Source: https://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/17351/84/
There Is No "Muslim World" PDF Print E-mail
Posted by admin
Thursday, 29 January 2009 10:31
There is no Muslim world, only a variety of nations with Muslim majorities. Some of these call themselves Islamic states, but the extent to which even these are governed according to Islamic principles and under Islamic law is a matter for debate.
Aloysious Mowe, Washington Post
At his inauguration, President Obama said: "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." Is that possible? What must happen?
Substitute "Hindu" or "Christian" where President Obama has "Muslim", and we begin to see the problems as well as the promise in his overture to the "Muslim world".
Tempting as it might be to adopt Samuel Huntington's Manichean view of global conflict or some variation thereof, President Obama has to resist the impulse to speak of Muslims as a single bloc. This master of language knows that words matter. It may be convenient to speak of the "Muslim world" in a speech, but there are dangers in painting with so broad a brush when it comes to the articulation and implementation of policy.
It makes no sense to speak of a "Christian world" as though it were possible to extrapolate, from their religious affiliation, the shared values of all Christians everywhere. Even within a major denomination such as Roman Catholicism, there are major disagreements as to how the hierarchy of values should be stacked. Some U.S. bishops made opposition to abortion the one and only criterion for how one was supposed to choose a candidate to vote for in the recent elections. The outcome of the elections showed that the majority of U.S. Catholics had greater moral discernment than some of their shepherds.
There is no Muslim world, only a variety of nations with Muslim majorities. Some of these call themselves Islamic states, but the extent to which even these are governed according to Islamic principles and under Islamic law is a matter for debate.
The Arab world does not represent Islam, but one would be hard-pressed to recognize this fact when faced with what is written and said about Islam in the U.S. Many commentators identify the Palestinian problem as the key neuralgic point behind Muslim discontent. The Palestinian problem is not a Muslim one - many of the most important and prominent Palestinian activists and leaders have been Christians - and should not be viewed as such. The political leaders in Arab countries are more than happy to highlight the sufferings of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, and to call for "Muslim" solidarity with them: this distracts their own populations from the democratic and economic deficits that mark so much of that part of the world. When I lived in Egypt in the 1990s, I saw the conditions in the settlements there for displaced Palestinians, and the legal, social and political constraints under which they lived: there was little evidence of Egyptian solidarity with their "Muslim" brethren.
If the U.S. is to be seen as an honest broker in the Palestine-Israel conflict, it has to be seen to be speaking the truth of political pragmatism and compromise to Israel, just as it should speak the truth of democratic change, human rights, and economic equity to its Arab neighbors.
There are more Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia than in the entire Middle East, but they seem to have little impact in shaping American perceptions of Muslims. The president's family ties and lived experience in Indonesia should give him a unique vantage point from which to appreciate the complexities of Muslim identity.
We have a tendency to form our opinions about any group of people according to what we hear from their loudest members. Greedy hedge fund managers and unscrupulous lawyers come to mind. The loudest voices among Muslims today are those of the jihadists and extremists, and so much of U.S. public perception and political reaction has been formed by the violence of these voices.
There are other Muslim voices, muted, even totally unheard, and often silenced by their own governments. In Malaysia and Indonesia, these voices are often asking for greater government accountability, for the elimination of corruption, for a more equitable distribution of the economic pie, for laws to protect women against violence and discrimination, for a system of education that prepares young people to compete in a globalized marketplace. When President Obama calls for a conversation to find a way forward based on mutual interest, these are the voices he must strain to hear.
Muslims are not one political and cultural bloc; neither are they a separate and different species from the rest of humanity. They want their children to have a better life than they themselves have had. They want lives secure from poverty, crime, violence, disease, and all the other pains to which we are all prey. During the recent Gaza conflict, some political leaders in Malaysia called for a boycott of American goods and the dollar. No such boycott ensued. Malaysian Muslims were more concerned with their economic wellbeing than with making political gestures. If the president is looking for mutual interest, then it is at this level of interest that he must pitch his policies, rather than at the level of the mutual political interest of the US and the Egyptian or Syrian police states, or the web of economic, military and political interests that link the U.S. with that paragon of oppressive and undemocratic rule, Saudi Arabia.
The president also said during his inauguration address, "We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense." He should give the speechwriter responsible for this tone-deaf bit of rhetoric his walking papers. The present economic crisis is clear evidence that the American way of life has to change, and that Americans should apologize for it. For too long there has been in the U.S. a sense of entitlement, expressed in a lifestyle that has resulted in the consumption of a disproportionate share of the world's resources, and the wholesale plunging of the nation into debt as a way of life. The thirst for oil and for markets has distorted U.S. policy, and its relations with Muslim states, for far too long. The way of life here in the U.S. has now been discredited, and it cannot be defended. The task before the president is to seek for the U.S. a sustainable and common way of life with the rest of the world, and to convince his fellow citizens that there is no alternative
Aloysious Mowe, SJ, is a Woodstock International Visiting Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University.
