You may have heard a lot that there is a clash of civilizations going on between the Western and the Islamic World. Majority of people blame this clash of civilization on the religious differences between the two communities and there is a lot of truth in this notion but this is not all that we need to know. There are many many things that one can discuss but today my focus is on the cultural invasion of one community on the other and vice versa. I am explaining the whole scenario without any bias or prejudice.
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Let me start this discussion by giving you some very basic examples from nature. Take an animal and make it live with animals of the different species or even different animals of the same species.
What is the reaction?
The animal is resisting and this resistance is leading to an armed conflict. I mean both the indigenous breed and the invading one are trying to hurt each other.
In the past, I had many pigeons as pets and whenever I would bring a new pigeon, the old ones would resist it and even would hurt it a lot.
Why is this so?
The ones already living there considered the arrival of the new pigeon as an invasion upon their territory and way of life.
If animals and birds have such a huge reaction to any foreign influence, how could humans be devoid of this trait even when the thought-process in humans is much more complex and advanced compared to other species?
As a Muslim, I would first like to bring out what the ordinary Muslim think about the cultural challenges (may be more of a blessing and diversification but I have to call it a “challenge” to explain the position of common people)from the West. The common person here thinks that the access of Television, Internet and other forms of media is some sort of an invasion from the West. Let me tell you again, these media are huge platforms for the flow of information but I have to read common minds.
Then the common person also questions the glorification of certain personalities and movements by the Western Media like CNN, BBC, VOA etc. I talked to one of my class fellows about how to fill the bridge between the West and the Islamic world. He said that it is a very difficult task.
I asked him, why?
He said that don’t you look at the Western media how they glorify Malala Yousufzai (the noble prize winner) and neglect many of the innocents killed in the drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan? I was stunned and I had to accept some of his grievances. He like many other people thought that the glorification of liberal segments is aimed at hurting the family values of the East. You may not agree with him but he has a point to make. Similarly, common man also doubts the sincerity of women rights organization by saying that the aim of these organization is to compel women to adopt the western way of life.
Even many people object to the invasion of fast foods in our area. In the past, there was no presence of burgers, soft drinks etc in our market but times have changed now. One can see the younger generations at the fast food cafes eating their favorite foods by using forks. This introduction of fast foods is seen by the conservative class as some form of invasion upon their way of life.
Now discussing what the western world thinks about the Muslims.
If you study history, you would know that during the time of Umayyad Caliphs, the Muslim army invaded Spain and establish their own government there. Similarly, the Turkish Ottoman Empire extended their footprint into the far away areas of Europe. The common person living in Europe would consider it a precedent for a future invasion and would never allow it to happen again.
Similarly, I heard a lot from my Western friends on social media that the Muslim are migrating to the developed areas of Europe and snatching their jobs and facilities. They not only work at a lower cost but are much more prone to working harder as well because they want enough money to serve their families back home.
The westerners also think that Muslims always retain their religious and culture outlook and instead of adopting the local culture, they try to change the laws and traditions of the areas they migrate to. A common western also think that Muslims want to export the Sharia law into the heartland of Europe. That’s why we can see a lot of anti-Muslim sentiments in many areas of Europe.
One cannot deny that there are differing opinions on both sides and a big gap exists but we need to bridge that gap somehow and the best method is to accept each others’ way of life and respect difference of opinion.