A Battle against Stereotypes

According to a study by the University of Erfurt, 31 of the 133 television programs on Islam presented by the German broadcasters ARD and ZDF between 2005 and 2006 focused on terrorism and extremism. 81 percent of all programs had a negative bias.

The 30th German Congress of Oriental Studies, which took place at the end of September under the motto "Oriental Studies in the 21st Century: Which Past – Which Future," also focused on Islam with respect to topical issues, especially those of particular interest to social and political scientists, and, above all, those taking place in the context of the Middle East. Other regions and academic areas of interest played only a marginal role at the congress.

Germany's new generation of academics and scholars took advantage of the Congress of Oriental Studies as a forum to position themselves on the job market. This may at first seem somewhat disturbing, but there is also a good aspect to this development. In a few years time, these academics will help determine international trends in the field of Oriental Studies, and, in the meanwhile, there are no signs that the Middle East will cease to be a hot spot.

In terms of real – or construed – issues of contention, the around 500 events making up the congress could only provide a glimpse. But, that is still significant, nonetheless.

Fragments from another world

The writings of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, for instance, were examined for alleged anti-Semitism. The materials used for teaching students Islamic culture and the Sharia were found, however, only to contain typical anti-Zionist agitation.

The Holocaust theses of the Egyptian historian Abdel Wahab al-Missiri were also presented. He regards the Holocaust as a vile product of the European sphere of godlessness, in which Europeans claim the right to control of fate of others, including non-Europeans, and as such is a demonstration of Western power, also made manifest by colonial incursions into the Arab-Islamic world.

An interesting glimpse into Eastern mentality as a whole was broached by the question of whether female militancy is a sign of feminism. The case of the female "tigers" of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka was offered as an example.

The predominantly Hindu or Christian women are just as prepared as Muslim Palestinian suicide bombers to die in the cause of liberating their homeland, even though the secular LTTE can only offer the worldly reward of sovereign statehood for their sacrifice.

Yet, these events only offered a fragmentary picture. A deeper understanding of the breadth of different interpretations of the world would have been most desirable, as well as for those outside of academia's ivory tower.

Lack of coverage in the German media

The media in Germany, however, has not contributed much to covering an issue raised by State Minister Gernot Erler from the German Foreign Office, namely that the phenomena of terror should, not least of all, be considered from the viewpoint of "failed states," themselves the products of Western policies, with Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq as prime examples.

Erler did not directly refer to Gaza, leaving peace scholar Werner Ruf to point to the open wound. The Palestinians are to receive 22 percent of the territory of historical Palestine, yet this in itself is broken up. With the tacit support of the West, Israel refuses to draw permanent borders. How can a state without a clearly delineated territory and recognized borders be described other than as a failed state?

Yet, it appears as if the vastness of this issue is too delicate for the German media, while a sound critique of Islam is just too complex.

Contradictory Islam

Patricia Crone from Princeton, however, has gone to the trouble. She notes that the much-cited Koran Verse 2.256, according to which "there is no compulsion in Islam," certainly held true for the faith's Meccan period, when Muslims were in the minority.

When the first Muslim community in Medina was instructed to forcibly subjugate non-believers, the earlier verse was thereby considered to be obsolete.

In the modern period, most agree that forced conversion to Islam is possible in "extreme" cases, but true belief cannot be compelled.

Then there is the issue of the secular state, in which religion is a private matter and where the option of "external" subjugation is not tenable. Here, the positions of many Muslim religious scholars are unclear and intentionally so.

Their readiness to debate the issues would certainly be greater and their secrecy towards the West considerably less were they to feel that they were not constantly exposed to public derision and abuse.

In this respect, the Communication Studies scholar Kai Hafez suggests that more attention should be given to the centuries old tradition of tolerance practiced by Islam.

Mona Sarkis

© Qantara.de 2007

Translated from the German by John Bergeron

Qantara.de

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