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repercussions following the statements made by Pope Benedict XVI are being
felt till today, though by now the modalities of global Muslim protest
have become evident and well known to close observers of political Islam.
As expected, following the speech that was delivered while the pope was in
Germany recently, there have been hundreds of protests all over the Muslim
world, calling on the pope to apologise for what he had said and calling
on the western world to be sensitive to the concerns and sensibilities of
Muslims the world over.
That such a reaction was forthcoming was to be expected:
It has to be stated again that the choice of quotes used in the speech by
the pope was anything but enlightened and which, uttered by a man of his
standing and delivered before such a public gathering, was bound to lead
to a reaction on the scale that we have seen thus far. What is more, it
should be noted that apart from the reaction from the Muslim world there
was little unease or disquiet about the pope’s speech elsewhere. Proof, if
any was needed, that there exists an unhealthy tolerance for abuse of
Islam and Muslims in many parts of the non-Muslim world today.
Furthermore, as has been noted by the author Karen
Armstrong, this pedestrian and common form of Islamophobia and prejudice
towards Muslims has become so widespread that there now exists a common
consensus between the conservatives behind the pope and even secular
Muslim-haters in the West. In her words: "Hatred of Islam is so ubiquitous
and so deeply rooted in western culture that it brings together people who
are usually at daggers drawn. Neither the Danish cartoonists who published
the offensive caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad last February nor the
Christian fundamentalists who have called him a paedophile and a terrorist
would ordinarily make common cause with the pope; yet on the subject of
Islam they are in full agreement."
But here it pays to take a degree of objective distance
from the issue and look at the matter from a broader perspective. While
the comments made by the pope were morally questionable both in their
content and intention, one also has to question the logic at work in the
reaction of some Muslims to the event. It has also been reported that many
an Islamist group had reacted to the speech of the pope with calls for
violence and retribution: A stupid and counterproductive reaction if any,
for it simply reinforces the stereotypical view (repeated in the pope’s
speech) that Islam is a religion of the sword and that Muslims are
fundamentally violent.
Consider the following statements that were issued by one
radical Islamist group in Iraq, said to be linked to al-Qaeda: In its
press statement the Mujahideen Shura Council stated bluntly that "We shall
break the cross and spill the wine ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer
Rome ... God enable us to slit their throats and make their money and
descendants the bounty of the mujahideen." In bellicose terms bordering on
the hysterical, the statement then proceeded to "tell the worshippers of
the cross (the pope) that you and the West will be defeated" and that "you
will only see our swords until you go back to god’s true faith, Islam." If
the pope’s speech had done damage to inter-religious dialogue, then such a
reaction was calculated to ensure that the final nail would be hammered
into the coffin.
It remains an oddity till today that many Islamist groups
react to provocation at the drop of a hat and that their reactions often
follow the predictable path of rhetoric and pyrotechnics. Fiery speech may
gain a group some precious minutes on the TV screen but in the long run
they do untold damage to the understanding and image of Islam (both in the
eyes of Muslims and other faith communities) that will take ages to heal.
It would also be hypocritical for some of these Islamist
groups to demand an apology from the pope while remaining blissfully
oblivious to the venomous speeches and tirades that issue forth from their
own ranks, be it in the form of mosque sermons, videos, pamphlets,
recordings or death threats. Muslims cannot, and should not, demand
respect for our faith as long as we are not prepared to show the same
respect to the beliefs of others. Yet how many Muslims have criticised the
extremists and conservatives in their midst, who continue to ply the crowd
with sordid stories of ‘Christian conspiracies’ against Muslims or with
lurid accounts of the alleged ‘decadent, immoral’ lives and values of the
so-called ‘infidels’?
To reiterate the main point of this article: We are indeed
living at a time when Muslim-Western relations are at an all-time low. It
is also a fact that the divide between the western and Muslim worlds is
not a neutral one but rather one based on unequal and unjust divisions of
power, wealth and privilege. However, in order to redress this imbalance
and injustice on a global scale, a global view of the world is needed
which sees humanity as a singular community. Divisive speech on either
side of the divide will do little to help the situation and, if anything,
it can only perpetuate the very differentials of difference and power,
which is at the root of this injustice.
Stupid, insulting and even destructive comments from
either community should be met with a rational voice tempered with logic
and morality, not threats of violence couched in the flimsy rhetoric of
victimhood. If Muslims felt insulted by the pope’s comments then we need
to realise that many non-Muslims likewise feel insulted by the barbed
accusations and slander that have come from some self-appointed spokesmen
for Islam.
Where is the solution to this? Islam reminds us that logic
and reason are universal qualities inherent in all creation. To abandon
the way of rational, logical discourse at this stage would not only be an
abdication of the responsibility to dialogue, but would also lead to a
further marginalisation of Muslims on a global level. And above all,
Muslims need to remember that in our reaction to abuse and slander we are
nonetheless guided by a moral principle that is higher: One cannot react
to slander with even more slander, any more than one can react to racism
with even more racism. If the moral compass has been lost by the pope, our
duty – as Muslims and non-Muslims alike – is to restore this balance and
not to let the ship of humanity flounder even more. n