Islamophobia
and anti-Americanism have arisen in line with the series of shocking events
that have taken place in recent years. Be it the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the
non-stop searching for Osama bin Laden, the suicide bombing in certain places,
or the discrimination towards Muslims around the world, those factors have
contributed to the actively progressing Islamophobia and anti-Americanism.
Shryock
(2010) highlighted that though Islamophobia is well linked to the contemporary
Americans and Europeans, nevertheless people of countries in the world are also
posing the same degree of threats to the minority Muslims; these includes
China, India, and several African countries. However, as Americans are the most
apparent party in this sense,
Islamophobia among Americans is highly recognised; particularly in the form of
mosque vandalism, hate crimes against individuals thought to be Muslims,
sensational press coverage of “the Muslim threat” and the selected policing and surveillance of
Muslim communities (Shryock, 2010). Anti-Americanism, on the other hand, has
began much earlier in many countries, for instance Phillipines, African
countries and and also some European countries for various reasons; by and
large economy and politics (Seesemann, 2006; O’Connor ed., 2007). However, anti-Americanism among Muslims in
the present context is highly boosted by the fear and prejudice imposed towards
Muslims.
Muzammil
Siddiqi in his article, “We Should Build on the Great Values Shared by All
Religions” talked mainly about the issue of curing Islamophobia and
anti-Americanism. The stated article which has been published in 2007 by Amana
Publication, Maryland together with other articles in a compilation; “
Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism: Causes and Remedies” edited by Mohamed Nimar
emphasised on the common values shared by people of all religions as the
factors in treating Islamophobia and anti-Americanism.
Muzammil
Siddiqi saw that Islamophobia and anti-Americanism have created a large gap
between the two community involved; Muslims and Americans. As the title of the
article reflects, he in his writing has proposed on the importance of values
shared by all religions as the foundation
to live in the world’s community, in peace and tranquility. For Muzammil,
because of these two influential positions, many people on both sides of the
stream have now believed that they have nothing in common.
The
author did not agree with extremism; in which the idea that “we” are different
from “them” is applied, and as “we” are good and “they” are evil, “we” must
control and hate “them”. This situation can be referred to as social
categorization as discussed in social psychology. Social categorization is
defined as the tendency to divide the social world into separate categories;
the in-group (us) and the various out-groups (them) (Baron, Byrne &
Branscombe, 2006). The divisions are more likely to be based on differences
between the groups; in term of religion, culture, language, or even the way of
dressing.
As it is in nature for a person to has a
tendency towards another who shares similarities with him, that person is more
likely to perceive the others that are in the in-group in favorable terms,
while the person of the out-group is perceived more negatively (Baron et. al.,
2006). This attitude will eventually leads to prejudice and discrimination, the
social ailments that can produce dissonance and violence. And this is what had
been revealed by Muzammil.
Islamophobia
and anti-Americanism is the effect of social categorization which then leads to
the prejudice among both social groups. The Americans see Muslims as terrorist
and culprits, and Muslims retaliate. The “us” and “them” idea has totally
dominating the minds of both social groups thus create ravine between Muslims
and Americans, eventually putting them on with the glasses which reflect
nothing but total dissimilarity. In contrary, the author believed that all people
have many things in common. They share the same common sense, common humanity,
concerns, issues and problems as they are normal human being.
Muzammil
supported his claim (of people sharing values regardless of religion believed)
by comparing the Ten Commandments in Judaism with verses from Qur’an bringing
the same meaning. He totally agreed with the Ten Commandments as when compared
to the verses from Qur’an, both show similarity in promoting moral values and
principles. For example, he linked the
verse “ Thou shalt have no other gods before me” in the Old Testament (Exodus)
with the verse from al-Qur’an, “Do not associate another deity with God.” This
is exactly true as both Books are the revelation of Allah for His Messangers.
The split came when the followers deviated from the true teachings.
The
author brought forward evidences from books reflecting the values shared by all
people regardless of the beliefs hold or culture resided in. From his
observation upon the golden rule in various traditions, Muzammil concluded that
all religions promote the same values. Though they talk in different styles and
languages but they are actually similar at the core. Morality is the highest
value uphold by the religion.
