I got back from a weekend away (it was a long Bank Holiday weekend here), to find the world in pretty much the same sorry mess I left her in.
I did catch something about the release of two American journalists taken hostage in Gaza. Israel/Palestine is not something I blog about for a number of reasons. But what did prick my ears about this story was the video of the two men being forced to convert to Islam (note, you might the comments distasteful on that link), after which their ordeal ended:
"Mr [Steve] Centanni told Fox News the two had been forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint [...] I have the highest respect for Islam... but it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns and we didn't know what the hell was going on," he said by telephone from Gaza City."
Thankfully, the journalists were not harmed and Centanni himself seemed to acknowledge that his 'conversion' was not considered part of Islamic practice or belief. But Steven Guess opines:
"It distresses me greatly that thusfar no Islamic websites I visit have made any mention on their blogs/news outlets that this was wrong and inhumane."
He acknowledges that people, Muslims in this case, perhaps don't feel the need to speak out against something which they obviously bear no responsibility for. One could cite scripture, but that is not the point here. The crux of the matter is this: should a Muslim feel compelled to speak out against something 'done in the name of Islam' which they believe to be totally contrary to their faith?
One side would argue that no matter how loudly a vast number of Muslims will shout about terrorism, murder and so on being against Islamic beliefs and principles, bigots will still claim that such acts are 'part of Islam'. Further more, as the blogger in that link says, no one asks the English to apologise for the acts of English hooligans abroad. The flip side is explained by Tariq Nelson:
"[The] political realities, even though we may not like it, make it necessary for the Muslim organizations to distance Islam from it in a clear and unambiguous manner. Given the constant barrage of negative images of Muslims the common person sees on a daily basis, and our relative isolation from society, I don’t think it is reasonable to expect a person not to ask a few questions about this or expect to see some type of condemnation of things done in the name of Islam."
The (sad) reality is that, ordinarily, people do not inform themselves of what they see or hear in the popular media. Even when they do out to seek more information, it can end up simply being a task to enforce their own prejudice (which might explain the popularity of certain blogs and the comments on the videos of the 'conversion' at YouTube). In our media-saturated environments, and especially in more affluent societies (where everyone, rich or poor, has access to a television), sound bites, opinion polls and visual images on the box-in-the-room seem to form the staple diet of information today. It's not that television cannot be informative; it most certainly can. Nor is it the case that everyone should become a scholar of the subject under discussion. Rather, when watching television people may not be discerning or critical and accept everything at face value (the same approach, should be taken when reading a book too, of course). So, if the news reports that two hostages were forced to convert to Islam whilst showing videos of these 'conversion', but does not report that such 'conversions' are considered contrary to Islamic principles and that even the most ardent "fundamentalist" would reject such a forced conversion, then Muslims are left in a bit of quandary.
For me, it comes down to personal preference. Some people do not feel compelled to speak out against such matters. Others, including myself on occassions, do. For me, speaking out against actions is not necessarily 'apologising', but part of the general attempt to take back the usage of Islamic terminology and principles which have become villified in the popular media, whether at the hands of extremists amongst us or those hostile to us.
Needless to say, on this occassion, such 'conversions' deserve to be derided and rubbished, and I am glad that the two journalists are free and appeared to have a better opinion of their Palestinian hosts, than the Palestinain kidnappers had of them.
Excellent points. Even for those of us that feel that there should be condemnation, the sheer amount of incidents would make it a near daily project. We would talk about nothing else
Posted by: Tariq Nelson | August 30, 2006 at 11:18 AM
This was illustrated on a comment referencing the Mujahideen Ryder's blog... here
However, if the problem is not concerning the intellectuals but the general population of Muslims world-wide addressing these matters... then I must concede Thabet's position on the matter when he wrote,
As a matter of fact there have been many books written on the subject of self-proclaimed Muslims committing acts of "Terror", by scholars and Sheikhs from Muslim communities all around the World.Posted by: Abu Sahajj | August 30, 2006 at 03:41 PM
I fear the issue is really that there aren't enough Muslim websites and blogs to talk about enough things.
Posted by: Osama Saeed | August 30, 2006 at 06:34 PM
Thank you. This is literally the first statement that I have seen by a Muslim (I assume you are one) that repudiates the forced conversion of the journalists. I've linked to your post as a demonstration that there are such statements being made. The presence of a single voice can make a large difference.
Posted by: Gary McGath | August 30, 2006 at 07:22 PM