West Must Stop Looking At Islam Through Terror Lens

By Anthea Lipsett
Thursday June 28, 2007
Education.Guardian

Tony Blair would do well to listen to Akbar Ahmed when he takes up his new role as Middle East envoy in earnest.

One of the world's leading authorities on Islam, Prof Akbar says education, rather than violence, is the way to smooth relations between the Muslim world and the west.

And it is imperative that it happens sooner rather than later, he told EducationGuardian.co.uk.

"Europe is going down in population, whereas the Muslim world is rapidly rising. By the middle of this century a quarter of the world's population will be Muslim.

"If that's the case, we can't afford an unending clash between the Muslim world and the west.

The world will be consumed by religious turmoil. We are facing a major breakdown in the 21st century. Unless we begin to change now, the chances of us surviving are limited," he said.

The 65-year-old anthropologist and Ibn Khaldun chair of Islamic studies at the American University in Washington is in the UK to give a series of speeches to academics and religious leaders ahead of receiving an honorary doctorate from Liverpool University on July 6.

"How do you bring sanity or rationalism, or people to sit down to talk to each other to overcome this huge chasm between the west and Islam?" Prof Akbar asks.

His answer is to get as much information about Islam into the public domain as possible.

He has just published a new book, Journeys into Islam; a 12-part lecture series for the internet; an audio series about Islam; and a new play.

"I'm hoping that in time in the west, particularly in the US, where misunderstanding is growing worse, [my work] may help people to understand the culture better, and bring more sanity and good sense all round, so we can face the real issues facing us in the 21st century - like population and climate change rather than ethnic and religious violence," he said.

"It's not just 9/11. It started in the 19th century when the first clashes between the west and Islam took place. We're seeing the same patterns being played out today."

But it is the west's obsession with Islam, and the tendency to look at Islam "through the lens of terror or security", that worries Prof Akbar most.

"That creates alarm, resistance and further distortion," he said.

"It's not the best way of looking at a culture which has a long history, 57 nations and 1.4 billion people.

"Islam is going through a great period of turmoil and change. Any continued aggression [from the west] will encourage more and more people to join the queues to blow themselves up."

Rather than pour all its money into containing Islam, the west should spend more money on schools and education, Prof Akbar says.

He advocates the "Aligarh" model, named after a university modelled on Cambridge that was established in British India in the 19th century. Aligarh "took the best from the west but kept the faith and integrity of Islam".

Britain and the west should strive to strengthen this moderate, modernist model, he argues.
The government is planning to reform Islamic studies in the UK after publishing the Siddiqui report earlier in June. The Higher Education Funding Council for England has £1m to allocate to improve research and teaching of Islamic studies in universities.

For Prof Akbar, it is not about the money, but the approach the government takes that is key.

"The [UK] government has to be looking at the long term. Who are the people of substance in this country who can bring change, and how can we work with them to bring change so the [Muslim] community maintains its integrity and yet lives comfortably in society," he said.

He admits it's a challenge for both sides and the onus cannot fall solely on the west.
\
"Muslim leaders need wisdom, vision and compassion, and I don't see that in Muslim leadership. There's nothing but mediocrity and military leaders in power," he said.

He hopes his efforts to explain Islam will also reach misinformed Muslims.

He has a long history of trying. In 1999 he became the first Muslim to be invited to speak at a Jewish synagogue.

"It triggered a debate within the Muslim community very close to fatwa territory - but it changed the landscape," he said.

Prof Akbar will speak at the Commons on July 2 and at the London School of Economics on July 10. He will deliver a paper at a conference on the 60th anniversary of the independence of India at Southampton University on July 17.

Related Articles:
Islamic academics wary of conditional funding

Special Reports:
Race in the UK
Religion in the UK
Human rights in the UK

Useful Links:
Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations
Commission for Racial Equality
CRE Scotland
CRE WalesCommission for Equality and Human Rights
Muslim Council of Britain
Board of Deputies of British Jews