Western press creates Islam's stigma

Western press creates Islam's stigma

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid criticized on Tuesday the
Western media for associating Islam with violence, saying that
the move had led to an inaccurate perception of the religion.

The incorrect perception, according to Nurcholish, has
resulted in misunderstanding and exacerbated conflicts among
followers of different religious groups in the world.

"The Western media does not really understand Islam and lately
they have identified Islam with violence just because several
Muslims have attacked them (Western targets). This is what I call
an uninformed generalization as their judgment is based on
incomplete information," Nurcholish said on the second day of the
International Conference of Muslim Scholars in Jakarta.

Gregory Fealy from the Australian National University,
meanwhile, said that the media played an important role in
constructing fault lines across communities.

"For example, the Western media write about the dichotomy of
Indonesian Muslims with the moderates represented by Nadhatul
Ulama and Muhammadiyah and the radicals represented by Jamaah
Islamiyah as clear cut and that there is an on-going war between
the two," said Fealy.

He said the categorization led to the notion that the
moderates should win the battle against the radicals, thus
encouraging tension between religious groups in the country.

Fealy said that the clear cut dichotomy was in fact misleading
as many Muslim groups encompass both elements.

"The Justice and Prosperous Party is a good example. It is
heavily influenced by Muslim Brotherhood (an Egypt-based radical
movement that aims to form a pan Islamic state) but ... they
appear as an example of democrats, pluralist in forming
coalitions and upholders of high ethical standards in their
public life," Fealy said.

He said that the influence of the United States in encouraging
the dichotomy was evident as the U.S. was interested in seeing
the moderates rule the Islamic world of Islam rather than the
radicals, who they claim were behind the Sept. 11 attacks.

After the devastating attacks and ensuing acts of terror
across the world attributed to hard-line Muslims, Islam has been
stigmatized. Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world,
fell victim to terror attacks at the hands of homegrown zealots.

Nurcholish concurred and urged the Indonesian media not to
follow the Western media in associating Islam with violence.

"The most important thing is to stay independent. However,
free press doesn't mean unlimited freedom as the media must not
interfere with others' rights and national security, and also
must not publish excessive obscenity," said Nurcholish.

As an example of generalizations against Islam, the issue of
the head scarf prohibition in French public schools emerged on
the sidelines of the conference.

Media reports said earlier that demonstrations were rife in
France in protest of the government's policy as if all Muslims in
the country suffered as a result of the discriminatory policy.

"The fact is that 49 percent of Muslim women in France agree
with the law and only 43 percent oppose it," said Andree Feillard
of the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient.

A representative from France Muslim Council, Aslam Timol, also
acknowledged that only around 10 percent of Muslim French women
wore the head scarf.