Islam's revival: A threat or a challenge?

Islam's revival: A threat or a challenge?

JAKARTA (JP): The revival of Islam is not a threat to the
modern, established, and secular Western countries, an Islamic
expert says.

"Western countries cannot merely generalize and say that the
revival of Islam is a threat to their national interests and
stability," said Prof. Dr. John L. Esposito, Director of the
U.S.-based Center for Moslem-Christian Understanding.

The revival of Islam has long been identified as a threat to
Western countries, with many fearing a second Iranian-like
revolution.

The 1979 revolution in Iran, led by the spiritual leader
Ayatollah Khomeini, overthrew the ruling Shah Reza Pahlevi,
forcing him and his family into exile.

Esposito, a devout Catholic, told participants at a discussion
called Islamic Threat: A Myth or Reality that Islam welcomes
democracy everywhere, including in Islamic-based countries.

He specifically illustrated the case of Algeria, where the
ruling government canceled the general election results when the
minor Islamic Party won the country's first general elections.

He criticized Western countries for adopting a negative view
of Islam because of the Arabic countries and their different and
opposing policies.

"Differences in foreign policies could become the source of
bilateral and regional conflicts," he said, stating as examples
the prolonged conflicts between Iran, Iraq, Libya and others
regarded as promoting terrorism.

"The Western countries should not forget that they also deal
with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt in their economic and
foreign relations," Esposito said.

Repressive western actions could stimulate stronger opposing
actions, as evidenced during the Iranian revolution, which gave
the previously minor fundamental Islamic movement control of the
country's leadership.

He also criticized the role of the mass media. "Television
viewers might jump to the conclusion that Indonesia is an
undemocratic country when they see a demonstration asking for the
release of a prisoner on the evening news," he said.

The discussion, which featured Esposito as the main speaker,
was held by the Mizan publishing company and the Republika daily.

Esposito started studying Islam seriously in 1968 when he was
working on his doctoral thesis on Hinduism and Buddhism at Temple
University in the United States.

He changed his topic of research to Islam after meeting Ismail
Faruqi, a Palestinian-born professor who started a new field of
study on Islam at the university that year.

Esposito, currently a professor of religious affairs and
international relations at Georgetown University, has visited
several Arabic countries to study Islam and returned to the
States in 1977 to start working on his thesis under Faruqi's
guidance.

He obtained his doctoral degree after completing a thesis on
women and their status under Islamic family law. The thesis was
then published into a book entitled Women in Muslim Family Law in
1982, just four years before Faruqi was killed by Jewish
extremists.(imn/swe)