Defining civilizationThe word “civilization” comes from the Latin adjective civilis, a reference to a citizen or citizens who willingly bring themselves together in political, social, economic, and religious organizations, merging together in the interests of the larger community. They share a particular way of thinking about the world as reflected in art, literature, drama and a host of other cultural happenings. Moreover, as man becomes ‘civilized’, communities of individuals engage in frequent agreements and disagreements on a wide range of issues of varying degrees of importance.
Civilized people are in constant communication with one another. They learn to coexist, in harmony, despite varying ideas and dramatically different world views. An uncivilized community operates on the law of the jungle: the powerful dominate the weaker and survival of the fittest rules.
The role of conflict
Historically, conflict has been the foundation of all great civilizations, leading to improved stability of the human community. Following a period of conflict, the Hebrews gave the ancient world faith and morality, Greece gave its world reason, philosophy and science and Rome gave the Western world law and government. As for Islam, it gave humanity a true sense of its “raison d’être”, unity with the universe and a route to understanding and connecting with the divine which, according to the Qur’an, leads to a sound connection with fellow men and women regardless of their religious beliefs, ethnic origin, social class, history, geography or any other potentially differing elements.
Conflict, when it is well-based, becomes the salt of life. It leads to creativity, innovation and transformation that improves understanding among civilized individuals from all walks of life and builds bridges among civilizations.
However, conflict, no matter how structured and constructive it may seem, will not enable people and civilizations to bridge differences if it is not striving to achieve global justice based on solid knowledge of others.
Hence, the conflicts between Muslim civilization and Western civilization do not represent a clash of civilizations but rather a clash of lack of knowledge and misunderstanding between two peoples. Similarly, the recent ‘Islamiphobia’ that started in the West in the 70s is not due to the fact that Westerners consider Islam to be a backward religion that does not fit within confines of the Western psyche. Rather, it is due to the fact that the West has awakened and found itself challenged to face new ways of thinking, seeing and understanding the world.
Western attitudes
Following more than 300 years of passive existence by Muslims, due to lack of education and western colonization of Muslim lands, westerners assumed that Islam was gone forever and neglected to learn or try to understand Islam.
In fact, I believe, that orientalists, throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and until this moment of time, did a big disfavor to the West by misinterpreting the Islamic texts and presenting false interpretations on Islam and Muslims. In a true sense, what the orientalists did was simply digging a big hole in the Western unconscious mind, so deep, that when Islamic awareness reached new generations throughout the Muslim world and especially in the Western countries, the entire West found itself not entirely ready, knowledge wise, to deal with the entire situation.
Meanwhile, Islam was gaining momentum in the Muslim world and as the wave moved West, many of these countries immediately assumed an offensive stance, actively thwarting and fighting anything Islamic, including the very virtues – liberation, brotherhood and social justice – the West wants to preserve, which are also core values in the Islamic consciousness
Muslim attitudes
Concurrently, Muslims throughout the Arab/Muslim world began focusing their attention almost entirely on the West’s negative aspects, ignoring the incredible journey the Western mind endured to reach its current state, which transformed the world in many wonderful and positive ways.
Many Muslim speakers, including people from academia, introduce the West as a source of evil, suggesting nothing good can come of it – only disaster and wrong doing. Similarly, many Muslims living in Western countries, who are experiencing segregation, discrimination and social injustice also conclude that, yes indeed, the West is a source of evil and vehemently oppose any integration or assimilation efforts.
The Clash
So, it would seen, the frequent incidents we see happening in Western countries do not represent a clash of civilizations, values or cultures, but rather, a clash of lack of knowledge on both sides. In the West people believe that Islam is their enemy while in the East (Muslim/Arab countries) people look at the West as if it were void of all human virtues.
Similarly in Europe, during the last decade, Muslims experiencing conflicts between their host and homebirth countries need to recognize that these are not conflicts between the West and Islam but rather between a people and a people; it is a conflict between a people who happened to be called Muslims because they are assumed to believe in and practice Islam and another people who happened to be Western Christians who, also, may or may not be following Christianity although they are called Christians.
The issue between Muslims and Western countries has everything to do then with a genuine lack of understanding of each other. This simply means that the world is not yet flat and that despite the buzz about globalization, it still has a long way to go to penetrate the human psyche and alter the unconscious on both sides, thereby building a solid bridge between great civilizations.
I grew up in the West and I had the privilege of being educated in Europe, the United States, and parts of the Muslim world. As a result, I enjoy the Western thoughts as much as I enjoy the Islamic thoughts. Looked at deeply, I see no opposition or conflicts between the two. Instead, I see them complementing one another. In this regard, while Islam is a physical, emotional and spiritual journey towards God (Allah), the West is a powerful tool to help us understand the divine wisdom.
A note from the author:
In the weeks ahead, I will be sharing the wisdom of Islam, as I understand it, with you. I will not make judgments. Instead, I will introduce facts from a Muslim perspective and let you judge for yourself. Three things, I would like to underscore:
1.Islam is not your enemy and will never be. Islam is a divine path that can transform your life whether you opt to embrace it or not.
2.These articles are not about preaching; they are about bringing a collective awareness to the human mind and an opportunity for us to learn how to appreciate our diversity.
3.Sometimes, my statements may seem simplistic. If that is the case, I am open to discussing any matter with you, on the basis of mutual respect.
Dr. Abdelmalek Yamani
Dr. Yamani is an engineer, linguist and psychologist interested in futuristic studies (forecast), consulting and training. He is the Executive Director of YAMCON.NET