CAIRO: Humanity should be outraged with the cowardly murder of Marwa Al-Sherbini in a German courtroom at the hands of a German fanatic two weeks ago. Nothing in this world is more precious than a human soul, and different religions, philosophies and civilizations preach that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind.
Muslims in Germany and around the globe have every right to question the deafening silence of Western media. It was only a few years ago that Van Gogh was assassinated in the same cowardly manner, and the media’s reaction was definitely not the same.
Yet no matter how intense and strong the pain and grief is, it should never misguide our thoughts. Fury and anger will not resolve the cross-cultural setback. Demonstrations can only serve in drawing attention to the crime neglected by most Western media.
Minds, however, should remain clear with eyes firmly fixed on the future of humanity and human civilization. Most importantly, we should never be trapped in the same old mistakes of the past: mutual accusations and the mere pretence of dialogue where minds and ears are shut.
Al-Sherbini’s murder, alongside French President Sarkozi’s comments on niqab and other recent incidents, send alarming signals to the Muslim world; Europe is no safe place; at least not as safe as it used to be. A Gallup poll conducted in 2008 reflects troubling levels of interfaith intolerance inside several European countries, including Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom. Around one third of these countries’ populations are fully isolated, with less than a quarter of their overall populations being integrated with other faiths.
In Germany, where the most recent crime took place, only 13 percent of the overall population is integrated while 38 percent are isolated, the rest was marked as “tolerant by the poll. This isolation is only a manifestation of the rejection of other faiths; a cancer that could be fatal to human civilizations and global peace but also to the essence of faith and religion.
President Barack Obama was right when he described the tendency amongst some Muslims to “measure one’s own faith by the rejection of another’s as disturbing. Perhaps even that was an understatement. But he was unquestionably mistaken when he limited that tendency to Muslims. Previously mentioned statistics and incidents reflect a growing international and interfaith trend of religious and cultural intolerance.
This is an issue that will not go away by itself. There are cross-cultural and cross-civilization tensions that need to be dealt with and resolved. The conventional “why do they hate us discourse misses all the important points and chooses to see a radical Islam, hence contributing to mounting tensions. This discourse is unhealthy, and false. But the sentimental discourse speaking about Islam’s contribution to human civilization is not much better, because it deliberately downplays the real sources of tension that breed violence.
The Muslim world’s conspiracy theory also needs to be reviewed with a mindset able to understand the complexity and diversity amongst Western countries. It is not true that all Westerners hate Muslims just as much as it is not true that all Muslims hate Westerners. Hate advocates are small but loud minorities on both sides, who are only heard because of the silent majority. Westerners rejected Bush’s “crusade discourse just as much as Muslims rejected Bin Laden’s “conquering the world discourse.
These types of discourses will have no fruitful impact, but hard talk will. Engaging in frank, respectful and straightforward dialogues that go straight to the roots of tension is tough and tiring, and that is why it has been avoided by the majority. Most prefer the soft dialogues that keep away from hot issues, while some prefer addressing these issues in monologues; illustrating only minimal interest in listening and discussing.
It is through such dialogues that people will get to understand that terrorism is not rooted in Islam; only Western media outlets prefer to see it that way. It is only through such dialogues that sources of tensions will be correctly contextualized: they are political and not religious tensions.
To be sure, there are religious and cultural differences, but they are no real sources of tension. Muslims are critical of the decay in social and spiritual life in the West, and Westerners are critical of the way women are unjustly treated in some Muslim-majority countries. Yet not a single Muslim respondent to the Gallup world poll said that the West should change its values to enhance cross cultural relations. Not a single statement of a terrorist organization justifying 911 attacks cited Quran; it was all about politics.
The occupation of Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghani lands, the continued military presence of Western countries in tens of other Muslim majority countries and the support of dictatorships across the Muslim world will continue to understandably increase hostility towards the West in these countries. But with global peace at stake, there is so much to do to contain and resolve this hostility.
On the one hand, serious attempts to resolve these issues and bring justice to those who are suffering is necessary. On the other hand, contextualizing the conflicts and continuing to resist only the aggressors without spreading hatred is essential. Otherwise, we will all pay the price, and Marwa Al-Sherbini will not be the last victim of humanity’s failure to appreciate diversity.
Ibrahim El Houdaibyis a freelance columnist and researcher. A graduate of the American University in Cairo, he holds a B.A. in political science and is working towards an M.A. in Islamic Studies at the High Institute of Islamic Studies.
