The changing faces of Islam

Abeer Mishkhas, Common Ground News Service -- Partners in Humanity, Washington D.C.

Battle for Islam was the title of the documentary broadcast by the BBC this month. It was shown later in London to a limited audience at Chatham House; both the presenter and the director of the film were present and participated in a lively discussion.

Ziauddin Sardar, the presenter, wrote that his program showed another side of what is perceived as "a narrow, intolerant, obscurantist, illiberal and confrontational interpretation" of Islam.

He aimed to show the differences in Islam from one country to another; his premise was that all are pieces of a puzzle which add up to the face of Islam according to a variety of voices. He goes on a journey to the edges of the Muslim world, to countries that have not been closely looked at.

The journey took him to Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey and Morocco.

After the film was shown, Sardar said that he had tried to avoid violent pictures which the media have delighted in since Sept. 11. Nonetheless, the film begins with a violent image -- the Twin Towers on fire -- but after all, that is a violent image which has been the springboard for all the debate on Islam. It begins with a question about the identities of those who committed the atrocities and in pursuit of this, he goes to Pakistan first to discover what has changed in some "Muslims" thought and made them violent and intolerant."

Pakistan, according to him, stands on the border between extremism and moderation. After Sept. 11, the Pakistani madarassas were accused of fomenting extremism of all kinds. As he strolls about, Sardar talks to people and records his impressions of the debate on varying interpretations of Islam.

In a school in Lahore, a teacher tells him that she teaches the girls how to be true followers of Islam; she tells him that Islam does not prevent these girls from working when they grow up, provided they have permission from their husbands. President Musharaf tells Sardar that he is all for enlightened moderation which encourages the moderate forces in society.

From Pakistan, the crew moves to Indonesia, and a security guard in Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque. The guard says that he wants his son to grow up to be a Muslim who will be "a credit to his country and to his religion." For him, Islam is a way of life which guarantees his son's secure future.

In Malaysia, there is a group -- "Sisters in Islam" -- which seeks equality between men and women in religion. One of the members is a female law student who wants to become a judge; she believes that religion is a belief in the heart and that classifying people into "believers" and "non-believers" is unjust. Religion, in her opinion, is between a person and God.

Beside the debate, we are shown the life of a simple Muslim woman who works in a carpet factory and contentedly performs her daily prayers. Her dream is to have enough money to make the pilgrimage to Makkah.

In a complete about-face, Sardar meets a government adviser who says he is Jewish but has no problems working in a high- profile job in a Muslim country.

The last country visited is Turkey where the subject of secularism and religion is hotly debated at all levels of society.

The program was criticized by some for using a former "Miss Turkey" to show the country's diversity. Now a fashion model, she talked about her family; how her mother is a devout Muslim while her father is an atheist. She said, "I carry prayers in my wallet all the time and read them whenever I can. I find peace in my prayers."

She made a good point, "What matters is to live and behave like a real human being. If someone goes out and harms someone and then comes home and prays five times a day, is that religion?"

One interesting -- and correct -- comment made to Sardar after the film was shown was that many conservative Christians would also disapprove of what Miss Turkey was wearing.

When the film ended what came to my mind was that some of the women in those countries seemed to be making gradual changes in their societies. In fact that was one of the points Sardar made after the film; he said that he regarded women as leaders for change and that based on his experiences while on the journey that women seemed to embrace the courage and new thinking that would begin the tide of change.

Sardar did say, in defense of his limited choice of countries that he thought change often started from the edges and worked toward the center. The film did not indulge in the usual stereotypes; for the first time, we say a documentary about the Muslim world which avoided reference to violence as well as the intolerant and one-sided ideologies of some Muslims.

A criticism which was made was that the film needed more depth, that it was lightweight and merely skimmed the surface of a rich and complicated world.

Abeer Mishkhas is a writer for Arab News.