The new face of Islam
A reminder that sometimes news can be good news. We get accustomed to negative rhetoric both from and against militant Islam. Today’s story shines a ray of light from the assembled youth leaders of the international Muslim society. At the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow Conference held in Qatar, the assembled youth leaders voted clearly who has to help fight the forces of militant Islam, and that is the Muslim community itself. The question was put to the vote of 300 progressive Muslim activists from 75 countries at the conference, “Do Muslims and non-Muslims share equal responsibility in taking steps to reduce Muslim extremism?” The vote was a resounding 75% who replied “Yes.” Daisy Khan, of the New York-based American Society for Muslim Advancement is quoted by the Christian Science Monitor as saying, “We’re living in challenging times, and the plot for Muslims has been written by others. The time has come for Muslims to write their own plot, and to define themselves around the core values they believe in: pluralism, freedom, justice, creativity, and intellectual development.” The CSM report states that the conference tackled some of the thorniest questions facing Muslim intellectuals today, including: “Is there a crisis of religious authority in Islam?” Eighty-six percent said “Yes.” And “are there Islamic values that are in conflict with Western values?” Sixty-one percent said “Yes.”
The discussions at the conference indicated the young leaders have an understanding of the driving forces that are causing the upsurge of militantism within Islam. According to CSM, they argued ‘that both extremist interpretations of Islam and foreign policies of Western countries contribute to the radicalization of Muslim youth.’ As much as the West may like to deny it, their foreign policies, particularly in the last 8 years of the Bush era, have been a major contributing factor in these troubles that now confront the relationship between Muslims and the West. The latest activities in the Gaza ,and the use of the US veto in the UN Security Council have done nothing but add fire to their indigence.
Perhaps with the younger generation, on both sides of the religious-political divide, there is some hope for reconciliation and a path towards peaceful co-existence. On all sides of the debate, there are extremities that seek to agitate the crowd, such as the radical Islamic cleric, Al-Sadr, or the American-Jewish commentator, Alan Dershowitz. Both of their commentaries do little to move the debate along, but merely cement the bigotry even more firmly. Then there are also elements of the ‘press’ that like to plumb the depths of the cesspool, like Michelle Malkin, who rile up their audiences with thinly veiled racism and religious intolerance. This, unfortunately, has spilled over into the common parlance of the poorly informed, who depending on their position see either Judaism, Christianit or Islam as the epitome of evil. This has somewhat of a bitter irony to it, given their worship of a common God, and all being derivatives of an Abrahamic root.
Whenever there is a realization that error lies both sides by a camp on the opposite side, it must be viewed as positive. Whether the positive note is issued by Muslim, Christian or Jew, it must be applauded and supported. The Muslim world has been full of bad press of late but this story may just be a positive one that can create resonance among those with an ear to hear it. The conference ended by generating an “An Open Letter to the World Leaders of Today From the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow” detailing their conclusions that governments need to pursue development and human right improvements not war. Maybe there is some naivety in hoping the world leader take heed, but it is better to still chase hope than give in to cynicism. While the voices of these young Muslim leaders may be yet little known, we hope that it swells into an encompassing chorus that the world hears and takes notice of…someday not to far away.
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