Islam vs. the West: Challenges Facing the Human Family

I am delighted to deliver a lecture on Islam in this great university. The subject as you will be aware is difficult, complex and specialised. The temptation is to be simplistic and reduce it to easily containable ideas – rather like the story of an American history student doing his finals in a Midwest University and one of the questions was: ‘Write a history of the universe. You may use a second piece of paper if necessary’.

I need to make it plain that I am not, in the technical sense, an expert on Islam or someone who has spent years in studying this world faith and making myself a specialist in its disciplines. What I can say is that, as a Christian leader, I have for many years spent a great deal of time with some of the most important names in Islam – Dr Tantawi, Hassan al-Turabi, King Hussein, Prince Hassan, King Abdullah, Professor Akbar Ahmed and many other Muslim leaders and scholars. My wife and I have been to many Muslim countries. I think I can say with some confidence that I have a reasonable idea of the challenges that Islam presents to the West and the challenges that Islam faces today.

I would imagine every one here knows exactly where he or she was on Sept 11th when the twin towers were struck by the two planes. Perhaps like me you could not believe your eyes. Was this a dramatic new film being advertised? And then the awful reality sank in – this was actually happening. It was far more horrifying that any spectacular Armageddon film could be.

Immediately following Sept 11th two quite different groups of people were asking the same question: ‘Why do they hate us so much?’

The American people were asking it. ‘We have given so much to the world. Why do they envy and hate us so much?’

The Muslims were asking it also. ‘Why are we getting the blame for some madness on the part of crazy students? Why do they hate Islam so much?’

Sept 11th and all that has happened since then- the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the slow pursuance of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, the suicide bombers in Israel, the Bali atrocity that killed 200 people- all make tonight’s topic essential and urgent. What is Islam? Should we fear it and placate it? Should we hate it and fight it?

The Challenge of Islam is important for several different audiences. For Christians and those of other faiths, Islam is understood to restrict the conversion of Muslims to follow the Christian faith. It is claimed that in most Muslim countries the freedom of the Christian faith is repressed, the building of churches forbidden and even explicit invitation to people to consider the claims of Christian is not allowed. The most extreme example is Saudi Arabia where the only faith allowed public expression is Islam. And yet Muslims demand and expect their faith to be expressed freely wherever they live in the West. I have no objection to this. I only expect reciprocity. Islam, as we know, is growing fast in the West. There are now over 1500 mosques in Britain, admittedly most of them very small and humble, yet some are very large and rich. I understand the same applies to the United States. Whether small or large, they are here and they are here to stay. Living with Islam is no longer for those who work abroad.

However, Islam’s association with terrorism presents an enormous challenge for all seeking a peaceful, prosperous world. Listen to Samuel Huntington, of the Centre of Strategic Studies in Washington and one of the most important voices in these matters in recent days. In 1993 he published a controversial essay entitled ‘The Clash of Civilisations’. His thesis was that the collapse of communism signalled the end of ideological battles. Western capitalism was now dominant. The next battle he claimed will be the clash of cultures, with Islamic and Christian civilisations separating the world. Scholars, writers, religious thinkers and politicians poured contempt on an idea they regarded as scare mongering. But Huntington was unrepentant. In 1997 he modified his thesis but the argument remained the same. He wrote: “Islam’s borders are bloody and so are its innards. The fundamental problem for the West is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilisation whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power”.

Penetrating and disturbing words- even shocking words. Are they true to the facts? Certainly Sept 11th seemed to confirm his thesis that in our own day we are witnessing a clash of cultures and are dealing with two quite different world-views.

In order to go deeper into the issue allow me to ask five questions:

§ What is Islam?

§ What are the reasons for Islam becoming today a religion associated with terrorism and death?

§ What challenges does Islam face?

§ What is Islam’s challenge to us today?

§ What is the way forward?

1. WHAT IS ISLAM? Islam is the second largest religion in the world and the name means ‘submission’. As we all know, Islam was started by Mohammed a merchant, who lived in what we now call Saudi Arabia. Mohammed was without any question an impressive leader whose stamp on the faith was profound and unequalled. He is regarded by all faithful Muslims as Allah’s chosen Prophet and messenger. Whenever a Muslim mentions his name the refrain will be added: ‘Peace be upon him’ (PBUH) as a sign of respect and honour.

