Whitler islam - Literature review Example

Whither Islam? All religions consider promoting peace, mutual respect for one’s neighbor, and personal dignity as good attributes. Islam is pluralistic and Muslims believe in a path of intrinsic moderation which inspires “a dignity and a courtesy toward others never exceeded and rarely equaled in other civilizations. And yet, in moments of upheaval and disruption, when the deeper passions are stirred, this dignity and courtesy toward others can give way to an explosive mixture of rage and hatred….” (Lewis 1990) At the same time Christianity, with identical convictions, was trying to exert their authority over Islam via Crusades and such religious advances. There has always been clash of civilizations from time immemorial and at present militant Islam is rallying to threaten Western civilization. It is crucial to analyze the role of religious tolerance in establishing world peace for survival of rich and varied civilizations we inherited through manifold observations and experimentations carried out by our ancestors. Ideologically all religions prophecy international brotherhood and universal tolerance as its foundation, though the reality is on the contrary. “Christianity and Islam are the two religions that define civilizations, and they have much in common, along with slight difference. Christianity is a religion, a system of belief and worship, with certain ecclesiastical institutions. In Turkish “Islam” means the civilization, and “Islamiyet” refers specifically to the religion.” (Lewis 2003) A critical review of Christian and Muslim convictions reveal that theirs is the only one and true faith, all other previous religions are incomplete, and it is their duty to bring all humankind under their protection for emancipation. These convictions indirectly inculcate intolerance and collision of ideologies, leading to indulgence in violent activities, to establish their dominance on other civilizations. In the classic period Islam fostered pluralistic debate and discouraged accusations of heresy. Later on, from a Muslim point of view, believed that Judaism and Christianity were both true religions during their time of revelations, but been superseded by complete and final revelations by Allah. Tolerance was more difficult for Christians as they considered Judaism as a precursor of their religion, and “Christianity is the fulfillment of the divine promises made to the Jews.” (Lewis 2003) This shows the similarity between Christianity and Islam, which promoted continuous conflict between the two civilizations, to establish their might over other civilizations through a medium of forced conversion and even violence. Human history is replete with horrible wars to assert political and religious supremacy which eradicated many civilizations and cultures. Samuel Huntington argues that “a clash of civilizations, more than of countries or governments is now the basic force of international relations.” (Lewis 2003). The root cause of recent mistrust and clash of civilization among Muslim fraternity and Western society, specifically United States, is the struggle of the fundamentalists against two enemies, secularism and modernism. Islamists attribute the ultimate source of disruption of their old way of life to the impact of “Western domination, Western influence, or Western precept and example.” (Lewis 1990) Muslims admired and emulated Western civilization and held high respect for their economic achievement and form of government, because of the realization of weakness, poverty, and backwardness prevailing in Islamic world. Muslim reformers and modernizers, for several generations, tried to introduce Western industrial and economic tactics to their country, with a hope to achieve equality with the West and restore their superiority. At the same time many Muslims had a feeling of humiliation, from a growing consciousness that the old, proud, and long dominant civilization is being overtaken, overborne, and overwhelmed by those whom they regard as their inferiors. Aftermath of two great wars increased the divide between Middle Easterners, particularly Islamic nations, and the Westerners. The crash of Western-style economic reforms, political institutions, and war fare solidified the notion that Islamic ways were best and their only salvation was to throw aside “the pagan innovations of the reformers and return to the True Path that God had prescribed for his people.”