Friday, March 29, 2024
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatahu

Why the West Fails to Understand the Islamic World

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful


Assalam Alikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatahu

 "Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islam), enjoining Al-Ma’ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism all that Islam orders one to do) forbidding Al-Munkar (polytheism disbelief that Islam has forbidden) and it is they who are the successful (Al Imran 3:103) "

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 Why the West Fails to Understand the Islamic World
Over the past years, strategic and political studies institutes and research centres have pored over an issue that has come to be known in Western academic circles as the 'case of Islam', a case often associated in the minds of those in charge of studying it with terrorism and extremism. In the past, whether during the Cold War or even prior to that, the study of Islam in its religious, cultural and civilizational dimensions was the purview of the Western researchers known as 'orientalists'. These researchers specialised in the Arabic language and in Islamic studies which covered all aspects of Islamic culture. The large majority of orientalists served in the ministries of foreign affairs, or overseas affairs as they were known then, of the colonial powers which occupied the Islamic world at the time, from Indonesia in the east to Morocco in the west. These researchers were prolific, generating a wealth of books and ample research material. They published encyclopedias and books which addressed the Arab-Islamic heritage contained in manuscripts which were in danger of loss and deterioration, using advanced publishing techniques and the scientific approach they developed in authenticating Islamic heritage. It is only justice to say that some of these publications which began appearing in the 18th century and proliferated in a most particular way in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, have somewhat been of great service to the Arab and Islamic culture. However, in most cases, serving this culture was not the initial purpose sought from these publications which were motivated by colonialist designs.
This class of Western scholars often congregated in international conferences held on a regular basis in European capitals. At other times, they convened in one or the other Arab or Islamic capital in meetings dubbed as the 'International Conference of Orientalists'. The first of these conferences was held in 1873 in Paris at the invitation of the International Federation of Orientalists which was founded in Europe. The 24th and last of such gatherings took place in Munich, Germany, in 1957.
However, the tremendous transformations unfolding in the world, and most relevantly in the Islamic world, and the new developments occurring on the international political scene and in the world of academia, culture and human studies, were all factors that contributed to a move away from convening these conferences under such names. They were thus replaced by gatherings held under different names but which continued to serve the same purposes, albeit through new techniques and under other forms. Orientalists resumed their gatherings but within a new framework, namely 'The International Conferences for Asian and North African Studies'. These are held by the Washington-based Middle East Institute, by the League of Middle Eastern Studies in the United States of America, the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, or any of the numerous other centres, institutions and societies specialised in this field.
The centres for strategic political, intellectual and cultural studies, and the institutes specialising in the Middle East, or the Near East as it was called in previous times, were not as common or numerous as they are today. Oriental language departments in some Western universities served the pur@pose that was taken over by these centres. In most cases, these university departments employed highly qualified scholars who had acquired an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Islamic world in all its aspects. As such, they rendered valuable services to the government authorities to which they were affiliated. This is a far cry from the situation today. The number of western highly qualified and specialised scholars with an extensive knowledge of the Arabic language, Islamic thought, the Arab and Islamic culture and the situation within Muslim societies has dramatically dwindled. This situation negatively impacts on the studies they prepare and the reports they draw up at a critical time when these studies and reports serve as major reference documents in informed decision making. Decision makers rely on such reports and studies in formulating their policies in the Islamic world in all political, economic, military, security, social, religious, cultural, information and other matters. This explains the confused, unsound and inappropriate decisions taken by official Western circles in how to deal with Arab and Muslim related issues, and on how to establish well balanced and equality-based relationships with the Islamic world countries. This has reached such proportions that the failure of western policies in the Islamic world in general, and most particularly at the current juncture, is largely owed to the fact that the studies prepared by these centres and institutes rely heavily on improvisation and stray very far from objectivity, fairness and scientific integrity. Such studies are founded on unrealistic concepts, on analyses that lack in methodology, and on uninformed conclusions built around unreliable information that is often obtained from unworthy sources or relayed through disloyal parties who choose to leak that information for sinister purposes.
One of the dire repercussions of this situation is the West's lack of understanding of the Islamic world, producing unclear impressions tainted by ill intentions. When it comes to Arab and Islamic-related issues, the policies and choices made by the West are far removed from reality, built around unsound foundations, and unrealistic visions, theories and thoughts. The result is a tendency to heedlessly undermine the higher interests of Muslim peoples, prompting decisions that prejudice relations between the Islamic world and the west, that muddy the international atmosphere, and that ultimately lead to trouble and crises. Consequently, this undermines the rights of both parties and deprives them of the chance to jointly edify a human world order founded on the rules of justice and fairness and where the values of tolerance and coexistence prevail.
Why the West fails to understand the Islamic World is a question that remains unanswered in research circles and strategic studies centres. This same question was in fact distorted to become: why do they hate us? In truth, the objective, precise and convincing answer to the first question implicitly holds the answer to the second one, since the two questions are correlated. If the West correctly understands the Islamic world in a way that is innocent of all ill designs and hidden purposes, if the West acquires an in-depth knowledge of the Islamic world based on correct information, actual facts and on the honest scientific analysis of the course of events, if it becomes conscious of the aspirations and hopes of Muslim peoples, understands their needs and the prerequisites of their growth, development and progress, displays full respect for their rights, their sovereignty over their territories, their constants and their religious and cultural specificity, and civilizational identity, if the West abides by international laws in dealing with the Islamic world and complies with the terms of sound international relations in all the stances it takes, if the West takes such straight path, there would be simply no need to ask the question: Why do they hate us?
The absence of exact information, relying on the writings, studies and reports of a bunch of researchers who claim to be specialised in the study of the Islamic world but who sorely lack in intellectual integrity and scientific and professional honesty, coupled with ill intentions, arrogance and a predilection for hegemony, all of this stands in the way of reaching a proper and sound understanding of the Islamic world in all its dimensions, be they political, economic, social, ethnic, cultural or religious. Here lies the root of unfair judgement calls which often fail to mirror reality, and this is what motivates the taking of decisions which, with the passage of time, turn out to have been hasty, inappropriate, far from serving the true interests of the West, and which provoke Muslims into adopting belligerent st
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