The first reading from this week concerned myths about Muslims and in particular those living in Europe. Justin Vaisse lays out four myths in his article that must be addressed in order to deal with the real challenges currently facing Europe. The first myth he discusses is that being Muslim “constitutes a fixed identity” in the eyes of other non-Muslim people. Furthermore, this means that rather than looking at someone’s social class, nationality, or gender they are characterized by their Muslim faith. They use the Muslim community as a whole as a scapegoat for other problems. Another myth he goes on to discuss is the idea that Muslims in Europe are in a sense foreign and “alien” to the native culture. This is simply not true and for centuries European culture has been in ways influenced by Muslim culture. For example, “the approximately 15 to 17 million persons of Muslim background currently in the EU-27 countries (population: 500 million) include both citizens and non-citizens of European member states, but a majority of them hold French, British, German, etc. nationality” this highlights the integration of Muslim people into the European sphere.
One reason it is important to make a distinction between the religious and political dimensions of Islam is that the political dimension is not always representative of the actual religious core. One important point to be made is that Sharia Law owes very little to the Quran and cant be taken as divine. Some Muslim rulers have departed from what the Quran says and one must differentiate between what the fait says and what the government does. Another important point is that authoritarian regimes who claim their version of Islam as absolute truth deny manifest diversity of plurality of Islam. These regimes make their own rules and their actions are not always representative of the faith.
I found the TED talk by Mustafa Akyol to be very interesting and informative. He does a great job of explaining how the worlds general idea of the Islamic faith is too focused on tradition and not enough on its core beliefs. It is important that we don’t generalize a problem created by extremists to the entire Muslim community because it is not reflective of the group at large. One of his main points is that many problems people associate with Islam are a product of tradition and how a ruling body used select facets of Islam to justify their model of ruling. One example is the seclusion of women in certain Muslim cultures which is not mentioned in the Quran but rather adopted by a ruling party. Another one of his main points was that political culture is the real problem not Islam. Non-Muslim governments point to the past and highlight examples of how Muslim led governments have been oppressive and used faith as justification for some of their practices. This is unfair because as time goes on different people take control of government and just because one regime misinterpreted the Quran doesn’t mean the next one will. Another point he makes is that one reason relations between Europe and the middle East have been tense is due to colonialism. European colonialism has led to resentment from the Middle Eastern community and made many become more stringent in their beliefs.
Another topic discussed in this week’s readings was that of what is Islam and who is a Muslim. Islam is a monotheistic religion and to be a part of this faith one must believe that “There is no God but God, and prophet Muhammad is the messenger of the God” and do so freely and sincerely. Islam affirms belief in one God who is all powerful and the absolute creator. One important tenant of Islam is that it rejects the idea that God intervenes in human form in history. There are three pillars of the Muslim faith and the first the Shahadah which is a call to prayer every day. The second is salat or prayer which should be done five times a day. The third pillar is that Muslims shall partake in fasting during Ramadan. To believe in Islam is to believe in the unity of God, believe in the prophethood of Muhammad and the messages of guidance he received, and believe in life after death and accountability on the day of judgement. A Muslim is someone who is logical and farsighted and is constantly aware of God’s presence in our everyday lives. A Muslim believes that the only explanation of all the wonder in the universe is that a creator exists.
The final reading discussed orientalism and the ramifications it has. Orientalism is a way of describing, representing, and controlling Islam. The term was coined by professor Said from Columbia university. However, Said may have coined the term but it has been used throughout history. Orientalism changed the way we view and study the Middle East and how we come to understand these “strangers”. One of the main points from the video with professor said is that the way we acquire knowledge about the orient is not innocent or objective, but rather has been influenced by certain motives and interests. For many years now, the West has formed views of the orient in a way that has distorted the reality of these places. It has served as a way for the Christian world to deal with the “problems” that Islam presents. It has served as justification for colonialism and a way for the West to have authority over the orient. A modern-day example of orientalism can be the stigma surrounding immigration on the southern U.S border. Immigrants have been painted as killers, drug dealers, and rapists so that the government can control who is being let in. They have been unfairly generalized and created a negative stigma around immigrants.
Sardar, Ziauddin, and Robin Yassin-Kassab. The Idea of Islam. C Hurst & Co, 2012.
Hunter, Shireen. Islam, Europes Second Religion: the New Social, Cultural, and Political Landscape. Praeger, 2002.
Vaïsse, Justin. “Muslims in Europe: A Short Introduction.” Brookings, Brookings, 28 July 2016, www.brookings.edu/research/muslims-in-europe-a-short-introduction/.
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