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| Islam And The Global Challenge: Dealing with Disto |
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| amatullah |
| 10/05/03 at 22:18:28 |
| Islam And The Global Challenge: Dealing with Distortion of the Image of Islam by the Global Media By Louay M. Safi Professor of political science at the International Islamic University in Malaysia [23/05/2002] [http://islamonline.net/english/Contemporary/2002/05/Article6.shtml] This paper examines the nature of the current media campaign aiming at the distortion of the image of Islam, identifies several tactics used by the detractors of Islam and its symbols, and proposes an appropriate response for dealing with the challenge posed by the global media. I contend that the media campaign against Islam is politically motivated, lead by powerful quarters in western society who see in Islam a potential global power and civilizational alternative, capable of challenging western hegemony. Examining several examples from the global media, I argue that the campaign to distort the image of Islam endeavors to equate Islam with imposition and aggression, while justifying imposition and aggression against Muslims. I conclude by proposing a few measures for dealing with the challenge of the global media. § Global Order and Global Challenge § Antagonistic Attitude in Policy Making and Reporting § Global Media Tactics in the War on Islam § Inadequacy of Muslim Response § Rising to the Global Challenge § Conclusion § Endnotes Global Order and Global Challenge Our attempt to understand the root causes of recent attacks on Islam and the efforts to distort its image must begin by examining the relationship between Islam and emerging realities on the ground. For, as I will endeavor to demonstrate, it is not by sheer coincidence that the campaign against Islam receives its momentum from certain powerful quarters in western society, the center and stronghold of the global order of today. The campaign against Islam is a conscious and deliberate effort by the established global order to discredit a universal belief system which has been presenting itself as a civilizational alternative to western secularism, and to undermine a historical movement which, as its critics admit, has the potential to become a globalizing power. The recent western interest in Islam dates back to the mid-1970s, when the Islamic way of life became the choice of an increasing segment of Muslim society. The rejuvenation of Islamic ideas and practices was felt in all levels of society, including the educated and well-to-do, and took various forms, including intellectual and political. This development came as a surprise to many western scholars and policy makers, who, a decade earlier, had declared the triumph of western liberalism and the demise of Islam in the Muslim world. Daniel Lerner made, in The Passing of Traditional Society, the following assessment of the place of Islam in the Middle Eastern society: whether from East or West, modernization poses the same basic challenge-the infusion of "a rationalist and positivist spirit" against which scholars seem agreed, "Islam is absolutely defenseless." The phasing and modality of the process have changed, however, in the past decade. Where Europeanization once penetrated only the upper level of Middle East society, affecting mainly leisure-class fashions, modernization today diffuses among a wider population and touches public institutions as well as private aspirations with its disquieting "positivist spirit."1 By the late 1980s, the western perception of Islam took a drastically different form. With the spread of Islamic reassertiveness eastward and westward, within and beyond Muslim society-a phenomenon often referred to as Islamic resurgence-many eminent scholars in the West began to view Islam not as a dying creed of purely historical significance, but as a formidable force, potentially threatening to western globalization. In his widely read and highly celebrated book, The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama had the following to say about Islam: It is true that Islam constitutes a systematic and coherent ideology, just like liberalism and communism, with its own code of morality and doctrine of political and social justice. The appeal of Islam is potentially universal, reaching out to all men as men, and not just to members of a particular ethnic or national group. And Islam has indeed defeated liberal democracy in many parts of the Islamic world, posing a grave threat to liberal practices even in countries where it has not achieved political power directly. The end of the cold war in Europe was followed immediately by a challenge to the West from Iraq, in which Islam was arguably a factor.2 While Fukuyama moves quickly in the next paragraph to dismiss the relevance of Islam on the grounds that it "has virtually no appeal outside those areas that were culturally Islamic to begin with," the fact remains that Islam is perceived by the author to pose a threat to western globalism, as it is capable of providing a "coherent ideology" and is "potentially universal, reaching out to all men as men." The above sentiments are echoed by Zbigniew Brzezinski, an American statesman and foreign policy strategist. In Out of Control, a book published shortly after the demise of the Soviet Union, Brzezinski sounds more alarming as he warns against an Islamic expansion to Central Asia, taking advantage, as he puts it, of the power vacuum created by the collapse of the Soviet empire: Since nature abhors vacuum, it is already evident that outside powers, particularly the neighboring Islamic states, are likely to try to fill the geopolitical void created in Central Asia by the collapse of the Russian imperial sway. Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan have already been jockeying in order to extend their influence, while the more distant Saudi Arabia has been financing a major effort to revitalize the region's Moslem cultural and religious heritage. Islam is thus pushing northward, reversing the geopolitical momentum of the last two centuries.3 While Brzezinski does not dismiss the capacity of Islam to effect sociopolitical transformation of global proportions, he rightly points out to the current limitations of contemporary Islamic reassertiveness, reflected in the absence of a concrete model for translating Islamic ideals into social reality. Antagonistic Attitude in Policy Making and Reporting Evidently, the open attack on Islam represents a reactionary response by powerful groups in the West against an Islamic resurgence that has been deemed threatening to the global order. The attack on Islam and its symbols runs on two fronts: In foreign policy, western leaders have already concluded that Islamic forces in the Muslim world must be curtailed at any cost. Therefore, in countries were Islamic groups have succeeded in gaining political influence in state policy, western powers have adopted the strategy of encirclement, which aims at isolating regimes with a strong Islamic orientation. However, when Islamic groups have gained significant popular support but no actual political power, the West has condoned, even encouraged, secular regimes to adopt repressive measures to prevent further growth in popularity and influence. On the mass media front, the attack assumes even more vicious form, as western media seem bent to equate the highly tolerant and humane worldview of Islam with religious fanaticism, and to reduce the widely diverse approaches and concerns of Islamic groups into religious violence. What is more disturbing, however, is that while western media strongly condemn what is wrongly portrayed as Islamic imposition and aggression, they take all pains to justify secular imposition and aggression, ruthlessly practice by security forces of military dictatorships throughout the Muslim world. But before we turn to examine some of the tactics underlining the above strategy of western media, it is important to point out the reciprocal relationship between media reporting and foreign policy making. The significance of the actions undertaken by media reporters and foreign policy actors lies in the fact that they feed into each other, leading to constant and continuous escalation in the confrontation between Islam and the West. That is, by supporting military dictators in the Muslim world, western policy makers create conditions conducive to political radicalism, as the suppressive measures of the state push certain Islamist groups to violence. On the other hand, by concentrating on radical groups and presenting them as the representatives par excellence of contemporary Islamic resurgence, media reporters reinforce the fears of policy makers and encourage them to stick to their hard line. Global Media Tactics in the War on Islam The distortion of the image of Islam and Muslims by the global media takes a variety of forms. Occasionally, distortion results from reporters' ignorance of Islam and their tendency to extrapolate from their particular experiences of religion and religious groups in western society to Islam and Muslim groups. Very often, however, distortion represents a deliberate effort by certain news agencies and reporters who, out of malice and ill will, use several tactics to discredit Islam and defame Muslims. Four tactics may be pointed out: a. Distortion of Islamic worldviews and practices Western media reports are rampant with distorted views about Islam. However, a few examples should suffice to demonstrate this point. In a news feature published in its 15 September 1990 issue, under the title "Arab Christians Exodus," The Economist endeavored, albeit in a very subtle manner, to link what it referred to as "Christian exodus" to the dominance of Islam in the Arab world. The opening paragraph put the issue in the following dramatic terms: In fact, Christianity is dying in the land of its birth. Christians are leaving Palestine and Lebanon in such numbers that local churches fear for their future. In all the Arab lands, it seems, only Egypt's Christian community is thriving. But, rather than attributing the Christian "exodus" to deteriorating economic and security conditions caused by Zionist and Maronite excesses in Palestine and Lebanon respectively, the article points a finger at Islam, citing alleged Muslim "revenge on all Christians" following the defeat of the Crusaders, and alludes to the emigration of many Christians to Europe and the Americas, following the colonial powers' withdrawal from Muslim lands. The article fails to point out that Christian communities continued to thrive in Muslim societies before, during, and after the Crusades, even after the brutal "ethnic cleansing" of the Muslims of Spain by Christian gothics. Neither does the article state that many of the emigrants who left with the colonial powers were Muslim collaborators who feared retribution for having supported invading forces. In another article published in June 1995 in the same magazine under the title "Islam's Dark Side," The Economist called upon the "international community" to give the Sudanese opposition-most notably the rebels in the south-"whatever help it needs to remove Mr. Turabi." While The Economist cites what it refers to as an "economic disaster" in Sudan-of course forgetting that such "disaster" is created by the western embargo on Sudan-as the reason for its anger with Turabi, it could not hide the fact that the Islamic orientation of the Sudanese government is a major source of its anger, particularly the government's efforts to implement "shari`a law" and its attempt "to export its version of