Respect for Islam

By all accounts, President Megawati Soekarnoputri's denunciation of the injustice against Muslims in the world is the strongest criticism of the West from the Indonesian president to date. Without pointing a finger at any country in particular, the president, in her opening address on Monday at the International Conference of Islamic Scholars in Jakarta, nevertheless left little doubt about the countries she had in mind.

"Whether intentionally or not," the President said, "gross injustice is evident in the attitude and actions of (several) big countries against countries whose societies adhere to Islam."

This injustice, she said, was evident in the unilateral actions taken by a number of countries against Iraq. On a smaller scale, the same injustice was being done by outlawing head scarves in "a certain" European country.

"Whether or not they are aware of it, such discriminatory measures test the sincerity of those big countries in observing human rights, which they have strived to accomplish since the 20th century," she said.

Of course, compared to the vituperative comments from the former Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, Megawati's criticism of the double-standard "certain countries" apply to the Muslim world is mild indeed.

Speaking at the opening of an Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in October in Putra Jaya, Malaysia, for example, Mahathir said -- among other things -- that "the Jews control the world" and used others to wage war on their behalf. "Europeans killed six out of 12 million Jews, but now the Jews control the world by proxy. Others are fighting and dying for them," he said.

Furthermore, said Mahathir, "it is impossible that there is no other way (than violence). Muslims, who number 1.3 billion people, cannot be defeated by Jews, who number only a few million people."

In response to the fierce reactions that arose in the West to his "anti-Semitic remarks", Mahathir said his remarks were taken out of context and refused to retract them. His speech, he said, was merely meant to awaken Muslims to their plight and to spur them on to work harder in order to overcome it. On another occasion, the articulate and outspoken prime minister said the Muslim world should be strong enough to instill fear in the hearts of "the enemy" -- the only way to earn respect.

Whatever the differences between Megawati and Mahathir, Megawati's response to the West's hostile reaction to Mahathir deserve noting.

Megawati called upon the OIC to improve its communication with those outside its own sphere to generate a better understanding of Islam in the non-Muslim world. "At present," said Megawati at the time, "it seems that Islam is seen as identical to terrorism. In actuality ... the heart of Islamic teachings is imbued with tolerance, compassion and moderation."

It seems fair to conclude, then, that the differences that exist between the two leaders' aims for Islam are not as substantial as they may appear at first. In fact, they may be nonexistent, as both seek global respect for Islam and its followers.

Whereas Megawati mainly placed stress on achieving global understanding for the moderate, peace-loving and inclusive nature of Islam, however, the more pragmatic, more outspoken Mahathir seems to believe that Muslims should not overlook building strength through progress in order to improve the lot of the ummah, or Muslim community, and at the same time, gain fair treatment and respect from the non-Muslim world.

It goes without saying that realizing prosperity, fairness and justice in an admittedly unfair world is much easier said than done. In the end, it is the methods by which the Muslim world try and achieve their aims that will determine the non-Muslim world's perception of Islam.