Multiculturalism, tolerance and Islam


The concept and practice of multiculturalism is always a debatable subject. There are several burning issues erupting in our world which create controversial questions of cultural clashes while the origins of dissonance are not always religious or cultural; but political and economic. Unfortunately, as a result, one culture tries to dominate over other to wipe out so called “hostile” identities with cultural bullying or money power and in most cases political power is used as a tool to subordinate or demonise the other. Preservation of ethnic purity is often criticised as an anti-thesis of multiculturalism and harmony, even though the real meaning of multiculturalism encompasses tolerance and respect to other civilisations and culture. This process has indeed created a sense of insecurity among people world over, especially those who live in other countries as immigrants. When we look at the problems related to cultural conflicts dispassionately, the emergent reality is that more than any identity or adjustment issue with other religion, it is the changing nature of economics and struggle for economic power that leads to community conflicts or religious conflicts or even war among nations. At a closer look, all religions essentially teach the lessons of tolerance and resilience rather than hostility and subordination.

Religion has become the most contentious issue since the end of cold war. Among the religions under attack for cultural and political reasons, Islam stands first. There is a deliberate attempt to project Islam as a monolithic religion, which disregards diversity and pluralism. There is a misconception even among scholars that the anti-Islam sentiments were by-products of 9/11 and Talibanization. But in reality it is not true. The speed and pace of economic growth in some Islamic countries and their huge natural resources base have played a vital role in defining and redefining global attitude towards Islam - both political and cultural dimensions.

Western media has successfully projected the image of Islam in accordance with their immediate political and economic concerns. There was hardly any attempt on their part to study and explore the spirit and content of Islam as a religion practised by millions of people across the world. Instead there is a tendency to equate militancy and extremism with the very fabric of Islam. Even, the British Commission on Muslims, views that a deep dislike of Islam is not a new phenomenon in our society. What is new is the way it is articulated by those sections of society who claim the mantle of secularism, liberalism and tolerance. They are at the forefront of the fight against racism and against Islam and Muslims at the same time. They preach equality for all, yet turn a blind eye to the fact that Western society sometimes offers unequal opportunities for Muslim.

There is also another common misconception that terrorism originated in west Asia and its global religious affiliation is Islam. But it is absolutely wrong. Terrorism has roots in Europe. The history of genocide, brutal victimisation, etcetera dates back to pre-cold war Europe. Even though there is no denying fact that there are militant organisations functioning under the banner of Islam like Al-Qaeda, majority of the Muslims negates extremism in any form and content. When we analyse the growth and development of Al-Qaeda or any such terrorist movement, USA’s imperialistic involvement is evident. Once up on a time Osama was Washington’s ally. There are several other cases as well. There is no doubt that Talibanization or any type of fundamentalism needs to be checked. However, it is not politically correct to brand or demonise all the countries or movements which attack hegemony of Western culture and declaring the political weapon of “war on terror” on them

As a religion and culture, Islam provides sufficient space for reform though there are certain basic features which cannot be altered as it essentially constitute the “Islamic identity.” However, in social realm, this “identity” does not negate or disrespect any other religion of culture. To each to his own (Lakum deen na kum waliudeen). Islamic way of life neither comes in conflict with other cultures nor does it closes the social spaces for discourse and interaction with other culture. Hence it is painful to view Islam being contextualized and positioned as an entity opposite to and intolerant of the so-called democratic and liberal ideals and values for which the west stands for. This is often articulated through an onslaught on Muslims as a hegemonic community, where the religion of Islam is employed as a battering ram: a religion that is conceived and determined to be either uniquely evil or uniquely backward.

Islam is often equated with Taliban and headscarf is being seen as an embodiment of subordination of women. Even in the 90s, Netherlands and some other European countries discussed the issue of headscarf to project it as a conflict between Islam and modern liberal ideas of citizenship and public sphere. The terrorist attacks in the United States and Britain made such false claims more popular. In 2005, during the debate on terrorism prevention, some right wing members strongly argued that burkhas are women unfriendly and creates security threat in public places. Instead of recognising and subsequently creating moral and cultural space for other religious beliefs, attempts were made to reject the religious sentiments and identity consciousness of Muslim women and to homogenise the entire community into the dominant culture and identity. When the Taliban came into power in Afghanistan and wrong interpretation of Islam was given especially on the role of women, there was wide spread criticism across the world. But there was no such cry when negation of identity was initiated in Western Europe. Both are different sides of same coin - One projects itself as fundamental Islam and the other put the veil of democracy and liberalism to cover the face of hegemony and homogenisation. Both are equally disastrous as far as religion as a redeeming force is concerned. I think that wearing head scarf or turban in public places - to express ones identity explicitly - is more honest than preaching the sentiments of liberal democratic values on one hand and practising the politics of imperialism and cultural hegemony on the other.

More and more, one hears about homogenisation taking place ostensibly to deal with the threats faced by globalisation. What is happening is actually cultural bullying to wipe out identities to enable a sinister kind of mass public who will react similarly and predictably in an acceptable response level - acceptable to the powers that be. The reasons why people feel threatened is that their own indigenous base within the diversities of the world are getting threatened by large scale out - migration of their own kind and large scale in - migration of distinct foreigners who are making the land home to the extent of even changing the heritage landscape. International travellers often face insult and humiliation in airports whether it is Sharukh Khan or APJ Abdul Kalam. This is more acute in the case of people who wear dresses expressing his or her religious identity. Stereotyping and demonising of Muslims as extremists puts people into predetermined moulds. This is actually the result of poor knowledge about the other religion and culture. There is also the element of small-time prejudice getting the upper hand in such situations where travel staff goes by perceptible signs from clothing and speech accents to come to dubious conclusions. Such hubs are known for their harassment of international travellers who become soft targets for the first contact point in a foreign country. Nevertheless there are several Muslims peacefully living in USA and Europe without causing any disruption in society or culture even though majority of them continue practising Islam as their way of life. Irrespective of the nature of the current debates and arguments surrounding multiculturalism, neither Islam nor Muslims are incompatible with either liberalism or multiculturalism. The events of 9/11, 7/7 and 21/7 were not therefore evidence that multiculturalism is no more nor even that certain communities and religions needed to be vilified. The reality is indeed quite the opposite.
The key factor to protect multiculturalism in the contemporary world is to realize and accept the essential uniqueness of each religion and culture whether it is backward or modern as per the stereotype criteria. As far as Islam is concerned, movement for reform - if there is a felt need - should emerge within that culture and religion. It should not be a ”prescription sheet” given by others who condemn the culture or those who believe that contemporary Islam - as a religion, practice and politics - is essentially a threat to multiculturalism. The definition, content and discourse on Islam should not be something determined by either Al-Qaeda or USA. There are number of terrorist outfits which are not Islamic at all. There are several wars, which the USA and other countries fought in which Islamic countries were not a party. Hence, any effort to brand Islam as a “threat” and creator of “clash of civilisations” will only lead to wrong assumptions and further polarisations in society. Mutual respect and resilience should be the bottom line when the geographical barriers dividing countries are getting blurred and redrawn. The key to harmony in a multicultural world is to understand that every culture is inherently plural and porous. Culture and religion evolves over centuries and the content will be refined in tune with the time. What we can do is to celebrate diversity as a positive corollary of peaceful co-existence. The branding and exclusion of a particular religion will not support the future of multiculturalism. Rather, liberal democracy and multiculturalism should be practised through the recognition and respect towards other religious beliefs with a strong conviction that their specific cultural identity will not hamper the scope for the collective consciousness of the mainstream society.



Published in Weekly Holiday 16th October, 2009.