Dialog of the Deaf Separates Islam and West
A commentary by Melvin Rhodes
Good News writer and regional pastor, Ghana
I received
an interesting letter a few days ago from a young Iranian Muslim. Commenting
on a recent article I had written, he wrote: "Please don't
use the word 'Radical Islam', because we have just one Islam."
If true, these words should make people question whether dialog can
avert a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West.
The letter was received just a few days after a 22 year old Iranian
immigrant at the University of North Carolina hired an SUV and deliberately
drove it into a number of fellow students, injuring nine in the process.
He said he wanted "to punish the United States for its actions
around the world." In his mind, America is killing Muslims in Iraq
and Afghanistan, so he wanted to kill Americans.
This particular incident led to the coining of a new expression "Sudden
Jihad Syndrome", "whereby normal appearing Muslims abruptly
become violent," writes Daniel Pipes in his New York Sun article: "The
Quiet Spoken Muslims who Turn to Terror" (http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3450 ).
As Pipes pointed out, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, the perpetrator of
the university campus atrocity, is not unique. Rather, "he fits
into a widespread pattern of Muslims who lead quiet lives before turning
to terrorism. Their number includes the hijackers responsible for the
attacks of September 11th, the London transport bombers, and the Intel
engineer arrested before he could join the Taliban in Afghanistan, Maher
Hawash."
If the expression "radical Islam" is not appropriate when
writing about this violent element, then what expression can be used? "Fundamentalists" is
not accurate and is also misleading. In Christianity, "fundamentalists" are
people who believe the Bible is the literal word of God. All Muslims
claim the Koran contains the inspired words of Allah. Therefore, all
Muslims are fundamentalists. Are all Muslims also "radical"?
Based on the comments made in the letter I received, the answer is quite
disturbing.
It does, however, help us understand why there are so few "moderate" Islamic
voices out there, condemning the violence and upheaval going on throughout
the Islamic world.
The demonstrations over the Danish cartoons have shown the world that
anti-western sentiment is not confined to a vocal minority, but rather
reflects majority opinion.
Christians and people in the secular West believe that all men desire
peace and that dialog is the only way to avoid conflict. But what if
others do not believe this?
"In 632 Mohammed made his last visit to Mecca, and his speech
there has been recorded in the traditional writings as the final statement
of his message: "know that every Muslim is a Muslim's brother,
and that the Muslims are brethren; fighting between them should be avoided….
Muslims should fight all men until they say, 'There is no god but Allah'" (A
History of the Arab Peoples, by Albert Hourani, 1991, page 19).
Jesus Christ did not call for His followers to "fight all men" until
they become Christians. Rather, He told His followers: "Love your
enemies" (Matthew 5:44). He also said, "My kingdom is not
of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight…" (John
18:36).
Clearly, these statements show a marked difference between Islam and
Christianity, making dialog between the two highly problematic.
Because the West has been influenced by biblical teachings, there is
an assumption that all religions want peace, but clearly that is not
true where Islam is concerned. There is also a belief in the West that
religious beliefs are not very important, that religion comes way down
the list of priorities in a person's life. Again, this does not
appear to be the case in Islam, where religious practice cannot be separated
from other aspects of life.
Failure on both sides to understand and appreciate these differences
has led to a dialog of the deaf, with the opposing sides failing to understand
the viewpoint of the other.
 Where
might a total failure of meaningful dialog between the realm of Islamic
beliefs and the realm of Western ideals lead us? To better understand
the immensely high stakes in the continuing a dialog of the deaf, request
or download now your free copy of our booklet, Are We Living in the Time
of the End?
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