عالم عبد الصمد بن جودة

Much has been said about dialogue between “the West and Islamic world” or «civilizations dialogue “.
As a matter of fact, this dialogue is thousands of years old. Almost since the appearance of civilizations and cultures on the face of the earth, For example, The Arab scientist “Avicenna” was one of the oldest figures to open dialogue between cultures, especially after benefiting greatly from Indian and Greek science, when he wrote his book titled as “ the law” ( though it was primarily a medical book)…
From this perspective, we have to admit that the dialogue of civilizations is so ancient ,- it dated back to the beginning of human civilization-,but now the main talk is not about its oldness but about the extent of its usefulness, especially after the severe confidence crisis in the wake of the collapse of America “twin” towers on the 11th of September, and also the Prophet cartoons row ,which created a widespread controversy, as well as the Pope statements on Islam ,whose aftermaths are developing while writing this essay, as well as some scientists’ claims about the theory of “civilisations clash”, which was launched by “Samuel P. Huntington” article in 1996, and showed Islam and the West as rivals and not partners ,to the extent that the reader can imagine that the Muslim’s happiness and success lie in the failure and sadness of the Christians …his aim and dream is to make Europe a Muslim continent instead of making Islam a European religion .
All in all, the writer – whom I had the opportunity to read his book- did only talk about an Islamic threat, taking the battles of “Vienna” as a historic proof.
But “Huntington” was exaggerating in all what he said, as the most deadly conflicts were those which took place inside the same civilization (the two world wars … the cold war …Muslim battles with each other such as: Imam Ali with Aisha war, and the killing of Hussein and the battles of Umayyad and Abbasid )…
There are “countless” evidences, which confirm that the fate of civilizations is dialogue not confrontation …
Islam becomes the second religion in Europe, with more than thirty million people living there, some of whom are in the highest positions.
On the other hand, all Islamic societies (including the most conservative ones) are not protected from Western values spread, with the modern means of communication, television and Internet…
In this context, one of the most prominent intellectuals says that the “Islamic threat” is no more than a “fairy tale” which no one can believe!!…and that talking about “chronic” and past clashes between ” the Islamic world ” and ” the west” is nothing but nonsense, and it is so foolish to consider the Islamic countries -somehow- a threat to Christianity, as the military threat posed by a united Islamic force (under the flag of Ottoman Empire) had totally disappeared …the Empire forces that were defeated before the gates of “Vienna” and “Budapest” in years of the 17th century had completely evaporated with the fall of “Ottoman Empire” in 1918.
Nowadays, total capacities of the Islamic world are much lower than the West’s ,as various European countries constituted a strong alliance for unified economic or political actions …Meanwhile, most Islamic countries pursued their own national interests - in isolation - and often fought each other in bloody wars such as : Morocco with Algeria, Iraq with Kuwait …etc
And in response to the statements that link Muslims with terrorism and extremism, many thinkers said that the “Islamic world” was not - anyhow- the one which organized the dreadful “Holocaust” against the Jews during the Second World War, nor did it expel them from Spain, furthermore, we can find hundreds of thousands of Muslim in many countries victims of repression and terrorism, almost like the rest of creatures!! .. For instance in the events of September 11th, Muslims were murdered just like other Christians, Jews and agnostics, and others…
So, if we want to talk about a “forged” subject such as the “unavoidable” clash of civilizations, we have to be –somehow- brave and penetrate taboos to say what we really believe with absolute frankness, despite the fact that such frankness may not appear to be diplomatic, or, at least – a helping factor in the ambience of opening dialogue between civilizations, especially Christian and Islamic ones.
But is not it our right to raise the following question: Do religions and civilizations call for violence?
Let’s begin with this so essential point, which many people talked about, some said that Islam was a religion of the sword, violence and death … this is a terrible mistake!
Islam is divine religion, which encourages dialogue, understanding and peaceful coexistence among nations… because the true religion is the one which is based only on persuasion and conviction, There is no faith by force, and there are varied verses in the Holy Qur’an ,in which Allah says :(Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and sage advice. And argue with them in kind ways) and (No compulsion in religion) and (Will you compel people to be believers!!).
And because people are divided into different tribes and ethnic groups, the call to Islam is universal, and not based on any racial or religious discrimination… Allah the Almighty says:(O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female origin and made you nations and tribes, that ye may know each other, surely, the most dignified of you, In the sight of God, is the pious) .this proves that no nation is differentiated from the other and that the ultimate reckoning is in God’s hand, and not in the hands of human beings, whether they are judges or executioners or Muftis.