2. There are over one billion Muslims in the world and the vast majority are peaceful and good people just as anxious, as we are, to bring up their children to live in harmony with others. Sadly, dress and cultural difference can distort our impression of one another. That veiled woman we saw today in Walmart, whose eyes glanced in your direction, was not expressing her hatred- most likely she is worrying about what to get for her children’s supper that evening. That bearded strange looking Muslim man with the white turban or pill box hat you met recently may have looked wild and forbidding but he, too, was probably worrying about the difficulty of getting employment or making ends meet. And rather like Christianity, Islam is not monochrome in its make-up. It too is composed of many groups and sects and its people include secular as well as religious Muslims. Yes, they too have people who are Muslim in name only. 3. A faithful Muslim has five duties to perform in life – they are called the five Pillars of Islam.

He is committed to stating daily his confession of faith- called the Shahadah: ‘Allah is great and Mohammed is his prophet’. That statement is the opening words of the call to prayer you will hear every time the Imam calls from the minaret. The faithful Muslim is committed to praying five times a day – at dawn, at noon, at 3.00, at sunset and before he retires. The third pillar is the practise of fasting during Ramadan. The fourth pillar is an obligation on the part of faithful Muslims to perform a ‘Hajj’ once in their lifetime. Finally faithful Muslims are committed to paying ‘zakat’, a tax of 2.5% for the poor.

These five pillars represent a demanding commitment and many go further than that. Many will memorise the whole Koran and immerse themselves in their faith. Its expression takes an ethical form; they regard violence to another human being as an act of violence against God. I want to re-emphasise that the vast majority of Muslims, like Christians, are honourable and good people. We should never seek to demonise them or their faith.

4. But a fight for the soul of Islam is going on. This takes me into my second question: Why is it now associated with violence and terrorism?

5. There are many reasons, and I can only hazard a few guesses now at the crucial ones. Let us approach the question experientially for a moment. Put yourself in the shoes of a traditional Muslim. You are a devout woman trying to make ends meet in a home in Egypt. You have a family of six mouths to feed and your husband is not always regularly employed. From time to time you see rich people driving past in their smart BMW’s and your heart burns with indignation. Why do they have so much and you so little? You are a man living in Egypt or Jordan or Pakistan and you have a wife and ten children to support. Work is hard to find. You can’t read or write but you are not unintelligent. You can see and you can hear. News comes to you in several different forms. From the ubiquitous satellite TV and news services, first of all. You can see the way those Americans, Jews and British people live. They live in such comfort and you live in such squalor! But you also hear the news from another source – from your Imam at Friday prayers who reports what the great teachers are saying throughout the Islamic world. This alternative news service tells you that the Jews are seeking to dominate the world. They already have President Bush in their pocket. ‘Surely Allah will not let this to go on much longer. There is talk of a Jihad against the infidels. There is talk of the world being divided between the house of Islam – dar al-islam- and the house of war – dar al-harb. We must fight for our faith and for our brothers in Palestine, in Chechnya, in Kosovo’. I need not tell you that one of the most burning senses of injustice felt by Muslims is the condition of the Palestinian people and what they regard as the rightful moral claims of that people for a homeland.

6. Thus, as a good Muslim, the world you see disturbs you – you feel the pangs of poverty, the anger of despair, you can see your children growing up to inherit little but violence and injustice. However, there are historical injuries that wound you deeply. In 1967 the great Arab nations- Syria, Egypt and Jordan – mounted a surprise attack against tiny Israel and were humiliated in battle. Great swathes of Arab land were taken, Gaza and the Golan Heights in particular. From 1967 onwards Muslims began to analyse the reasons for their defeat at the hands of the Israelis. That event, scorched in their memories proved to be a turning point. Many concluded that a return to the simplicity of Islamic faith and wholehearted adherence to the Koran was necessary. To follow the West is the way of decadence and moral decline. 7. However, in Saudi Arabia, the heartland of Islam, another kind of stirring was going on. Over two hundred years ago a Reform movement swept through Saudi Arabia through the teachings of Muhammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Uniting with Muhammed Ibn Saud, a powerful chief, Mohammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab subdued other tribes and imposed what Prof. John Esposito calls ‘ a puritanical form of Islam’ on the people. Wahhabism is a very strict interpretation of Islam with everything reduced to black and white proportions. Wahhabi puritanism even led to the destruction of the sacred tombs of Mohammed and his companions in Mecca and Medina. Today, it is the Wahhabi form of Islam that is being exported to other countries and communities in Muslim lands. Its intolerant and tyrannical beliefs lend themselves to young impressionable minds searching for certainties. The politicisation of young Saudi Muslims is complete when they observe the decadence of the West and their own powerlessness. As Saudi became rich with oil, it had, to hand, money to beat the West at its own game. It wasn’t long before it tried.

