Islamic World - Essay Example

Al-Bazzaz, an Arab historian and former Iraqi prime minister once d that it is unrealistic to imagine Pan- Islamism creative comprehensive political organization for countries as different as Iraq and Iran. Thus, To begin with it must be noted that the term Islamic world is rather elusive just like the term western world. This is because Islam itself is a collection of different sects and political organizations while the nations that are pre-dominantly Muslim are very different from each other. Thus there is arguably no Islamic world but rather a collection of different Islamic states and the culture they encourage. Islam itself is at a vital juncture of time and history. The hand of globalization and mass immigration has created a situation where Islamic culture and traditions are prodding what is a mainly traditionally Christian Europe and Americas. The sudden surge in immigration, the unequal distribution of income and power, along with what is recent developments by extremist Islamic groups and global security developments have created a sense of urgency to address the Islamic question. The question is simply if the Islamic world/worlds are compatible with western tradition, laws, economic systems, governance systems, etc. If so, what issues should be examined and what sort of action should be taken in order to bring some sort of order and stability between the western world and its Islamic counterpart. Thus, this essay will set out to look at some of the important issues regarding the current position of Islam and its relationship with the west. Namely, it will examine the relationship governance and laws, economics and geopolitical relations with key Western nations and their consequences with the perceptions of Islam. In terms of governance, Islam has been used for various reasons. However it is true that the cherished representative democracies of the West are by products of Christianity and Islam itself deems democracy incompatible with its spiritual ways. However like Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey are strong and viable examples of democracy and Islam co-existing with each other. Democracy refers to the rule of the demos or the people while Islam refers to the rule of mulla, the rule of the faithful and a government that passes Sharia law. While democracy means people would rule over themselves, Islam teaches that everyone is ruled by Allah and since that is the only way, there is no alternative to in democratic ways. Democracy and its values have been attacked as evil and an alien system imposed on them by colonial powers. Democracy is also dependent on laws and constitution of nation which are not necessarily based on religion. This is because in Christianity there are 10 commandments but no detailed laws or constitutions prescribed for societies. Islam on the other hand has a set of laws, called the Sharia that has been codified and is thought to be sanctioned by god himself, obliging them to follow these laws. Lastly, democracy in many western nations means secularism, as in the case of many modern democracies in Muslim nations. This is also incompatible and goes against Islamic teaching since Islamic law and governance are one thus no separation is needed. This brings us to a common question asked by western and Islamic leaders and academics. Could Muslims really assimilate into western nations and if Islamic nations and culture really work with democracy. The answer is mixed but overwhelmingly towards a positive side in the terms of democracy. This is because many Islamic nations have use sharia law or even major sections of it in its laws, and while some secular nations, still depend heavily upon Sharia law courts which are allowed and even encouraged. Nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia, Egypt and Algeria are prime examples. Thus while it is shown that Islamic nations are indeed compatible and even eager with democracy and its principles, the reason tension between Western nations and Islam may actually be the fault of Western nations. Some scholars such as Kepel state that it is the “denials of full citizenship to minorities” (Kepel 1997) that have exposed deep fault lines which in turn are exploited by Islamic movements that begin to demand social and political concessions along with the affirmation of their Islamic identity. Therefore, in terms of western governance style the clash of societies is rather superficial. The real problem is the hesitation on the part of Western countries to give out the full rights and recognize minorities in their countries and then take steps to help empower them economically and socially. Islamic democracies on the other hand are always found fault when they allow a breach in the wall which separates religion from the state or allow Sharia law to overstep its realm and affect their own minorities especially with regards to religion. Thus Islamic nations should take steps to further separate themselves from direct intervention in the laws by secluding and making sure conventional laws under international and domestic agreements do not clash with or are affected by Sharia laws. Economics and finance is a yet another contentious issue between the Western world and the Islamic world. Islamic nations and communities have successfully integrated themselves with the world wide economic and financial systems while developing their own economic activity zones. While many critics argue that the only reason the west seeks to engage the Islamic world is because of its oil and other natural resources. However this is not the case entirely. The majority of Muslims live outside the oil rich middle-east and nations such as Malaysia, Turkey, the UAR and Indonesia have come to thrive on Manufacturing, services and finance. While some nations such as Morocco, Sudan, Somalia and others are relatively less well off in economic resources. However, on a positive note the fact that the Islamic world has the largest reserves of petro carbons and the western world is the largest consumer of petro carbons have created a situation of engagement and investment. Namely these western nations buy oil from the middle-east and the proceeds of which are usually deposited in Western banks which are thus used to further investment and development on both sides. However, the problem has been that many oil rich countries lack transparent and accountable financial systems, thus even with huge current account surpluses like that of Saudi Arabia, which was close to $50 billion in 2007, a vast majority lives in poverty and suffer from illiteracy and poor health. This sort of inequality and widespread economic depression amongst the majority of populations in Islamic countries with large oil resources are usually directed at Western nations. The west is blamed from everything to propping up bad governments, unfair trade terms, to war, poverty and civil disorder. While some of these accusations are undoubtedly true, the western world is not responsible for the economic failures of the Islamic world. Many governments in the Middle East and Africa are traditional monarchical Muslim states such as Saudi Arabia, Revolutionary states such as Iran and Afghanistan or dictatorships such as Syria and Libya. Most of these states have set up corrupt governments and implemented bad economic policies. The resistance to change, the poor quality of investment and infrastructure