On the heels of Hizbollah being booted out of power in Lebanon, I'd like to spit out a thought or two about Islam and its culture.
I'm not one of those people who claims Islam is "not a religion" or treat it as one monolithic topic. The perception and image of Islam in the West tends to get a little confused, romantic (Orientalism had a part to play in this) and hostile all at the same time - although I think the reverse can be said too. Many people on the other side of the pond probably view the West in the same light.
Islam is diverse and not restricted to the Arab world. It cuts across many cultures, races and nations. It so happens the extremist elements are to be found mostly among not only Arabs but Iranians as well. Terrorists, and let's not beat around the bust because this is what they are, have a specific political agenda acting as a spoiler in a highly flammable region that run independently of Islamic religious spirituality and traditions.
For most of the 20th century, secular (albeit mismanaged and corrupted) governments were in power in the Middle-East. By the 1970s, religious fanaticism (which began the process of hijacking Islam through Wahabism) began to challenge secular power and have been waging war ever since. I wonder if an "Islamic reformation" is a possible outcome of this.
Either way, the people have not been well-served by either side. Add to the mix American self-interest (with the United States willing to side with religious nuts to serve its purpose) in the region and it makes for one complex political game.
There are two things I've always found interesting about Islam. First, is its slow decadent descent (although some will argue the West is on the decline too), and second its historical tolerant treatment of other creeds and cultures at its height centuries ago. One can think of the aforementioned Lebanon, Iraq in the 1950s, places like Bahrain, Qatar and UAE and long before that Muslim Spain and Sicily.
And so this is the story in a blog nutshell. Some feel President Obama is the person to help assuage hurt feelings and manage competing interests through pragmatic policies. I'm not sure it's that simple.
The mindset is entrenched deeply now. I heard one person say in response to Obama's speech to the Muslim world "nice rhetoric but we need to see action". Perhaps, but wouldn't it be refreshing to see the Middle-East offer some of their own action, no?
Speaking of the U.S., we often hear the Unite States (and Israel) are largely to blame for the problems in the region (quite frankly I don't believe solving the Palestinian question will propel any unblocking of goodwill in the region) but given that most respectable historians have identified the Islamic crisis as having begun centuries ago (since the fall of the Ottoman empire anyway) is it not convenient scapegoating?
Moreover, the United States itself is experiencing a rise in religious fervor and its growing influence in American society, education and even foreign policy. But this too is a complicated development too often simplistically treated just like Islam is often characterized.
Nonetheless, misunderstanding Islam doesn't detract from what many experts and thinkers believe to be a "crisis of Islam". Interestingly, some of us feel Western culture is on the decline as well.
With American self-interest, Islamic radicalization and decadence, sectarian Sunni-Shia violence, anti-semitism, the Israel-Palestine question, Mecca, Jerusalem, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran and oil all doing an unholy Tango, it makes me think of a scenario where three kids are sitting at the table squabbling while staring at a loaded gun.
You have stated the complexities of the question in a blog nutshell, as you say. Bombing mosque and blowing up pilgrims is no more Islamic than shooting abortionists or Jews is Christian.
ReplyDeleteReligion here is disfigured and used shamefully to lure naïves and serve the power hunger of devious peoples.
And it's wrong to blast Christianity and Islam for malignant people who claim to represent it.
ReplyDeleteVery good post, and the images of the unholy tango and of the three kids at table squabbling are interesting.
ReplyDeletePersonally I've always found the Islamic civilization fascinating - affected too by some orientalism mania? hard to say, but what is wrong with that - and it is good reminding to readers the tolerance of Islam vs other creeds and cultures centuries ago. Such a complex matter, as you have pointed out, with religion being a political weapon to manipulate the naive masses.
And, if to the Obama words to the Mualim world - which I have to say I liked a lot - action should follow, I agree that people in the middle-east should nonetheless start acting with decision and try to solve their problems themselves.
I touched with some students of mine upon the subject of the victim complex many Muslims have in my opinion and of the necessity of rolling up one’s sleeves and stop blaming the others for their woes. They were all Muslimns and they took it badly. They were, are, very intelligent but it is very difficult to discern things at the man-of-the-road level, there is too much manipulation. We are all men of the road, being though easier to see the manipulation in the neighbor's garden than in ours.
At the end I would lie if I said I like the growing influence of religion in societies and politics all over the world. In my view it is an element of instability, religion not being bad (often it is a precious good), but a non rational thing non the less.