Islam." b. Associating Practices of Radical Muslim Groups and Individuals with Islam Not all global media activities take the form of an open distortion of facts and views. A great deal of the media campaign against Islam involves subtle messages and tactics. Using the adjective "Islamic" to describe terrorist acts conducted by radical individuals or groups is widely practiced. A headline announcing that "[a] trial in France is showing how difficult it is to pin down the blame for Islamic terrorism" is not uncommon. Of course, violence by Jewish or Christian individuals and groups can never be referred to as Jewish terrorism or Christian terrorism. The phrase "Catholic terrorism" would never come across the mind of The Economist's editors when describing car bomb attacks by the Irish Republican Army. Such practice is reserved solely for Islam. Even when an article is not particularly hostile to Islam and Muslims, hostile titles are used, such as "Islam arrow of death" and "A religion with many faces." c. Presenting Islam as a Source of Threat and Menace to Western Society In an article published in the Herald Tribune in its 6 July 1995 issue, Richard Cohen examined the rising popularity of the Welfare Party in Turkey. In assessing the growth of the Islamic presence there and its implications for the West, Cohen had the following to say: For the West the stakes here are enormous and the threat of Turkey going the way of Iran has given the country an importance it has not had since the cold war ended. . . . Should Turkey become an Islamic republic, no Iranian containment policy could succeed-nor, probably, one directed at Iraq. Turkey would leave NATO, in a sense fleeing Europe for the Middle East. Undoubtedly, it would join the anti-Israeli bloc of Islamic nations. What it would do in Bosnia, and to the sleep of the Greeks, is not hard to guess. The above words are quite revealing. Although the Welfare Party cannot be accused of militancy or violence, its Islamic orientation is sufficient to make the prospect of an Islamic Republic in Turkey alarming. For, as Cohen put it, in this case Turkey would be "fleeing Europe to the Middle East" and hence cannot be relied upon, as it would be supporting the interests of the Muslim Middle East, rather than those of Western Europe. The same approach was used by American media after the car bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April 1995. On 20 April 1995, the Seattle Post-Intelligeneer quoted Robert Heibel, former FBI director of counter terrorism, who said: "My feeling is-if it looks like a duck, talks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's probably a duck. . . . [C]ar bombings are the tool of Islamic fundamentalism." On the next day, The Wall Street Journal published the following statement on Muslim communities in the United States: "Growing Muslim communities in other areas of the US, such as in New York, Detroit and Oklahoma City, also include some extremist members who could provide support for terrorists, analysts say." d. Justifying Imposition on, and Aggression Against, Muslims Another tactic used by the global media is to justify acts of aggression against Muslims. Again, one can find many examples of this kind of tactic in the western press. In an article published in Le Monde on 13 September 1994, which reappeared in English in the Guardian on 25 September, Robert Sole defended the move by certain French schools to prevent Muslim girls from wearing a hijab (headscarf). While conceding that Christian and Jewish pupils are not prevented by French schools from wearing religious symbols such as a crucifix and kippas, he took exception with Muslim attire. Wearing hijab, as he saw it, is neither a simple act of displaying religious symbols, nor one that aims at maintaining Muslim modesty, but rather an act that "symbolizes the inequality of the sexes and the confinement of women." And so, rather than attributing repression to schools, which prevent Muslim girls from practicing an important religious duty, repression is strangely attributed to the victims of an act of aggression. Another example of justifying aggression against Muslims can be found in a report published in the 26 December 1994 issue of Newsweek Magazine under the heading "Retreat." The news report examined the effectiveness of the United Nations mission in Bosnia, and concluded that the mission has been disastrous. However, rather than calling for tougher measures against Serb aggression, the article insisted that sending peacekeeping troops and declaring certain Bosnian cities "safe areas" can only contribute to prolonging the agony of the Bosnian people. As Kenneth Auchincloss, the author of the article, puts it: And in retrospect, it's not at all clear that anything the Western nations might have done-short of an all out armed intervention that none of them was willing to undertake-would have stopped this war; it springs from ancient hatreds that outsiders can't suppress or assuage. What is clear is that half measures like arms embargoes and so-called "safe areas" have very likely prolonged it. The blue helmets have helped relieve some of the horrors in Sarajevo but their very presence reinforces the stalemate that makes the siege go on-and this is hardly a favor to the beleaguered citizens. What lies at the heart of the miscalculations about Bosnia is a kind of sentimentality to which the West is particularly prone. We rush to make humanitarian gestures without thinking very much about the consequences. When confronted by the spectacle of human suffering, we feel an immediate impulse to try to help. When the suffering occurs in a war zone, the only way to send help is under cover of an armed force. And when an armed force is sent, it inevitably gets drawn into the battle but lacks the strength to stop it. A similar