8. If 1967 represented humiliation for many Muslims, 1979 represented a different turning point in which militant Islam started to appear. Russia invaded Afghanistan. Muslims world-wide were outraged. Russians were not merely infidels, they were worse- they were unbelieving infidels; atheists and a ‘house of war’ was now a reality. A jihad was called and mujahidin – warriors- were called to fight a war to the death. It was a turning point in the life of a rich, very tall young Saudi, Osama bin Laden, who used his wealth to set up camps in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. The invasion of Afghanistan represents the radicalisation of the elite of Saudi youth. We shall leave bin Laden there for the moment, burning with outrage and thirsting for revenge. The irony was that the Americans saw leadership qualities in Osama bin Laden to undermine the Russian invasion and your Government supplied him and the Al Qaeda network with money, ammunition and supplies.

9. Islam, then, began to fight back. In 1979 the Shiites in Iran overturned the secular regime in a spectacular coup and formed the Iranian Islamic Republic. In 1989 another coup took place in Sudan when Col Omar al-Bashir took over control of that impoverished country and enlisted the aid of a formidable intellectual Hassan al-Turabi. Dr al Turabi, a Sorbonne educated lawyer, polite and polished intellectual, has a clear and unambiguous vision to impose Islam on the whole world and make Sharia law mandatory. Which he has achieved in Sudan. In 1994, seemingly from nowhere a group of students living on the borders of Pakistan called the Taliban swept across Afghanistan claiming moral leadership and imposed a strict creed, imposing Sharia and an ultra-conservative form of Wahhabism on all- a myopic, self contained world which has impoverished an already destitute and suffering country.

10. In the year 2000 bin Laden, now fully alienated from America and the west, announced the formation of the World Islamic Front for a Jihad against Americans and Crusaders (a euphemism for Christians). This may have in part because the Afghans felt the Americans had abandoned them after their sacrifices fighting the Soviets. However, the implications were very serious. The world was now divided again into a house of Islam and house of war. For bin Laden and militants ‘Jihad’ now had only one meaning- a struggle to death for the soul of Islam. Jihad as a word denoting a struggle to be a good and peaceful Muslim was ignored.

11. On Sept 11th 2001 the World Islamic Front struck through dedicated young men who were prepared to die with the Koran at their side and shouting ‘Allah is great!’ as the huge planes they ere guiding struck the enormous towers and the Pentagon. With them died many hundreds of others who were going about their lawful and good business. Further atrocities were to follow. A few days after Sept 11th, in Indonesia, 120 Muslim troops struck at a village of Chinese and Christian people at dawn shouting ‘Allah is great!’ killing the men and raping any women they could find. A year after September 11th 2001 came the murder of many hundreds of innocent, fun loving people in Bali, Indonesia.

Why should a seemingly good religion be manipulated in this way?

12. Therefore, to my third question. What is the Challenge facing Islam? Last January I was at the World Economic Forum and appeared on the same platform as the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mohamed Mahathir who on the brink of retirement gave his sober estimate of Islam, saying that unless Islam was prepared to change it would degenerate still further: ‘I find it very hard to be optimistic about Muslims in the 21st century’ he said, ‘Very few Muslims understand reality and they do not understand that coming to terms with globalisation is one of the greatest challenges facing them’. ‘They cannot run away’ he said. Former President Wahid of Indonesia who chaired a conference in Amman when I was speaker at the Conference on Religion and Peace shared the same hesitations: ‘The Muslim world is at a cross-road. It may pursue a traditional static Islam or refashion it into a more dynamic and pluralistic world-view’. 13. Islam is indeed being challenged as never before. It is in opposition to practically every other world religion- Judaism in the Middle East; Christianity in the West, in Nigeria, in the ME; Hinduism in India; Buddhism, especially since the destruction of the Temples in Afghanistan. It is in opposition to democratic governments in the West and democracy will be increasingly a major challenge as more of Muslim youth are educated and want to have a say in the running of their countries. Why the glaring absence of democratic governments in Muslim lands? It is said that modern Muslim experience seems to support the idea that Islam and democracy are incompatible. I see no fundamental reason why this should be so, but without doubt there is little precedent to go on. Throughout the Middle East and North Africa we find a legacy of authoritarian regimes with deeply entrenched leadership, some of whom rose to power at the point of a gun and are retained in power by massive investment in security forces. Whether they are military dictatorships or traditional sovereignties each ruler seems committed to retaining power and privilege. When forms of democracy are introduced, as in Qatar and Bahrein, they are modest in the extreme and power remains in the hands of the Emirs. Muslim countries will be increasingly under question as time goes on. Their countries have spiralling population figures, illiteracy is very high and unemployment is disturbing. These are factors which may precipitate revolution or fan greater anger at so-called Western excesses. But theological Islam is being challenged too- its scriptures are considered inviolable. Mohammed, an illiterate man, is said to have taken them down verbatim from angels and a scribe recorded them. They are, therefore, not to be questioned or revised. Islam, then, unlike Christianity and many forms of Judaism, has no tradition and experience of critical scholarship and this resists development in any shape or form. But scholarship and the questions of modernity cannot be kept at bay forever. The dyke will be broken one day.

