*http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=2667&cid=2&sid=2*
*What if we call for a fair distinction between the concept of Islam and
some of its unfair practices? May be, this is highly essential and also
reasonable, regarding the elevating prejudice against Islam, from the
world,
especially from the Western or European societies, who, consciously or
unconsciously, fear Islam as a threat to the modern--peaceful, tolerant,
and
open-minded societies. *
*Similarly, viewing the other way round, the newly bred term
"Islamophobia,"
is feared to be infiltrating the mentality of the Western, European and
other societies. It may be putting forth unnecessary prejudice and
negative
speculation against the Islam by the non-Muslims, so we need to ascertain
how relevant the term is in itself. Is it about fearing all aspects of
Islam, or fearing only some of its distorted or misinterpreted values,
which
are perceived to lead to radicalism, fundamentalism, discrimination or
even
terrorism?
*
There is one adage that the term "Islamophobia" is deceptive and the
phobia
(fear) is illogical. Perceivably, what is to be feared is the Political
Islam, or some practices in it that sound ethically wrong.
*The world media is saturated with the terms Islamic Fundamentalism,
Islamic
Radicalism and Islamic Terrorism, causing all the havoc or negative
backlash
against believers of the religion. We need to separate "Islamic" out of
these generally unwelcome terms. Maybe the discontent is not with the
Islam,
but with the very bad aspects associated with the religion. Negative
stereotypes abound because the majority of those perpetrating world
terrorism, such as al Qaeda, are Muslims. *
*
**But does it mean that all the people in Islam have to bear the
responsibility for the unruly characteristics of some of the people in the
religion, who have nothing to do with the moderate lots? Certainly not! It
may be only a coincidence that the majority of world terrorists are
Muslims.
It **'**s not ethical to associate Islam with the unruly characteristics
followed by some of its less moderate believers. *
*
It**'** s of course not reasonable for the West, and the rest of us, to
fear
Islam as a religion, its genuinely humanistic teachings or its deference
to
the lord, Allah. While criticizing bad practices of Islam, it** '**s
extremely essential not to impose any hatred or contempt against ordinary
and moderate Muslims. And it would be more genuine if, not only
non-Muslims,
but all the intellectual and moderate believers of Islam come forward to
refute and discourage the wrong practices in Islam as well as to uphold
the
good practices in it and to highlight Islam as being an equally good
religion as others. *
Some call this distinguishing and questioning by non-Muslims "intruding"
in
Islamic norms. Though I am not a stern believer or blindly faithful, I
happen to be a Hindu by religion. And I certainly don 't mind if anyone
criticizes the unfair norms or distorted or misinterpreted practices of
any
doctrine in my religion. Criticisms could help provoke changes for good.
Couldn 't it be viewed just from the humanist point of view rather than
from
any religious or cultural phenomenon? Arguably, we could.
*We could be right to question the "unfair practices." But what if the
Muslims in their country and living abroad, especially in the Western or
European countries, are misunderstood, annoyed, and intimidated, simply
because they are from the religion? It **'**s definitely unethical and we
can** '**t refrain to deem that such belief resembles inadequate knowledge
about the religion. *
*The Vienna-based **European** **Monitoring** **Center** on Racism and
Xenophobia, which tracks ethnic and religious bias across the 25-nation
EU,
has cautioned in a recent report that Muslims routinely suffer acts
ranging
from physical attacks to discrimination in the job and housing markets.
Beate Winkler, the group **'**s director said that the key word is
"respect." "People need to feel respected and included. We need to
highlight
the common ground that we have." Winkler said that since the **September
11,
2001** attacks, many of **Europe**'**s nearly 13 million Muslims feel "put
under a general suspicion of terrorism." The 117-page report underpins the
increasing urgency of dealing with the religious tensions in **Europe**. *
*For instance, especially in Western or European nations, it **'**s
certainly ironic and unfair that if a crime is committed by a Muslim,
chances are high that it may be linked with "terrorism" or "Jihad." This
highly reflects a prejudiced notion and, as the scholars in Islam argues,
that "Jihad" doesn **'**t encourages terrorism or nonsensical murders,
here
the accusers must need to rethink their claimings. Such crimes could have
been solely committed by a criminal, and it may have nothing to do with
Islam or Jihad. As there is no significance to criticize if the unfair
practices or some cultural aspects in Islam are questioned, it **'**s
equally refutable that many Muslims are subjected to prejudiced
discrimination and intimidation simply due to their adherence or
recognition
with the religion. *
All religions and customs are made by humans, and we can 't deny that
there
could be some flaws in them. This is relevant in speaking about Islam,
Hinduism, Christianity and so on. Any cultural idea or practice deserves
to
be analyzed and examined. Our nationalism, culture and religion are our
dignity. We should be ready to prevent and uphold our identity, but this
doesn 't mean we are exempt from having moral criticisms against our
practices, no matter which religion or culture we belong to.
*Amit Pyakurel is a freelance journalist from **Nepal** .*
*AB - withheld62@yahoo.com
First They Came for the EXTREMIST, FUNDAMENTALIST & MODERATE Muslims. And
I
DIDN'T Speak Out Because I Wasn**'**t An Extremist, Fundamentalist or a
Moderate Muslim. Then FINALLY They Came for Me the NON-PRACTICING Muslim
And
NO Muslims Were Left to Speak Out for ME. *
----------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail has been sent via JARING webmail at http://www.jaring.my
No comments:
Post a Comment