along with poor social reform and development has created a great sense of unfairness for Muslims. However, their inability to effectively change their governments, for ironically, the lack of democracy has made Muslim populations easily susceptible to blame the west for their ills. This is not helped by the confrontational stance taken by many Muslim leaders and clerics such as those in Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, etc. It is often common to blame westernization and western principles for the lack of economic and social reforms that are badly needed in the Middle East and Africa. Economic empowerment or the lack of it in the Islamic world does not mean there is enough and more in the western world, the lack of attention paid to immigrants and the hesitation to give them full citizenship had severely affected their ability to find work and become economically self sufficient instead of drifting to poverty and alienation. This in turn creates further conflict. Should Western nations force the assimilation of Muslim communities in their countries as France and has tried to do by forcing a secularist policy or should they be allowed to develop their own communities and work on it as seen in Britain? The answer has to be comprehensive. One reason many Muslims find work difficult is not because they are afraid to be in contact with wider society but rather because they lack the skills, language proficiency, and opportunities. Thus Western nations must allow for and allocate resources to re-train immigrants and give economic opportunities to skilled ones. However forcing secularism and stripping a community of its unique identity stands to be counterproductive at best and dangerous at worst, as seen in the French riots in the last decade. International relations are invariably judged by the relationship between strong powers. Thus the actions of the USA or the UK are held to greater scrutiny than those of Denmark or Sweden or so it was until recently. The wave of globalisation, immigration, comunication and mass media has put a number of western nations, along with their values, policies and principles on the spotlight is more often than less portrayed as a confrontation between Islam and the west by the mass media. This has not been helped by the wars fought by the American collation in Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which are seen as a trespassing into Islamic lands or crusades by the western world. What is seen today is a spectre of cold war politics returning to haunt modern day leaders of the western world. The cold war saw the propping up of dictators, battles for influence and power and also the support of Israel to counter Soviet influence with the Arab nations. The results of which are seen today by the world should not be too surprising. The propping up of dictators and the alliances in economic and military terms has allowed many Islamic nations to preserve governments that were corrupt, brutal and backward. The wars fought in the Middle East and wider Islamic world such as the Arab-Israeli conflicts, the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the support for Indonesia by the US, the economic and military interventions during the gulf wars,, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Iran, etc, have brought about profound changes that have adversely affected modern day western and Islamic societies. The unconditional support for Israel against Palestine has infuriated many Arab nations. They see the Europe and USA as aligned against their interests and thus see Western dominated institutions such as the UN as ineffective at best or Trojan horses to spread a western agenda at worst. The cold war era proxy wars had left many nations without stable governments or economies as seen in many African countries and Afghanistan. This has in turn created a large problem for western governments namely extremist Islamic groups opposed to all western involvement while simultaneously creating instability in Arab states such as Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. These groups, their ideologies and agendas are the consequences of the cold war, ineffective management in their native countries and the lack of economic and social reforms. The poverty in many Islamic nations have made citizens especially vulnerable to the extremist teachings which in turn is directed at western nations as a method of venting frustration with the lack of socio-economic and political reforms that are badly needed in the native countries. Thus the recent disasters in international relations seem to reinforce the idea that the West is at perpetual conflict with the Islamic world and vice versa. Instead it is the failure of socio economic reforms on the part of the Islamic world and the lack of sensitivity and restraint in part of the Western world that seems to self realize this idea of conflict and confrontation. In conclusion, this essay has shown that in terms of governance, laws, culture, economics and international relations the Islamic world and the western world are more often in conflict with their own principles and ideas rather than each other. The Islamic world seems to recognize the importance of secular democracy as a means of creating the necessary socio-economic reforms that will help them develop stable governments and economies while using parts of their Sharia laws, but their failure to created suitable protocols for minorities and uphold their international obligations causes tension in the western world where the interpretation of Islamic law usually very negative. Furthermore, the confusion amongst Muslims with the technical aspects of democracy and the lack of it in crucial Middle Eastern states have left them, economically and socially disadvantaged and vulnerable to extremism. In economic terms nations haven’t done enough to speed up reform and uplift living standards as a whole. Internationally Muslim nations tend to stroke confrontational stances to deflect allegations of appeasement towards the west or to deflect their own failures. In the West, however, the main problem is insensitivity in local and international spheres towards Islam. The fact that the west ignores Islamic sentiments on certain aspects of democracy or allows itself and western dominated media to portray a very backward, hostile, and dangerous depiction of the Islamic world is both dangerous and counterproductive in local and international areas. Western dominated aid agencies, diplomatic organizations and military partnerships are often seen as one sided and unreceptive towards Islamic concerns. Also their treatment of immigrants and minorities along with the lack of empowerment and social reforms also plays a negative part. Thus what is needed is a long term engagement plan that is both effective and non confrontational. The perception of each other needs to be clearly established and taught to the citizens of the respective realms. While the west should step back from a dominating stance take a more sensitive attitude, it is up-to Muslims around the world to open themselves up to socio-economic reforms and embrace the finer things of Westernization that have allowed many western states to develop strong economies and stable governments. Works Cited. Ehteshami, Anoushirvan. “Issues in world politics” Ed. Richard Little and Micheal Smith Aldridge, Alan. Religion in the contemporary world”. Read More

