Islam needs to sort itself out

Whereas any conference that promotes Islam as a religion of peace is a good thing, there are issues that may prove to be too sensitive to address, and if that is the case, then the impact of any good work may be watered down. The perceived image by the West that Islam is a religion of violence is perhaps only a part of the issue, as all of us could go on forever discussing the roots of terrorism and get nowhere.

Is the image not more to do with human rights, freedom, real gender equality, meaningful education and in sorting out the many interpretations of a religion that gives the impression of being at war with itself. Recent events like the clearly manipulated Iranian parliamentary election, and the banning of children's dolls because they are too life-like by Saudi Arabia, are perhaps poles apart in importance, but both clearly illustrate to the non-Islamic world just how far removed Islam can be from the rest of humanity.

One presumes the Shi'ite Muslims will follow a similar path to Iran if they were to take power in Iraq, and if so, then the enormous differences, conflicts and interpretations within the religion will continue to feed mistrust and hatred, not only in the West, but also within the Muslim communities. The main difficulties come from within the religion and not so much from the outside. It is therefore an inside out job that needs to be tackled first, for only then can the Islamic world hope to speak with one voice.

Without that, all the good that will come from trying to promote a peaceful Islam may well be diluted because the really difficult problems have not been addressed. Hasyim Muzadi says that the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) never agrees, and that clearly illustrates the very fact that one of the world's greatest divides is firmly embedded within the Islamic world.

One could make a very strong case that Islam will never sort itself out until Saudi Arabia begins to understand that they have got it all wrong, and need to rapidly and dramatically change. Until then, Islam may well remain in the melting pot.

It is a pity that Saudi Arabia doesn't spend more time looking east to Indonesia rather than the other way round.

DAVID WALLIS Medan, North Sumatra