ISLAM AND THE WEST THE NEED FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

Abstract

On the verge of the twenty-first century, the world witnesses an
unprecedented instability. Wars and culture conflicts widen the gap
between the various civilizations and sow the seeds of hatred between
individuals. Islam, with its universal precepts of peace and respect for the
dignity of humanity, was and still is the most misunderstood religion.
When represented in the West, it is always associated with negative
images that repel Westerners from seeing what Islam really is. Hence the
great necessity for a peaceful and enlightened dialogue between the
world of Islam and the West.
A great deal has been said and written on the subject of Islam and
the West and many conferences have been convened, yet no discernible
progress has been made in bringing a better understanding or dampening
the assault on Islam and the Muslims in the western media. Prince
Charles noted in his lecture at Oxford:
The depressing fact is that, despite the advances in technology
and mass communications of the second half of the twentieth
century, despite mass travel, the intermingling of races, the evergrowing
reduction- or so we believe- of the mysteries of our
world, misunderstandings between Islam and the West continue.
Indeed, they may be growing.
The misrepresentation of Islam, which was limited in the past to
the printed word, has now mushroomed to all forms of mass communication.
The entertainment industry, news telecasts, radio shows, the
movie industry, children’s television programs, and even commercials
on billboards all have become vehicles for propagating the misrepresentation
of Islam in the West. Literary fiction and nonfiction remain
among the most insidious vehicles for permanently damaging the
image and concept of Islam in the minds of non-Muslim readers ...