article published in Time magazine on 26 June 1995 under the title "Why Peacekeeping Doesn't Work" made even a more outrageous suggestion. Henry Grunwald, the author of this article, proposed that a "peacekeeping" force should not be committed to areas such as Bosnia and Somalia, where Muslims are slaughtered, but rather to places where dictators are involved in power struggles with Islamic groups in order to support the former against the later. With or without the U.N., under what circumstances should the U.S. intervene? All right, not Somalia, not Bosnia-but where and how? In some cases it must limit itself to humanitarian aid and avoid military involvement. In other cases, intervention by the U.S. and its allies may be necessary. For example: aggression or nuclear threats from Iraq, Iran or North Korea; eruptions of Islamic fundamentalism, which are even now destabilizing Algeria and could threaten Turkey, bringing intolerable pressures on Europe; "local" wars, like those in India and Pakistan, that might turn nuclear. Neither the White House nor its critics are educating Americans about how such events-and others-would affect U.S. vital interests. This kind of crisis would certainly require more than "peacekeeping." Thus some new words have entered the conversation: peace making, peace enforcing. But perhaps we should revive the term pacification, in the sense the Romans had in mind when they "pacified" the unruly Germanic tribes, or the British when they "pacified" the Northwest Frontier. This is not to prescribe a new imperialism but to recognize that sometimes peace requires adequate force. Inadequacy of Muslim Response While the overwhelming coverage of Islam and Muslims is of the distorted type pointed out above, one can still find every now and then some objective reporting. Examples of this can be found even in publications notorious for their anti-Islamic propaganda. Le Monde, for instance, carried in its 19 April 1995 issue a news feature, titled "Egypt Shuts Islamists Out of Politics," describing the regime's repression and human rights violations against Islamist groups in Egypt. An editorial by The Economist, in its 18 March 1995 issue, advocated, under the title "Living with Islam," a more accommodative stance, and cautioned against lumping various Islamist groups into one category. The question, however, is how are Muslims responding to global challenges? Admittedly, the Muslim response to media distortion of Islam is, for the most part, meager and ineffective. The campaign of distortion and misinformation against Islam has not been effectively countered by Muslim media, simply because the latter is practically non-existent. For beyond the few publications normally circulated among small groups of people who are already committed to the cause of Islam, one can hardly speak of Muslim mass media. While the ineffectiveness of Muslim media and its inability to counteract the abusive campaign against Islam may partially be explained by the economic and political imbalance between the established global order and the world of Islam, the true reasons lie in the manner in which Islam is being introduced and promoted. The term used by committed Muslims in reference to the various activities which aim at exposing people to Islam and promoting Islamic beliefs and values is da`wah. The method of da`wah that is widely discussed and accepted for passing on the true Islamic values and beliefs is the personal interaction between the transmitter of the Islamic message and its recipients. The model da`wah is that which was practiced by the Prophet Muhammad and the sahaba (the Prophet's companions). Thus, an author writes: da`wah is not an occupation to be undertaken by any professional group, neither is it a contingent or part-time activity nor one undertaken in reaction to Christian missions or communist onslaughts. Da`wah is the responsibility of every Muslim, whether a ruler or ruled, a leader or follower, a scholar or student, a Sufi or soldier, a trader or farmer, wealthy or poor, a man or a woman, living in the East or the West, North or South. No one has a greater or lesser responsibility among Daiya, those who undertake da`wah, and no one can (shrink), postpone or evade this responsibility under any circumstances.4 This argument, which represents a widely accepted view, fails to distinguish between promoting Islam by individual Muslims from different walks of life, as a result of the goodness of their character and attitude and the nobility of their actions, on the one hand, and promoting Islam through planned action undertaken by professionally trained Muslims, on the other. The latter requires the utilization of the most advanced skills and techniques available, most notably arts and technology. Arts include, among others, playwriting, acting, and singing. Technology includes the use of electronic media, whereby transmitted pictures and sounds can be employed to convey the message of Islam. The marriage of the two has produced powerful media, capable of transmitting values, beliefs, and views in the form of movies, theater plays, documentaries, educational programs, talk shows, cartoon shows, and others. But, despite the importance of electronic media and the profound impact they have made in effecting cultural change, they have not yet become tools and instruments for the dissemination of the message of Islam. One important sign of the lack of appreciation of these powerful tools may be seen in the fact that Islamic higher learning institutions do not consider arts and technology to be useful means for reaching out with the message of Islam, but continue to focus on interpersonal communication, and to a lesser extent on public speaking. Recently, print media has received more emphasis by Islamists. However, newspapers and magazines published by Islamists