common
terms as between us and you: that we worship none but Allah; that we associate
no partners with Him (in His powers and divine attributes); that we erect not
from among ourselves lords and patrons other than Allah.' If then they turn back
say you 'Bear witness that we are Muslims.' (Bowing) to the will of God."
(al-i-Imran;3:64) The methodology of that dialogue is also explained in the holy
book of Islam Quran"Invite (all) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and
beautiful exhortation, and argue with them in ways that are best.' (al-Nahl;
16,125) A prerequisite for any constructive dialogue is that both civilizations
and communities should not learn about each other through sources that are
unsympathetic, critical, or even hostile: they should rather try to formulate an
honest idea as to how the other faith is seen in its own authentic scriptures
and as practiced by those who are truly committed to it. Therefore , we all as
sons and daughters of adam and Eva, should listen to the call of the creator of
the universe, Who command us not to spoil the blood, honor and property of
others, Who want us to believe in Him and good to be neighbors, a common word
for Jesus Christ and Muhammad peace be all upon them.
Words of thanks:
Before I conclude, I wish to thank her Excellency Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, the
First Lady of Azerbaijan and President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the
organizers of this international forum, for inviting me and giving me an
opportunity to contribute to this significant forum at this critical time. I
have strong faith in the fact that this forum, dialogues, discussions and
welcoming gestures will bear its fruit, and the credit will be going to those
who took this bold and wonderful step towards bridging the gape, knitting the
hearts and minds. Tank you.
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