Getting literate about Islam of benefit to all

Muhamad Ali, Lecturer, State Islamic University (UIN), Jakarta, muhamad@hawaii.edu

A well-known historian whom I observe has been helping shape American opinion about Islam, Bernard Lewis, recently published a collection of articles titled The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy War (2003). His opinion is well founded and I appreciate many of the opinions in the book, but I found the title of the book and some of his statements quite disturbing and requiring critical reading with regard to the image of Islam and terrorism.

Lewis, for example, writes as follows: "Most Muslims are not fundamentalists, and most fundamentalists are not terrorists, but most present-day terrorists are Muslims and proudly identify themselves as such. Understandably, Muslims complain when the media speak of terrorist movements and actions as "Islamic" and ask why the media does not similarly identify Irish and Basque terrorists and terrorism as "Christian". The answer is simple and obvious -- they do not describe themselves as such. The Muslim complaint is understandable, but it should be addressed to those who make the news, not to those who report it," (p.137).

Suggesting that most present-day terrorists are Muslims does not seem to be based on scientific evidence. Also, many media quickly depict whoever acts violently as "Islamic" simply because the actors happen to have Arabic names, even if they don't describe their acts as "Islamic".

In addition, more and more Muslims and non-Muslims alike believe that terrorism actually occurs in various religions, ideologies, and even on a no-religious basis. Lewis has not done any specific research about terrorism. Even so, he should have relied on research concerning terrorism that has been conducted by others. This indicates that Lewis himself is just a victim of the often unbalanced media coverage, a fact that many Westerners have already recognized.

Lewis has overlooked the fact that the media have not always been "objective" about Islam and Muslims. I don't need to specify the precise media outlets that have shown themselves to be biased in their coverage of Islam. There are obviously many media that tend to essentialize, generalize and even demonize Islam. There are many reports, films, talk shows, and other programs that portray a negative image of Islam.

Lewis should have recognized the fact that media coverage plays a great role in shaping public image. According to a survey by The Pew Research Center released on July 24, 2003, a third of Americans say that media coverage of the Middle East has had the biggest influence on their thinking about the issue, followed by education (21%) and religious beliefs (20%). This suggests that if media connects terrorism with Islam, the public would tend to accept it as a "truth".

As a professor of religion, John Kaltner, has sympathetically contended in his recent book Islam: What Non-Muslims Should Know (2003) that "No religion in recent times has labored under more stereotypes than Islam. Ask a non-Muslim for a description of the 'typical' Muslim, and he or she will probably respond with one or more stocks of characterizations, the most common being a veiled woman, a bearded cleric, a desert dweller, and a suicide bomber," (p.1).

In addition, Bernard Lewis ignored the clear fact that most Muslims in the world have condemned "those who make the news" -- the terrorists. Al-Qaeda and its international network are just a very tiny minority compared to the around one billion Muslims in the world. It goes without saying that Muslims view terrorism as "un-Islamic". Muslim countries have attempted to work together against terrorism, not simply because of U.S. pressure but because they are also the victims of terrorism. Terrorism is the enemy of all human beings, irrespective of belief and nationality.

Lewis and other academics and journalists should know that if many Muslims criticize American or U.S. foreign policy, this does not mean that they do not at the same time criticize Osama bin Laden and other terrorist actors. Most Muslims would from the outset blame terrorists for what they have done to Islam and the Muslim world in general; they have devastated the economic, cultural, and religious life of Muslims. If a terrorist employs Islam as his political language, this does not necessarily tell us about what Islam is really about. Most Muslims have taken great pains to make it clear that Islam is the antithesis of terrorism.

And in such efforts, non-Muslim journalists and academics, such as Lewis, should help improve the image of Islam as they have attempted to improve the image of other religions and of the United States in the world. As an Indonesian Muslim, I myself have tended to help improve the image of America and the West in the Indonesian media as well as the image of Islam in the United States.

Bernard Lewis has also reinforced the one-sided meaning of jihad as "holy war", which many Muslims and a number of non- Muslim academics would disagree with. He should have informed the readers about the great variety involved in its meaning and application. Many have distorted its sense by simply assigning it the meaning "holy war", a term not found in the Koran and one that fails to do justice to the complexity of the concept.

I don't intend here to argue that Muslims have a better knowledge of the West than Westerners do about Islam. Rather, I would invite journalists, academics and decision-makers to recognize the complexity of Islam in its relations with contemporary problems. Islam should be given much more space to provide its contribution to world peace. The portrayal of Islam as a source of world conflict should be understood in context and be balanced with a depiction of it as a significant source of peace. Non-Muslims are more than welcome to help Muslims to provide a more balanced account of Islam.

Mutual sympathy, understanding, respect and collaboration among different actors are the best ways for all in preventing and combating terrorism, thereby creating a better place to live in our global village.

The writer is Ph.D student in history, University of Hawaii, & a fellow at the East-West Center.