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.