Islam and Muslims in the western Media - Essay Example

Muslim community sees western Media as a representative of America and its European friendly member countries as enemies by and large. Although there have been independent Muslim bodies like the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which is although not an incorporated association, founded in 1997 yet one can fathom its importance when its Secretary General, Iqbal Sacranie was awarded a knighthood in the 2005 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for the services he rendered to the Muslim community and inter-religious talks.

In this regard, it is worth noting the comments of Sunny Hundal, editor of Asians in Media – an online media and current affairs magazine – “Dump the media circus,” instigating media not to propagate the boycott of MCB on Holocaust Memorial, explaining "The MCB actually enjoys this controversy and the stance it takes because it helps maintain credibility with extremist supporters who think everything is a big 'Zionist conspiracy'..It also diverts attention from their own lack of power and influence".

On the other hand, the Islamic world due to its poor performance in foresight and clarity of thought becomes a soft target by western journalists although vast population and natural resources of Islamic countries are quite enough to make them a formidable world power. In his book – Islam In the Age of Western Media – Akbar S Ahmed writes on Islam And The West: Confrontation or Consensus? – blaming western media of labeling Islamic countries as “an arc of crisis” or “an Islamic crescent of crisis,” referring it as a “journalistic cliché”.

This enmity of western media towards Islamic world gives a negative impression of two so-called infamous “Oriental prejudices” as called by Akbar S Ahmed, namely instable political scenario and ill-treatment of women in Islam by its male counterparts.