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About Muslim-West Engagement

Reading the news today, it’s hard to imagine that there has ever been a more serious societal rift than the divide between the Muslim World and the West, a more tense atmosphere of suspicion in international relations or a more pressing need for intercultural harmony.

Americans want answers about Islam: To what extent do violent extremists actually speak for the opinions of Muslims everywhere? Is Islam a violent religion? Does it hinder freedoms or present an obstacle to democracy? Are Muslims in America a threat to Americans’ security?

At the same time, Muslims around the world demand answers about America and its policies: Is America naturally and irreconcilably opposed to Islam? Why does the United States choose violence in dealing with the Muslim World, invading Iraq and Afghanistan and sponsoring violence in other areas? Does America really care about Muslims and their rights?

To sum it all up, both Muslims and Americans feel there is a gap. They now want to know why it’s there, and what can be done to bridge it. Answering these questions is this book’s chief priority.

What creates the divide?

The divide is rooted in misunderstanding. Despite what many think, Islam and the West have a long history of coexistence and harmony. For nearly 800 years, the city of Cordoba in Spain endured as a shining example of tolerance among the three monotheistic religions. Muslim, Christian and Jew cohabited in prosperity during a period known for its outstanding literary and scientific productivity.

Also misunderstood is the nature of religious warfare. Many so-called religious conflicts instead result from wealth inequality, tribalism, politics, or other non-religious issues. Conflicts such as these develop a religious appearance only when extremists hijack religious terminology to justify violent acts.

Similarities and differences

We can prove that religion by itself does not cause conflict by looking at what the Muslim and Western Worlds have in common and where the differences lie between them.

The Qur’an makes it clear that Mohammed did not establish his new faith in a vacuum; he simply reinstated a primordial religion originally founded by Abraham, making it accessible to all of humanity. Because of this, Jews and Christians (known in Islam as “People of the Book”) are seen as brothers and sisters of Muslims and common followers of scripture. Forced conversion, as a result, was never a policy of Muslim conquerors during the period of Islam’s spread. Instead, Jews and Christians living under Muslim rule simply had to pay a tax to finance their protection by their Muslim overlords.

The largest bond shared by Muslims and Westerners is a set of common values, enshrined collectively in the Abrahamic Ethic. Chosen by God and revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, Abraham’s legacy embodied a simple creed, that of loving both God and one’s neighbor. So powerful and revolutionary was this message that Jesus Christ himself declared: “Upon these two commandments hang all of the law and all of the prophets.” Muslims, too, have preserved these values in Islamic ritual and social law. In Islam, loving God means worshipping Him in accordance with the principles set down by the Prophet and his disciples. Loving one’s neighbor takes the form of charity and the deep sense of social responsibility encapsulated in one of Islam’s five pillars (zakat).

The brotherhood of Jews, Christians and Muslims extends to their sacred texts as well. Like the Old and New Testaments, for example, the Qur’an forbids the killing of innocent people. But even more interestingly, there is a close similarity between the values expressed in American secular documents and those characterizing Islamic Law. We all know that the Declaration of Independence champions Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness as “inalienable” rights—but how many of us know that Islamic Law is built upon the “God-given” rights to life, human dignity, religious freedom, family cohesion, mental health and property? This should not be a surprise: after all, both value systems emanate from the Abrahamic Ethic.

Though there are important similarities, it may still be tempting to see differences in attitudes between Muslims and Westerners as sticking points or barriers to coexistence. Take, for example, differing opinions on religion’s influence on politics. Muslims see the American example as too much distance between “church and state”—like a divorce—whereas Americans see the Muslim example as too close a relationship, like a marriage.

While this difference may be a point of disagreement, it does not have to be a deal-breaker in Muslim-West relations. Instead, both sides should recognize that differing perspectives arise not from irreconcilable cultural or religious differences but from separate histories. Islamic Law carries with it an extensive body of instructions that guide Muslims’ everyday lives; so, for Muslims, religion belongs in the discourse on social issues. In the West, however, a value for individual liberties developed in response to the particular narrative of religious persecution in Western Europe. As a consequence, Western liberalism separates religion and government, guaranteeing freedom of religion but also creating a militant secularism and distrust of religious authority. Once we recognize the legitimacy of each side’s perspective, we can celebrate these differences rather than fear them.

Advocating for Islam

In the post-9/11 environment, some Americans tend to think of Islam as a violent creed and of those who practice jihad as terrorists by definition. Jihad, however, is a large and complicated concept, whose meaning actually boils down to the need for peaceful struggle for self-betterment—the war that we wage against the vices within ourselves—a central injunction to all Muslims. That Americans associate Islam with violence is, of course, entirely the fault of the extremists who perpetrate crimes under a false Islamic guise.

Even so, portraying Islam and Muslims as moderate has not been a high priority in the media, where the major focus has been on the actions of extremists. Efforts to bridge the divide, therefore, must start with a concentrated effort to truly understand ‘the other side.’

How can we bridge the divide?

The relationship between America and Islam can be healed with a multi-faceted and proactive approach encompassing all on all sides—including that of American Muslims who often feel caught between the Muslim World and the West.

In today’s America, we need to emphasize that American Muslims are not a security threat but functional and participating members of society. With the flexibility permitted by America’s religious freedom and openness, American Muslims can catalyze innovations in the global process of ijtihad (Islamic legal interpretation)just as American Jews and Christians birthed new developments in their faiths. They represent the diversity championed by both their own religious history and the heritage of the country in which they reside, positioning them uniquely to reach out to other Muslims and Americans and thus help close the gap in understanding.
Following the example set by their American brothers, governments in Muslim countries need to realize that they too can benefit from the institutional expressions of democratic capitalism that have been behind America’s successes: an independent judiciary, human rights adherence, free market trading systems and more. Religious discrimination should be prohibited, and each religion should be free from state intrusion—ensuring the continuance of the Abrahamic Ethic in Muslim governance.

As for America, Muslims consistently admire aspects of the United States. At the same time, many Muslims do not believe Americans live up to the country’s ideals of ethics and values. To do so would require a large revision of America’s foreign policy attitudes, spearheading a campaign of goodwill and outreach towards Muslims everywhere.

With the help of American Muslims, the U.S. should actively support the development of Islamic democratic capitalism and the spread of personal freedoms. To attempt this through violence, however, only undermines relations between Muslims and Americans by soiling the Abrahamic Ethic.

But above specific recommendations, we need to recognize that the divide between the Muslim World and the West is a malady curable only with the correct prescription of dialogue and outreach. Muslims and Westerners, particularly Americans, need to talk to each other in voices that all can understand, bridging the gap by emphasizing what they share over what they don’t.