Comments (10)Add Comment
...
written by ahmadneil, January 29, 2009 11:38:00
Christians,Hindus,Buddhist,muslims etc ,are all the same but for muslims they practice extremism .Most of the time muslims are associated with terror and violence.
report abuse
disagree 12
agree 16
...
written by Dominic, January 29, 2009 11:54:22
If only Muslims around the world can shed their infamous word `jihad`,am sure the gobal community can accomodate them more cordially. Preach freedom instead of dying as jihad and hoping to reach heaven. It is through good work and showing compassion that one find the ultimate journey with their chosen god. Time to wake up after decades of day dreaming in their so called `holy war`. Fight for your 3 meals ,not war !!!
report abuse
disagree 5
agree 13
...
written by Tompios, January 29, 2009 12:35:00
Yes, you are right Mowe, Palestinian crises are not viewed as Islam's problem. Most Malaysians, Indonesians, Bruneians and Southern part of Philippines' Moslem and Moslemah are too shallow on History and Geographically things happened in Palestine. Most of them only reach on Islamic's stages. Some of the leaders in Palestine are Christian Arab. Eventually, not may genuine Palestine lived in Palestine. The population conquered by Arab and not the native Palestine.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 6
...
written by Desert Fox, January 29, 2009 12:50:15
The whole world belongs to God Almighty,the creator of the Universe and all living things - it is the devils in disguise that divide mankind under the pretext of religion. Please note: There is nothing wrong with Islam,it is the blind followers who corrupt the meaning.
report abuse
disagree 4
agree 5
...
written by wolf, January 29, 2009 12:53:52
ahmadneil,
i can't help but notice your comments on 99% of the articles here in MT. You claim you're a malay but you don't sound like it. For one, nobody would be so negative as to actively insult & disparange his own kind & religion.
Most of the time muslims are associated with terror and violence.
Are you a cybertrooper out to incite racial & religious tensions?
report abuse
disagree 5
agree 1
...
written by Desert Fox, January 29, 2009 13:00:55
The Muslim image of terror and violence is created by the devil in disguise,who sits in all religious establisments,looking holier than thou giving their so-called opinions based on supposedly profound knowledge obtained through learning.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 6
...
written by wolf, January 29, 2009 13:01:14
Sorry forgot to add in, nobody would have that much free time. Hallo, tak payah cari makan ka? Sorry to say that but you struck me as either one of these:
a. Someone with obsessive compulsive disorder to view & comment this site 24/7
b. Someone who is rich enough not to work and thus have plenty of time to view & comment this site 24/7
c. A paid cybertrooper to view & comment this site 24/7
So which one are you?
report abuse
disagree 2
agree 1
...
written by densemy, January 29, 2009 13:10:19
Desert Fox... How convenient it is for you that all the evil muslims are the devil in disguise. Do you apply that reasoning to all muslims who stray from the path of trugh and righteousness
... and what about all those righteous muslims who through neglect fail to reprimand the agents of terror and corruption and repression. Are they to the agents of the devil??
You are a hypocrite and a coward
report abuse
disagree 1
agree 1
...
written by cruzeiro, January 29, 2009 13:16:50
Wolf,
ahmad neil is "da man" ... and he's got many admirers in MT for his rubbish.
Remember his "James Bond" trip to France? Apparently he got pally with quite a number of guys on his trip - and he's got it all.
This guy has even declared himself an apostate on MT, apparently halfway through a six-pack!!
Leave him alone lah ... let him have his thrills - just be more discerning with his goofy comments.
Now - I believe Alloysius has made plenty of sense here where Palestine & Islam are concerned.
There was a current affairs program on TV those days - about 10 yrs ago- called "Global" or something like that, where they were discussing this issue.
Some Tan Sri hotshot (from "ISIS" I think) who kept saying "Palestine this, Islam that. Islam this, Palestine that".
I sent in a comment stating that Palestine has nothing to do with Islam, and that Islam was just a rallying call for war against Israel - just as the Crusaders called their war "Christian".
Bunn Nagara who was the MC/moderator agreed, while this Tan Sri hotshot said, "No Comments".
It is sad that many politicians don't want their unthinking followers to see the truth.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 3
...
written by axppin, January 29, 2009 13:21:37
Err, does anyone here care to remember the IRA? Or even NAZI? Tamil Tigers? Bintang 3? Ohh I fogot la. "One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighters". Haiyaa. Got to think again.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 0