14. The danger for Islam is that in the opinion of many it is equated with ignorance and superstition, illiteracy and violence instead of being seen as a religion of peace which has potential to heal the wounds of others. The running seems to be made by Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda movement who represent an unacceptable face of Islam – an Islam identified with terrorism and using the scientific and technological tools of its enemies to destroy in the name of Islam.

15. My fourth question is: What then is the challenge to the West and to Christians in particular? There is a moral challenge which we cannot avoid. Can the West really point the accusing finger at Islam when our world is far from perfect? Can we not enter into the contempt, recoil and shock when a former President of the United States admitted to have had an affair with Miss Lewinsky? That the leader of the only super power should do such a thing and still remain in office is proof enough, it seems, that all is far from well with the western world. There is surely a glimmer of truth in the telling remark of President Khatami of Iran who remarked that ‘today’s world democracies are suffering from a major vacuum which is the vacuum of spirituality’. Is it not difficult to point the accusing finger at corrupt Muslim governments when we have scandals such as Enron, Worldcom and other spectacular economic abuses?

16. Yes, we must own up to our shortcomings and failings. But then, again, we have never claimed perfection for the West and this leads me into a defence of Western values and civilisation. In spite of such shortcomings at least the West is the repository of fairness and liberal values. Democracy is a beautiful and fragile flower and we should support it, value it and protect it. It allows for dissent, for freedom of expression and for rights for all. We should not give in to claims that Islamic countries are morally, spiritually and culturally superior to other civilisations and great cultures, let alone to the heritage of the American civilisation or the democratic and cultural legacy of Europe. Although we owe much to Islam handing to the West many of the treasures of Greek thought, the beginnings of calculus and so on during the period known as ‘the dark ages’, it is sad to relate that no great invention has come for many hundreds of years from Muslim countries. This is a puzzle, because Muslim peoples are not bereft of brilliant minds. They have much to contribute to the human family and we look forward to the close co-operation that might make this possible. I have heard it said that ‘ were it not for the Christian West the people of the Middle East would still be riding on their camels and have no use for their black gold’. That may well be true but it is time we were less triumphalistic. Yes, the West has still much to be proud of and we should say so strongly. We should also encourage Muslims living in the West to be proud of it to and to say so to their brothers and sisters living elsewhere. We should also point to the enormous contribution the West continues to make to poor Muslim countries and we should endeavour to make this better known. Recently a survey in Egypt revealed that only 6% of Egyptians viewed American favourably despite being the second largest recipient of US aid after Israel. Most of them are unaware that American built Cairo’s sewers, water supply and electrical system. Nevertheless, we should also acknowledge that the West has much to learn from Islam and value in that great tradition of faith.

17. What is the challenge to the churches? It is important to know what Islam stands for – its strengths and weakness. But it far more important to know some Muslims and befriend them. We shall find them that they have the same fears about us as we have of them. Most of them are good people who simply wish to be good citizens. There is much we can admire in Islam- the simplicity of faith. It is not a complicated faith and perhaps we have made Christianity too complicated. We can admire the devotion of the people and their desire to promote their faith. We can admire their commitment to traditional values, the family, children and peace. We Anglicans need to note that the recent election of a homosexual priest as Bishop of New Hampshire is seen as a horrifying matter in the Muslim world and embarrasses our beleaguered Christian brothers and sisters there.

18. But Islam is not to be feared. Muslims respect integrity and devotion too. They have no respect for Christians who take the view that all religions are the same. They know they are not. The will always respect people who stand up for their faith and are prepared to talk about it naturally. Christians need to be more confident and argue their corner for reciprocity throughout the world. During my time as Archbishop this was my constant refrain- why is it that we welcome Muslims to our land, give them freedom and allow them the worship freely and build their mosques but Christians in other lands have little freedom, are often persecuted, cannot build their churches, sometimes have to pay a tax as second class citizens, and cannot evangelise? These facts not only contravene human rights, they stand as an appalling indictment of a religion that wants – and needs - to be acceptable in today’s world.