(Lewis 1990) Since United States is considered as the legitimate heir of European civilization and the recognized and unchallenged leader of the West, the ultimate focus for the release of pent-up hate and anger of Islamists will naturally be directed against the United States. The present multitude of war waged by Islamists has the power to inflict more suffering and destroying more lives than ever before. Ruthless Islamic forces are advancing rapidly in their conquests while those freedoms enshrined in religious tolerance are acquiescing and retreating. For centuries Islamism was perched to achieve its Allah-mandated goal of cleansing the earth of all non-Muslims. For attaining this goal any and all means of weapons are being enlisted in the service of this final holy war that aims to establish the Islamic order. Majority of Muslims are not supporters of the radical line, but indirectly they are helping the ‘Jihad’, which means exertion or making holy war, because the Islamists are waging their war under the banner of Islam which asserts holy war as genuine religious belief. In reality ‘Jihad’ has to be construed as an internal spiritual struggle. All Muslims, irrespective of their sect of radicals, moderates, Shiite, or Sunni unanimously rely on the Holy Koran, the words of ‘Allah’. Koran is absorbed without questioning its content and all loyal and faithful Muslim stick to the text and performs many rituals specified by Allah. Even a moderate Muslim obeys the strictures and consider disobeying would make him a non-Muslim, leading to an uncertain future. It may be seen that moderate Muslims are generally calm, either out of fear, lack of organization, or apathy. On the other hand Jihadists are well organized, committed to their mission, and also active around the world, with the support of religious heads to supplement their agenda with mad fury. Islamists engage in acts of violence to disrupt the functioning of societies and cleverly exploit the freedom they enjoy in non-Islamic countries. In the 11th century the First Crusaders, promoted by Christian church to evict Muslim supremacy from Jerusalem, constructed Muslims as enemy to cover their spurious conquests and wanton killings. Misconceived notions among these two religions always created a rift between civilization and intolerance of religious sentiments. It may be argued that ‘Crusades’ and ‘Jihads” are identical in nature and Muslims everywhere have not been making war. (Lewis 1990). However, Jihadis selectively extracted the words of Allah to make war on the unbelievers and deal rigorously with them to legitimize their violent agenda. They espouse violence on the ground that the Koran itself urges them to make Jihad, and jihadists call for making war as their order. Allah is all-knowing, all-wise, most compassionate, and omnipotent commands the “holy war in the path of God” and the duty of “God’s soldier is to dispatch God’s enemies as quickly as possible to the place where God will chastise them.” (ibid) Prophet Muhammad organized Islam as a fully hardened religion as he was ordered to fight holy war “against the infidel enemy.” Contrary to these observations Islam has to be understood as a major complex religious system formed by its own metaphysical postulates and ethical demands existing in modern world. Colonialism and periodic reform movements during the past two centuries exposed Muslims to external threats and internal tension, and recently they are being exposed to criticism for fundamentalism or Islamism. An in-depth study done by Bruce B. Lawrence reveal that Islam is not inherently violent and there is a positive role for Islam in the next century with women as key players in the sociopolitical movement. (Lawrence 1998). Islam is pluralistic as it is spread across every nook and corner of the world, with diverse accommodating group of persons, with same values and meanings. Bernard Lewis assert that “But if they can abandon grievances and victimhood, settle their differences, and join their talents, energies, and resources in a common creative endeavor, they can once again make the Middle East a major centre of civilization.” It is necessary to unveil Islam, like bringing Muslim women to forefront, in order to unravel the distorted link of violence to it for better social acceptance of Islamic creed to Euro-American understanding. Islam is to be viewed as an institution of nationalism and it will be difficult to recognize nationalism without understanding interrelationship with religion. According to Ramadan Tariq, Muslims consciously carry a minority mentality even though their rights are ardently protected in Europe and America than in Muslim nations (Ramadan 2005). It is observable that a silent transformation is shaping in Western Islamic society with faith rooted in Islamic principles suited to Western context that open the door to integration of Islamic principles into Western societies. Modern militancy and Islamic fundamentalism has to be checked with the same tool of religious tolerance by bringing the positive aspects of religious text to lime light, rather than misinterpreting the words of Allah, so that Islam will retain its glory, in modern times as it was in antiquity and in the middle Ages. Islam will not whither. Works cited Lawrence, Bruce B. Shattering the Myth: Islam beyond violence. New York: Princeton University Press. 1998. Lewis, Bernard. 1990. The Roots of Muslim Rage. Atlantic Monthly. Vol. 266, No.3: p.47-60. 2007. 2 Dec. 2007 . Lewis, Bernard. I’m Right, You’re Wrong, Go to Hell. History: Religions and the meeting of civilization. The Atlantic.com. 2003. 2 Dec. 2007 . Ramadan, Tariq. Western Muslims and the Future of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005. . Read More