Thursday, December 17, 2009
Understanding Islam and the West
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Eric Rothgery
Rothgery is an assistant professor in the Religion and Philosophy Department at Roanoke College. He teaches courses in Islam, Hinduism and world religions.
"Muslims should prove they're not terrorists," a Nov. 25 letter by James K. Morgan of Roanoke, achieved ranging effects. It sparked lively discussion in these pages and demonstrates how divided appraisals remain of the Muslim world, past and present.
I have followed some of the letters to the editor over the last few weeks responding to Morgan's offering and hope to provide some background for our community to consider.
Two camps seem to have developed: One reading of events over the last few decades involving the Muslim world regards Islam as fundamentally, civilizationally, conflictually, incongruous with the so-called West; and the other reading regards Islam not only as a long-time part of the West but as a partner in streams of faith traditions that span the globe, transcending nation-states and political ideologies.
Morgan's provocative letter clearly belongs to the former reading, as do some of the follow-up responses including David Dabbs' "Read up on Islam before defending it" (Dec. 5), William W. Joness' "Limited profiling could prevent killings" (Dec. 7) and Richard Huddleston's "Muslims haven't contributed lately" (Dec. 14).
Several letters have generally represented the latter reading, including letters from Paul Thomas ("So, then, are all Christians violent too?" Dec. 1), Mark Schleupner ("A woeful ignorance of Muslim innovation," Dec. 2), Owen G. Schultz ("To judge all Muslims is grossly unfair," Dec. 6), S.A. Miller ("Religious zealots are of any faith," Dec. 8) and Charlotte Moore ("Not all Muslims support terrorism," Dec. 8).
To say our community is divided on these issues is an obvious understatement. Here, I hope to demonstrate that many of the assumptions of Morgan, Dabbs, Joness and Huddleston are problematic, and to recognize the range of ways in which Muslims have been a part of the West even while some seek to recognize past conflicts and abuses.
One of Morgan's rhetorical questions is to ask "why are not these good Muslims vocally condemning the activities of these terrorists [like 9/11 or Fort Hood]?" Aside from his own answer, "They seem to know nothing but death and destruction," we should recognize that most of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world quite distance themselves from the actions of these few militants.
Many have indeed spoken out on these issues, including, prominently, a group of Muslim scholars and other leaders who, in October 2007, released an open letter to Christian leaders all over the world.
This document, called "A Common Word Between Us and You," is supported by hundreds of Islamic organizations around the world. It was signed by 138 prominent Muslims from dozens of countries -- including Caner Dagli, who preceded me in this position in the Religion and Philosophy Department at Roanoke College.
"A Common Word" is a based on an earlier 2004 document, the "Amman Message," both of which have sought to decry fringe terrorist actions as un-Islamic and also to create a basis of dialogue and understanding between Muslims and Christians found in common notions of love for God and love for neighbor.
Likewise, we would do well to recognize that assumptions of "us" and "them" with regard to the Muslim world are faulty. Islam is the second-largest religion in America -- behind Christianity and just ahead of Judaism -- and is the fastest growing. The overwhelming numbers of Muslims in the West represent streams of Muslims whose historic contributions to cultural development in America and Europe are too numerous to outline here (though Schleupner includes coffee, surgery, Arabic numerals, chess, fountain pens, checking accounts, vaccination and cameras).
Muslim contributions to world cultures continue in a range of fields, including the sciences (e.g. Ahmed Zawail's 1999 Nobel Prize in chemistry), humanities (Orhan Pamuk's 2006 Nobel Prize in literature) and industry (Akhtar Hameed Khan's theories of microcredit).
We benefit in recognizing that challenges remain as beleaguered communities of Muslims, in and out of the U.S., seek not only recognition that Islam is a religion of peace (derived from the Arabic root S-L-M, peace), but that there are extremists in every community (as noted by Thomas and Miller).
Recognition that scars remain from periods of colonial rule and decade of interventionist American and European foreign policy will help ease this "otherspeak." We have opportunities through dialogue and neighborliness to move toward a common word -- let's do so as responsible, reflective citizens in Roanoke and beyond.
