Bashy Quraishy, 7 August 2008

on: No Geostrategy of Islam, a review by Loay Mudhoon

First of all, thank you Qantara for showing the courage and making an effort to debunk the myth of "Clash of Civilisations" by bringing articles such as Peter Philipp; "There is no clash of civilisations" and Loay Mudhoon's review of Olivier Roy's book; "The politics of chaos in the Middle East". There are however few points, I would like to add to bring the street version of realities to the intellectual discussions.

Muslim countries have no power – military, political, economic or social to indulge in a clash with the West. 95% Muslims across the globe are busy in living a normal life – work, family, education for their children, health care etc. Most of them have not even heard the terminology which is being used on their behalf. In a recent surveys – January and March 2008 – conducted by World Economic Forum and Gallup Poll, majority of the Muslims in the Islamic countries actually look to the West for democracy, development and rule of law and admire what the West have achieved. It does not make any sense for Muslims to have a clash with people they so admire.

On more theoretical level, Islam is not a civilisation, a nation or a country. It is a religion. Pure and simple. It has its moral codes like any other religion. If we have to discuss the possibility of competition (and not a clash), then it should be between Christianity and Islam as religions and not as civilisations. Any one familiar with the Muslim world knows that 60 Muslim countries have nothing in common - history, ethnicity, culture, language or even traditions. So how come these diverse group of nations are being lumped together as a civilisation. Unless there is a political agenda behind such assertion. Demonising, attacking or maligning Islam or any religion for that matter would only serve to help reactionary forces. This we should avoid at any cost. In this respect, my one request to Qantara is to avoid using terminologies such as; Islamic terrorists, militant Islam etc. in its coverage of Islam. Such words are offensive and useless.

Bashy Quraishy
Chair - ENAR Advisory Council-Brussels
Chair - Jewish Muslim Platform-Brussels