So from an Islamic point of view, there is no problem concerning opinion, creed or colour, race or nationality diversity, as Islam calls for a peaceful “match” to build and develop our world.
So where is the “clash”? Where is the problem?! Without doubt, the problem is the bloated and extremist mentalities, which believe in the culture of death and self-dissolving for the sake of evil purposes.
It is true that it could be said that there are certain factors that may lead-hypothetically-to tension in the relationship between Islam and the West. But at the same time, such factors can represent a real foundation for understanding, cooperation and cross-fertilization.
Among those factors is that the spread the Islamic world was at the expense of the Christian civilization in Islamic “conquests”, and vice versa…
Let alone the controversial similarities between Islam and Christianity in many points.
Ironically, we find that what brings us together is what divides us and such similarities are -many times- a source of tension, because some people in the West finds it too difficult to categorize Islam as a separate belief, which has its own vision of the universe. And classify it merely as a “heretical” Christianity or a grave deviation from the right religion! While some Muslims do the same thing, by classifying the gospel as a diverted book of Allah and that Islam is the only right and straight religion!!
Apart from this, we have to know that the whole world has become a “universal village” because of globalization…What happened anywhere in the world crawls to us and influences us in our so distant villages, either economically, politically or socially …Thus, we must start to interact with other cultures in ways which are not incompatible with the broad lines of our civilization, and allow others –at the same time - to interact with us.
So, because of the international collective desire to put emphasis on the value of dialogue, and on the rebuttal of the distrustful ,negative views ,which pretend that the varied civilizations of the world are destined to clash (one’s meat is an other’s poison), and to refute the inaccurate and false concepts, which have been rampant in our contemporary world as a result of ignorance, injustice and misinterpretation of religious texts and deviation from the path of justice, truth, in dealing with tension and conflicts causes, in a number of political, economic and humanitarian issues.
For all that, we have to be committed to dialogue, which is not limited to the discovery of common human values, but it goes beyond that to the fact that it recognizes the importance of diversity and differences of our multilateral world’ people.
And in order to contribute effectively in the dialogue of civilizations and cultures, we have to talk openly with others on the basis of mutual respect, far from chaos and fanaticism.
On this basis, we can sincerely express our views without any displacement of our basic cultural values. And if there is anyone who is reluctant to disclose what it thinks, there is no justification for it at all.
In fact, difference of opinions is the beginning of the dialogue. Because people in the modern world, are in a desperate need of dialogue. Descartes says: “I think so I am” and we, in the West and Muslim world, can say: “we talk with the other so we are”.
We must strongly think of the points of convergence, rather than points of disagree, and do not surrender to the traditional formulation that divides the world into two “hemispheres”, as we have many global problems which do not discriminate between religions or races such as: AIDS, drugs, organized crime, terrorism and religious extremism as well as issues of environment.
These problems are the scourge of many people all over the world and contribute to the aggravation of the fundamental problems that both the victorious and the vanquished are suffering from, therefore, It is wise to call for dialogue, understanding and cooperation and coexistence among civilizations..
Hence, there is an urgent need for establishing research centres on dialogue and drawing the right image of the West in the minds of Muslims and vice versa, as talking about any dialogue in the absence of such institutions remains an illusionary and Utopian.
We also must focus on the role of media in this dialogue by dismissing misleading and inflammatory TV channels, and “broadcasting” – instead- a tolerant speech, without dedicating “the conspiracy theory” and “treachery mentality” among Muslims or “the green danger” in the west’s dictionary.
We have also to be so interested in translating Islamic heritage into European languages, so as to open a window for cross-fertilization away from theorizing on papers.
I am so convinced that the world is going through serious and multiple curves, and that dialogue and understanding between the Islamic world and the West can contribute to the creation of favourable conditions for a better world, and can put an end to terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and other Islamic groups, which are based on the “barbaric” desire to take control of the world, through spreading hatred and intimidation based on violence and military force.
The West needs the Arab south in order to establish security and stability in the world!!
The Arab and Muslim world needs the West for the development and advancement and to catch up with the march of progress, and this can be achieved only through dialogue and only dialogue!!
Thus, we can live in a multicultural world…a world which refutes “Huntington” claims.

Translated by: Abdessamad Ben Jouda

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