'Who speaks for Islam? For the West?'

Since we'll be discussing issues raised by this month's "cartoon wars" in English 111, I hope to post links to several thoughtful articles over the weekend. I spotted them while I was scrambling to keep up with events, and now the uproar appears to be simmering down, I'll be able to catch up. (So, as I used to say when I wrote a newspaper column, watch this space.) In the meantime, the Arab TV station al Jazeera today carried stories on its website quoting Muslim leaders who want to calm the uproar.

Even Khaled Meshaal, leader of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, which supports armed struggle against Israel, "is prepared to play a role in calming the situation between the Islamic world and Western countries on condition that these countries commit themselves to putting an end to attacks against the feelings of Muslims", according to al Jazeera. The station also quoted Ali al-Samman, who heads an interconfessional dialogue committee at Al-Azhar university in Cairo and is considered the highest authority in Sunni Islam. He said now is a time for "[q]uiet debate and dialogue, without passion."

Al Jazeera also covered Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who spoke Friday at a two-day international conference on "Who Speaks for Islam? Who Speaks for the West?" He had stern words for the West, but he also spoke for moderate Muslims who have not been rioting in the streets.

"The demonisation of Islam and the vilification of Muslims, there is no denying, is widespread within mainstream Western society," said Abdullah, whose country heads the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference. He said the cartoons only reinforce stereotypes held by Westerners who "think Usama bin Laden speaks for the religion and its followers. Islam and Muslims are linked to all that is negative and backward." He also put the fracas in a political context:

Abdullah said Western nations wanted to control the world's oil and gas, and blamed that desire along with colonialism and "the imposition of Israel upon the Arab world" for a rift with the Muslim faith.

The premier also said Muslims saw the "hegemony" of Western powers "manifested directly in the attack upon Afghanistan and in the occupation of Iraq".

These "have all contributed in one way or another to the huge chasm that has emerged between the West and Islam," he told the gathering of religious leaders and scholars in Kuala Lumpur.

Al Jazeera said the conference in Kuala Lampur, the capital of Malaysia, "will address ways to dispel mutual misperceptions through the media and how policymakers can develop policies to ensure that globalisation benefits Muslims and diffuse Muslim grievances towards the West."