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"The collective medieval Christian memory has been recycled, purged of eschatology and incorporated into a modern secularised rhetoric that goes unquestioned today."
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Much has been said here and everywhere else on the issue of these caricatures and what I have gathered so far is that there still exists a vast gap in our knowledge as citizens of the west and upholder of western values when it comes to Islam, the religion and the civilization. I was refered to this article by a moslem friend of mine on campus as we are covering this very issue in class on the perception of Islam in medieval Europe. I think the article brings up an issue that is very relevant today and that is our unwillingness to thoroughly understand Islam from an objective point of view .. for what it is worth, not by looking at moslems today and judging Islam by it.
It is human nature that what we fear and do not comprehend, we try to ignore, ridicule and simply remove from sight. No doubt such was the prevalent attitude of medieval Europe as any student of history would tell you when Islam swept across Europe in all its glory and grandeur. It can be argued that the concept of terrorism as we know it today did not exist back then and that it should be blamed for the perception of Islam that exists today. Still, modern terrorism is a very recent phenomenon. History provides plenty of evidence that even up until this plague of terrorism emerged on the global scene, the western world remained ignorant of Islam. Excepting the few who have put in the effort and dedicated their lives in truly understanding this great religion and its prophet, and have come to very much the same conclusion.
As the Dutch scholar Hurgronje put it: "The League of Nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle of international unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations as to show candle to other nations ... the fact is that no nation of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the realization of the idea of the League of Nations."
It is also important to note that Mahatma Ghandi, someone who we have great respect for in the west has said the following of Mohammed:
"I wanted to know the best of one who holds today undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind....I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidness, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle."
I think we should not judge an entire group and in reality a great portion of humanity today by the actions of a misguided few. Portraying a man who has brought the world so much good in the way as depicted in the caricatures is an affront to humanity.
We need to make a real effort to try to understand this religion and the man Mohammed. Otherwise, WE will be the ones stuck in the past and not the Taliban and the Bin Ladens of the world. The following is a starting point:
"If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls. . . his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words.
"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?"
Lamartine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp. 276-277.
"The collective medieval Christian memory has been recycled, purged of eschatology and incorporated into a modern secularised rhetoric that goes unquestioned today."
--------
Much has been said here and everywhere else on the issue of these caricatures and what I have gathered so far is that there still exists a vast gap in our knowledge as citizens of the west and upholder of western values when it comes to Islam, the religion and the civilization. I was refered to this article by a moslem friend of mine on campus as we are covering this very issue in class on the perception of Islam in medieval Europe. I think the article brings up an issue that is very relevant today and that is our unwillingness to thoroughly understand Islam from an objective point of view .. for what it is worth, not by looking at moslems today and judging Islam by it.
It is human nature that what we fear and do not comprehend, we try to ignore, ridicule and simply remove from sight. No doubt such was the prevalent attitude of medieval Europe as any student of history would tell you when Islam swept across Europe in all its glory and grandeur. It can be argued that the concept of terrorism as we know it today did not exist back then and that it should be blamed for the perception of Islam that exists today. Still, modern terrorism is a very recent phenomenon. History provides plenty of evidence that even up until this plague of terrorism emerged on the global scene, the western world remained ignorant of Islam. Excepting the few who have put in the effort and dedicated their lives in truly understanding this great religion and its prophet, and have come to very much the same conclusion.
As the Dutch scholar Hurgronje put it: "The League of Nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle of international unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations as to show candle to other nations ... the fact is that no nation of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the realization of the idea of the League of Nations."
It is also important to note that Mahatma Ghandi, someone who we have great respect for in the west has said the following of Mohammed:
"I wanted to know the best of one who holds today undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind....I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidness, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle."
I think we should not judge an entire group and in reality a great portion of humanity today by the actions of a misguided few. Portraying a man who has brought the world so much good in the way as depicted in the caricatures is an affront to humanity.
We need to make a real effort to try to understand this religion and the man Mohammed. Otherwise, WE will be the ones stuck in the past and not the Taliban and the Bin Ladens of the world. The following is a starting point:
"If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls. . . his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words.
"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?"
Lamartine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp. 276-277.
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