19. The challenge to Christianity is indeed a grave one in many parts of the world. Islam rebukes our complacency and apathy and calls us to stand up and be named as Christians willing to follow Christ. It is time to value Islam and understand it.

This, then, prompts my final question ‘What is the way forward?’

20. Professor Akbar Ahmed, one of Islam’s leading scholars and, incidentally a former Visiting Professor in the department of Anthropology at this esteemed University, in his most recent book ‘Islam Under Siege: Living dangerously in a Post-Honor World’ concludes his remarkable book by saying: ‘The events of Sept 11th appeared to push the world toward the idea of a clash of civilisations, but they also conveyed the urgency of the call for dialogue. The creative participation in the dialogue of civilisations, to find an internal balance between the needs and traditions of local communities and a world increasingly dominated by international corporations and political concerns, the committed search for global solutions confronting human society and the quest for a just, compassionate, and peaceful order will be the challenge human civilisation faces in the 21st century. To meet the challenge is to fulfil God’s vision; to embrace all humanity in doing so is to know God’s compassion’. What excellent words!

21. I do not accept that the future is one of escalating violence, deepening bitterness and a grudging dialogue between incompatible faiths and cultures.

Let me proffer some pointers for discussion and reflection:

1. We must deepen inter-faith co-operation and understanding. Religion is not going to go away. We may talk of postmodernism but never post-religious. But religion may be used for bad as well as good purposes. In the hands of evil people religion is sometimes used as a weapon to kill and to suppress as it has been in the long history of Christianity. There is still too little comprehension in political circle of the power of authentic faith and the possibilities of harnessing the religious imagination and energy for peace. In my last few years as Archbishop I was involved in inter-faith co-operation between religious leaders in the Holy Land, known as the Alexandria Declaration. As co-Chair with Dr.Tantawi, Grand Imman of the prestigious Al-Ahzar in Cairo we managed to agree a statement on peace in the Holy Land which was signed by Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders.

2. We must focus on root causes of unrest where religions clash and seek to heal the wounds of the past. We must confront the deep sense of injustice felt by ordinary Muslims in much of the developing world where people see the tyranny of their own leaders, the growing gap between rich and poor and what they see as the support of the West to regimes in inimical to Islam.

3. Israel is a serious flashpoint of unrest and America as a key role to play in healing the wounds of a land beloved to adherents of three world religions. However, Muslims do not perceive evenhandedness in America’s treatment of Palestinians and the Palestinian cause. Of course, Israel deserves a homeland and above all peace. There can be no serious argument about that. But Palestine, no less, demands and deserves a viable State with secure borders and an independent Government. Resolve this urgent issue and a great deal of the bitterness towards the West will in time be replaced by understanding.

4. Compassion and understanding are the only tools to handle hatred and violence. It will do us little good if the West simply believes the answer is to put an end to bin Laden. Rather we must put an end to conditions, distortions and misinformation that create Osamen bin Laden and his many emulators. It is the battle of ideas we must win, not to show the many bruised and aggrieved Muslims that we are stronger and more powerful than they are, but because it is the moral, right and just attitude to take. If we do not then, believe me, should they have the capacity to build a mini atom bomb, the very kind of terrorists who are prepared to die shouting ‘Allah is great!’ are quite prepared to carry a bomb into the heart of New York or even London. As Christopher Coker says in ‘Twilight of the West’ : ‘What makes Islamic fundamentalism so dangerous ..is the appeal of science and technology in the modern Islamic imagination…there has been no smashing of machines, no repudiation of the Western sciences’.

We live in dangerous times. But we live, no less, in times where good will, understanding, frankness based on respect and tolerance may yield offer an exciting future. Let us look forward to the day when we shall not talk about Islam versus. the West but Islam and the West, in an enduring partnership based on the shared values that make us human and capable of giving and receiving God’s gift of love.

BOOKS worth consulting: John L Esposito: Unholy War (Terror in the name of Islam). John Esposito: What Everyone needs to know about Islam. Prof Akbar Ahmed: Islam under Siege. Caroline Cox and John Marks: The ‘West’, Islam and Islamism. (Civitas). Michael Nazir-ali: Understanding my Muslim Neighbour’.