Democracy and its values have been attacked as evil and an alien system imposed on them by colonial powers. Democracy is also dependent on the laws and constitution of the nation which are not necessarily based on religion. This is because in Christianity there are 10 commandments but no detailed laws or constitutions prescribed for societies. Islam on the other hand has a set of laws, called the Sharia that has been codified and is thought to be sanctioned by God himself, obliging them to follow these laws.

Lastly, democracy in many western nations means secularism, as in the case of many modern democracies in Muslim nations. This is also incompatible and goes against Islamic teaching since Islamic law and governance are one thus no separation is needed. This brings us to a common question asked by western and Islamic leaders and academics. Could Muslims really assimilate into western nations and if Islamic nations and culture really work with democracy. The answer is mixed but overwhelmingly towards a positive side in the terms of democracy.

This is because many Islamic nations have to use sharia law or even major sections of it in its laws, and while some secular nations, still depend heavily upon Sharia law courts which are allowed and even encouraged. Nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia, Egypt, and Algeria are prime examples. Thus while it is shown that Islamic nations are indeed compatible and even eager with democracy and its principles, the reason tension between Western nations and Islam may actually be the fault of Western nations.

Some scholars such as Kepel state that it is the “denials of full citizenship to minorities” (Kepel 1997) that have exposed deep fault lines which in turn are exploited by Islamic movements that begin to demand social and political concessions along with the affirmation of their Islamic identity. Therefore, in terms of western governance style, the clash of societies is rather superficial. The real problem is the hesitation on the part of Western countries to give out the full rights and recognize minorities in their countries and then take steps to help empower them economically and socially.

Islamic democracies on the other hand are always found fault when they allow a breach in the wall which separates religion from the state or allow Sharia law to overstep its realm and affect their own minorities especially with regards to religion. Thus Islamic nations should take steps to further separate themselves from direct intervention in the laws by secluding and making sure conventional laws under international and domestic agreements do not clash with or are affected by Sharia laws.Economics and finance are yet other contentious issues between the Western world and the Islamic world.

Islamic nations and communities have successfully integrated themselves with the worldwide economic and financial systems while developing their own economic activity zones. While many critics argue that the only reason the west seeks to engage the Islamic world is because of its oil and other natural resources. However, this is not the case entirely. The majority of Muslims who live outside the oil-rich middle-east and nations such as Malaysia, Turkey, the UAR, and Indonesia have come to thrive on Manufacturing, services, and finance.

While some nations such as Morocco, Sudan, Somalia, and others are relatively less well off in economic resources. However, on a positive note, the fact that the Islamic world has the largest reserves of petro carbons and the western world is the largest consumer of petro carbons has created a situation of engagement and investment. Namely, these western nations buy oil from the middle-east and the proceeds of which are usually deposited in Western banks which are thus used to further investment and development on both sides.

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