This
shows that all human is in fact sharing the same desire and need; to have a
good and harmony living. It is supported by Maslow (as cited in Slater, Hocking
and Loose, 2003) whom humanistic theory put forward the idea of every human is
driven by his inner need known as self actualization. This need is the highest
one, pursue by all after they had successfully achieved the four basic former
needs; physiological needs, safety and security, love and belongingness, and
esteem. This is a sign of the Greatness
of The Only God for creating human in unity despite the diversity shown. Subhanallah.
Going
back to the issue of Islamophobia and anti-Americanism, both should have not
been issues at the first place as for Muzammil, the Westerners and Muslims have
lived and worked together for a long time; indicating tolerance and parallelism
as a community should have taken place. The only thing to do now is to sit
together and understand these things, and more importantly to practice the
values preached.
But,
as promoting indifferences between religions, Muzammil asserted that there are
things which we as Muslims should stand by our own. Those things are things
that distinct Islam from other religions in the world. Although other religions
may talk on those values, but Islam put a very great emphasis on them, namely;
life, family, sobriety, modesty, freedom ad tolerance.
Islam
emphasizes family as the most important social institution. Islam emphasizes
the importance of preserving dignity by abstaining from sexual relations before
marriage. Islam also discourages divorce as the risks of it outweighed the
benefit. These points reflect the importance of marriage and family as one of
the most important school for every person. Family is where a person learns
about love, sadness, scarification and happiness. It is contrary with
Christianity where monks and nuns are not allowed to get married. Rejection of
the human’s need in having partner and offspring in the form of marriage will
defect human’s physiological and psychological balance (Glenn, 1975;Gove,
Hughes & Style, 1983) .
Islam
has a very strict stand regarding intoxicant. Islam highly discourages all
intoxicating drink and drugs to keep the mind clear; preserving the value of
sobriety. Though peoples have different thoughts on intoxicants but Islam
prohibit Muslims to involve as it will ruin the gift of God that is human’s
mind.
Clearly
Islam promotes tolerance. According to Muzammil, Islam believes that people
should be allowed to express their views without disrespecting others. Islam
believes that other people’s religion, culture, and heritage should be fully
respected. Whether we agree or not with someone, we should respect their
religion, sacred personalities, sacred scriptures, culture and heritage.
Respect is paid with respect. If we want others to respect Islam, we should
respect them first. Respect and tolerance do not mean accepting. Both terms
indicate different meaning. As depicted through the construction of the first
Islamic state, Islam respected the non-Muslims resided in Madinah al-Munawwarah
by leaving them to practice their own religion and tradition, but together they
also need to obey the Islamic leadership, let alone the Muslims to practice the
tenets and teachings of Islam.
Muzammil
came with the suggestion of reasserting these six values via education and
media as these values are really vital as fundamental moral guidelines to
improve the society. Enforcing these values through law and rules, besides
providing active models in the society, along with continuous intercultural
dialogue are seen as efficient efforts in bringing back the society into unity
and harmony.
He
pinpointed that neither Islamophobia nor anti-Americanism will bring benefit to
the society and humanity in general. Discussions and dialogues for him, is the
best way to help humanity by searching for shared values. Overcoming both stigmas is only relevant with
open mind and heart.
From
my humble opinion, Muzammil has proposed a brilliant yet effective suggestion in treating these social ailments. Finding
harmony and parallelism in all religions is not as easy as planting a seed.
Calling peoples of all religions, especially the leaders and scholars to
discuss and find similarities in values shared by all is indeed the best way to
alleviate the developing bad reputation of both Muslims and Westerners in the
eyes of each other, thus promoting global unity and harmony.
However,
as anti-Americanism is not a problem evolved from the 11/9 incident, rather it
has arose long ago in history; treatment of it is not as easy as finding
similarities between communities involved. The author should consider the
relevancy of implementing strategies proposed to cure anti-Americanism as this
is a global problem and not little event has occurred in developing this stigma
among world’s community.
To
wrap up, Islamophobia and anti-Americanism are global problems that need
serious attention as it affect the world’s community. Politicians and
academicians are among the most influential people whom action and ideas are
really needed and influential in solving these problems. Treating Islamophobia
and anti-Americanism will end the prejudice wafted in the world’s atmosphere,
thus help promoting a better, harmony global community.
References
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Boston: Pearson / Allyn & Bacon.
Glenn, N.D.
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Gove, W.R.,
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