Muslim ads: Irony of message of tolerance

Muhammad Qodari, Political Analyst, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta

The U.S. embassy recently launched a series of mini films and print ads presenting the life of Muslim families in the United States. The series will also be launched in some other Muslim populated countries. Indonesia was honored to be the first because it is the biggest Muslim country in the world, says U.S. ambassador Ralph Boyce.

Of course, it was not stated that Indonesia became the first country where the series was launched because of the recent bombing in Bali. Also not mentioned was another possible reason: Harsh reaction from almost all Muslim organizations, big and small in terms of their members, due to Indonesia's policy against terrorism, the arrest of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir in particular, which they widely perceived as done under U.S. pressure.

A version of the ads in the print media is the life of Abdul Raouf-Hammuda and his family. Hammuda was born and raised in Tripoli, Lybia before he went to study in the U.S. He is now a successful businessman with a bakery named "Tiger Lebanese". It was stated that 75 percent of his customers are non-Muslims. It was implied that religious tolerance was the value of his customers. They do not care what Hammuda's religion is, more important is his delicious bakery.

The message of religious tolerance is more explicit afterward. Hammuda says he is one of the founders of the Toledo Islamic Academy, which started with only 50 students and now already has pre-elementary as well as high schools. The academy continues to progress. According to Hammuda, the U.S. is the country of hope and equality. People like him are free to practice their religion, and live happily as Muslims.

The series of mini films and print ads I assume aim to bring the same message: That religious freedom is guaranteed in the U.S., that Muslim families live their life happily as Islamic followers. As a piece of the story of the life of a Muslim family from far and away, Indonesian Muslims would surely be glad to read and watch such features. They come to know that Islam also exists in the U.S., often perceived as a big Christian country hostile to Islam. But what would this kind of message of tolerance do to Indonesian Muslims?

According to Stanley Harsha of the U.S. Embassy, the embassy had received quite a number of responses to the ads, from "common people" such as taxi drivers or petty traders. These people said that they are glad to know the life of their fellow Muslims in the U.S. Some of them previously had no idea that there were Muslims in the land of Uncle Sam. Perhaps there were a few such ignorant people who were prepared to join plans of "sweeping" Americans here last year.

But that "sweeping" was condemned and rejected by mainstream Muslim organizations, such as Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah. "Sweeping" against Americans was done by those who cannot differentiate the U.S. people from the U.S. government. American citizens traveling in Solo and Yogyakarta were sought out because of what their government did in the past.

I am afraid that even though Indonesian Muslim radicals already know now that fellow Muslims also live in America, still they threaten American tourists as long as the U.S. government policy is considered harmful to Islamic interests -- no matter how vague this notion of "Islamic interests" is defined.

That the series would bring a better understanding of U.S. people to the Indonesian Muslim community is obvious. However, I would suggest that the same series be launched in America. According to Boyce, there are now seven million Muslims, 1,200 mosques, and 400 Islamic schools in the U.S.

But what about subjective knowledge and the perception of most people in the U.S. regarding Islam and its followers?

Is it adequate and proportional enough? How much do Americans realize that Muslims -- people like Hammuda and his family -- are their "immediate neighbors" instead of "alien and far away" people?

It is widely known that the knowledge the Western and U.S. people have about Islam is very minimal. After Sept. 11, there was growing interest in Islam. Nonetheless, the newly acquired information about Islam does not guarantee better understanding of Islam, especially if it is acquired through people such as televangelist Jerry Falwell (who said, "the Prophet Muhammad was a terrorist...") or framed through previous stereotyped-mental set of Islam. Perhaps, this is also the situation after the recent Bali bomb blast.

Tempo magazine reported a story on Indonesian students in the U.S. who received "extra attention" from the people in their neighborhood not long after the U.S. government named Jamaah Islamiyah as a terrorist group residing in Indonesia. The students' experience was better than a number of Arabs. They were cursed and their houses were vandalized after Sept. 11.

A couple of years ago, veteran journalist Peter Arnett in the American Journalism Review reported a related phenomenon. He found out that space for foreign news in the U.S. newspapers was decreasing and in some papers, even terminated. Small and very local events prevail. Hence, many international news agencies went bankrupt. Foreign news is the "window" through which Americans get connected to the outside world. The smaller the window, the more isolated the Americans become.

So Americans also need to see the series of American Muslim families, added perhaps with a series of Indonesian Muslim families. Too many pictures produced by Western and in particular, U.S. media, depict Muslims as radicals. Mainstream Islam in Indonesia is against terrorism and compatible with democracy. This is what Americans really need to know.