are very often oriented towards Islamic movement audiences, rather than the public at large. Rising to the Global Challenge The challenge posed by the global media is tremendous and quite serious. Nothing can be more devastating to the image of a religion distinguished by its tolerant and liberating spirit than being reduced to the categories of "terrorism" and "fanaticism." But this is exactly what the detractors of Islam hope to achieve through their global campaign against Islam. Rising to the global challenge requires a well-thought and well-implemented strategy. While developing an appropriate strategy requires extensive discussion and debate among concerned Muslims and the contribution of various Muslim scholars and leaders, I would like to present the following four strategic points for responding to the global challenge: a. The stumbling block in the face of developing an effective Muslim mass media comes from certain influential quarters who insist on excluding arts and technology from da`wah activities. The rigid views advanced by these individuals and groups not only stem from static understanding of certain Islamic injunctions, understood out of their context and without regard to essential Qur'anic principles and purposes, but also from the failure to distinguish between expectations of persons pursuing a life of high devotion, and expectations of ordinary people who are content with doing the firmly required and avoiding the strongly prohibited. And, while reducing leisure time to the minimum possible is befitting to individuals who have committed their lives to serving noble causes, this should not be expected from the great majority who lack such motivation and aspiration. For most people, entertainment is something required and sought, and hence entertainment programs should be used to convey the noble message of Islam. b. For this reason, professional mass-media organizations should be established to promote the values of Islam and to present more equitable views of Muslim aspirations and practices. In order for such media to meet the global challenge, they have to speak with a global "language" and to target a global audience. This requires that Muslim media agencies employ all sorts of arts and technology available to reach out to the widest audience possible and to carry the concerns of humanity at large, rather than parochial and narrow concerns. They should also try to report on a wide range of issues and discuss, in a structured manner, a wide range of questions, not only those of specific interest to Islamic groups and movements. For this reason, professional media organizations should be autonomous from any social and political movement. This condition is important for maintaining their professionalism, since coming under the direct influence of any political and social group would inevitably lead media organizations to become the mouth-piece of these groups. c. But, for media organizations to operate in the manner proposed above, they would require highly trained personnel who have acquired technical skills and artistic talents. For this purpose, the contribution of technical schools and the institutions of higher learning is very crucial. Islamic universities, in particular, carry the burden of developing programs and curricula which can allow the integration of Islamic knowledge and technical skills, so as to ultimately become capable of producing journalists, playwrites, script writers, actors, singers, documentary producers, and communicators who combine technical skills and artistic talents with Islamic commitment and aspirations. d. Finally, in order for Muslim media to take a global dimension, Muslim resources should be combined throughout the globe. Combining resources needs not aim at consolidation of capital or management, although a limited degree of this can be useful. Rather, the combination of resources should concentrate on exchanging experiences, facilitating distribution, and similar forms of cooperation which may take the form of networking. Conclusion Distortions of the image of Islam, as I have tried to show, stem from the fact that Islam is seen by powerful interests as a challenger to the now established global order. To check the expansion of Islamic appeal and to mobilize public opinion against its symbols, Islam has to be presented as a negative force, leading to oppression and violence. It is the duty of all Muslims to see to it that the true nature of Islam as the religion of reason, tolerance, and justice reaches out to people all over the world. Combating distortion and restoring the true image of Islam is by no means an easy task. It requires full cooperation among Muslim organizations and higher learning institutions so as to allow the combination of resources. It also requires the development of artistic and technological skills and capabilities necessary for the utilization of the wide spectrum of mass media tools for the communication of the message of Islam. More important than all, it requires a profound change in prevailing attitudes and practices concerning the use of arts and technology for the promotion of Islam, and the development of an appropriate strategy to confront its detractors. Endnotes 1- Daniel Lerner, The Passing of Traditional Society (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1958), p. 45. 2- Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man (New York: Avon Books, 1992), pp. 45-6. 3- Zbigniew Brzezinski, Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of Twenty-first Century (New York: Maxell Macmillan, 1993), p. 159. 4- M. Manazir Ahsan, "Dawa and Its Significance for the Future," in Beyond Frontiers: Islam Contemporary Needs, ed. by Merryl Wyn Davies and Adnan Khalil Pasha (Mansell Publishing, 1989), p. 14. |
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