Grand Knowledge, Globalization,  & the Muslim World! – Part Four

Hasan Yahya, Ph.D

What Jihadist think that  Western materialism takes Muslims from their prayers and from their Islamic cultures is not accurate assessment. A society with crimes, violence, drug abuse, alcoholism, prostitution, pornography, homosexual exploitation of people and resources is not common among Americans. In addition the perception that of reducing life to a meaningless excuse in fertility is not also common but generalized by outsiders especially Islamists. Many Muslims believe these negativity about America. While America is not unique in these negative social deviances, all nations have the same in various levels.

A great proportion of American society are good people, and trying to live normal life with no involvement in crime, violence, or drug abuse. Americans cannot be enemies and should not be enemies for Muslims, because of simple reason, they are also victims of western secular materialism.

The materialist pop-culture does not represent reality of America. America is not only the political figures, Muslims are thinking about, but social thinkers too, such as Freud, Shakespeare, Nitche, Marx,  and Victor Hugo. Furthermore, Hollywood portrayal of American life  in films and TV shows is simply do not represent American society at large. These perceptions have to be known by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

I think Islam has a different concept of political community, with religion going much further in shaping the state than most Christians would support. Muslims know little about real Americans and vise versa, Most Americans have a distorted view of social attitudes and beliefs of Muslims. I think there is a mutual distrust rooted in religious differences alone. Therefore, it is necessary for different religions followers to share religious worldview to assist the common grounds on issues of ethics and morality. For example, family life, elaborate rituals, holidays, and symbols associated with family very seriously, the good family ethics is highly appreciated. All Americans share the will to have a decent familial life. 

It is a striking matter to find that much of Muslim communities are closely paralleled the concerns voiced by parents in traditional communities in America. The Amish farms residents suffer like Muslims from outside world culture, commitment to work, faith, family ties and values, are common between Muslims and American Conservative Christians. Americans are friendly, cherish hard work, and enjoy fun times in holidays. The wonderful habits among Americans and all residents of America regardless of race, ethnic backgrounds, or religion is “mutual respect” among human beings. In the Muslim world too, much of the  traditional people have these habits. But films, stereotyping, make Arabs and Muslims take a position as with or against a person for his nationality, race, or sex. With no mutual respect, which needs, to be learned in schools, workplaces, and universities. Religion never calls for discrimination among people. Ethnicity in culturally bound with the past history and traditional norms negate principles of religion. “La Ikraha fiddin” is a rule from God, means no compulsion in religion, who wants to be disbeliever, let be, and who wanted to be believer, let be. And if God Wishes all of the people on earth to be Muslims, He will do it, but His  Wish is you be different. These are Qur’an rules. But cultural practices of racism, discrimination and begotry follow tribal and national lines, take for example, Kuwatization, Saudization, and Jordan First, etc., are taken symbols seriously in many Muslim nations. The nation created these discriminative rules among the same religion followers. The Gulf states  citizens act as if they are masters, different and privileged over foreigners, Arabs or non-Arabs. The topic continues. (6227 words)

Hasan Yahya, is an American Arab scholar, a professor of Sociology, a columnist at wfol.tv, Malaysia, and TINA International News Agency, Chicago, USA. www.hasanyahya.com