The AMLA Amendments - Association of Muslim Professionals

Your Say:
Guest Column
KARYAWAN
38
Muslims in the West. Hostility between the two
communities will lead many to believe that “the
clash of civilisations” – of Western aggression
towards Islam, its cultures and its peoples – is not
just a hypothesis.
The Kashmiri conflict, the Arab-Israeli war,
the hegemony of the West and the everincreasing
religious bigotry, as well as the rise
of ‘Islamophobia’, all have now become part
of the lethal concoction of hostility between
radicalised Muslims and the non-Muslim
West that no amount of dialogue can defuse.
We should be equally blamed for the greater
polarisation we are facing today. Growing
resentment between both sides will only lead
to irrational fears.
Going Beyond the Dialogue of the Deaf
While one may argue and propose that now
is the best time to furiously promote interfaith
dialogue, these however will not be the answer
to everything. Strong inter-racial cohesion and
cooperative relations between two communities
of different faiths will never be achieved as long
as both parties are eager to sow irrational fears
about or prejudices towards each other.
What we need now is a different approach
to interfaith dialogue. Organisers have to
understand that it is not enough to just
promote ‘peace’, ‘tolerance’ and ‘similarities’. We
need to bring back the ‘trust’ between Muslims
and non-Muslims, as this will help greatly
in reducing the animosity and intolerance
between the two sides. What we are seeing
and experiencing today is a very low-level of
trust between the Muslim world and non-
Muslim West. In fact, a 2007 survey conducted
by the Gallup Organization highlighted very
clearly that except citizens of two countries
(Bangladesh and Pakistan), the majority in 21
countries interviewed believed that interaction
between Western and Islamic communities is
getting worse.
Although efforts to regain trust are very
much an uphill task, its importance cannot
be denied and efforts to rebuild trust must be
given top priority.
The World Economic Forum, in its January
2008 report, Islam and the West: Annual Report
on the State of Dialogue stated that the Muslim
population in the European Union is expected
to rise from 4.3% in 2006 to approximately 10%
to 15% by 2025. The WEF report also said that
the region will witness a higher population of
up to 30% Muslims in urban areas in countries
like France, Germany and Holland. It is estimated
that there are 53 million Muslims in Europe, with
about 16 million in the European Union.
The bottom line is, if dialogue organisers fail to
rebuild trust between the two communities in
the region, Europe may potentially become a
victim of societal destruction and a ‘battlefield’
in the clash of two great civilisations – as a
result of being at the receiving end of political/
religious fall-out between Muslims and the
non-Muslim West.
New Approaches Needed
Also, dialogue organisers must understand the
need for them to steer away from delivering
meaningless monologues and programmes
that do not produce tangible results. They
have to look into ways to work closely with
governments or partnering key institutions,
providing ideas or recommendations
gathered through dialogues that can help
tackle or mitigate socio-economic imbalances
or skewed policies that are detrimental to the
minority community – as in the case of Europe
and America, the Muslims.
Dialogue organisers also play an important
role in countering polarised perspectives and
stereotypes. To this end, they need to work
closely with the media, so as to provide them
a clear and balanced understanding of issues
pertaining to Islam and Muslims, and of the
non-Muslim West. What we need, as clearly
stated by President of Georgetown University,
Mr John J. DeGioia, in the preface of the WEF
Annual Report, is for dialogue organisers to
help create “a common future grounded in
ideals of equality and respect”.
The modus operandi
of the Mumbai
attacks clearly show
that they were not
only well-planned
and coordinated
but are also more
sophisticated, and
designed to bring
about maximum
impact and damage
– physically and
psychologically.
Saat Abdul Rahman is news editor and Chairul Fahmy Hussaini a correspondent
with Berita Harian. The views expressed are their own.