De-stereotyping Islam. A Buddhist-Humanist view

Excerpts from 'A Passage To Peace'.

The Joy of Uncovering the Reality of Islam!

Ikeda: There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world today – more than one-fifth of the global population. Knowledge of Islamic culture is therefore essential to any consideration of world events. Indeed, ignorance of it constitutes a cause for unnecessary antagonism. (p92)

Ikeda:… While being strict with its own believers, Islam exerts no compulsion on believers of other faiths. Is it true that this attitude is clearly enjoined by the Koran?

Yalman: Yes. This is a very important issue. If there is one element that can be singled out as the most prominent aspect of Islam, I would say that it is a sense of respect for the individual spirit and the individual soul.

Ikeda: Such respect relates to tolerance, which itself is a mainstay of democracy.

Yalman: I agree. It expresses itself in immense support for the idea of equality. That, in a sense, is one of the most significant elements of Islam, in contradistinction to many other world religions. It is also painfully true, however, that the ideals of equality (and democracy) are far from being realized, in political terms, in far too many Islamic states.

Ikeda: Professor Tehranian told me that alms giving (zakat), one of the pillars of Islam, is a tangible expression of the emphasis on equality. It effects a redistribution of wealth by using contributions to help the poor, the distressed and the indebted, and to free slaves. (p93)

Yalman: …The idea of justice and fairness is very important because equality is always expressed in Islam in a community context… the sense of equality and the intentions of the individual are emphasized, in what amounts to a return to the inner psychological aspects of kindness and goodness.

Ikeda: ... In 2004…His Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan sent me a most courteous message, in which he mentioned the Islamic spirit of competition in mutual beneficence. A century ago, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (Founder of Soka Gakkai) said that instead of military and economic competition, humanity should turn its attention to humanitarian competition. (p94)

Yalman: Another very important Islamic concept is the application of reason (aql) and self-control. In this respect, Islam is a very modern religion – quite appropriate to contemporary society. It calls for equality, social justice, fairness in all dealings and the application and acceptance of reason. In doing this, it calls for the acceptance of science as well.

Ikeda: Islamic science flourished between the eighth and fifteenth centuries. In later times, the emphasis in Islam shifted towards religious matters, as the West – ironically on the basis of knowledge provided by Islamists – experienced the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century and took the lead in further scientific developments. Numerous chemical terms such as alkali and alcohol, both derived from Arabic, bear witness to Islamic influence. (p94)

Yalman: In the Islamic interpretation, life is always celebrated, not only for the individual and their own interests, but also always in the context of society. The community is critical. But this interpretation runs completely counter to basic elements of American pop culture, in which egotism – epitomized by the so-called ‘me’ generation – is celebrated, with very negative results from the viewpoint of public life.

This kind of egotism supports the culture of violence associated with guns. Congress has already allowed gun manufacturers and dealers too much freedom – as if there were not already enough weapons around! All this relates to a lack of respect for human life – a cheapening of human life, and emphasis on the vigilante mindset. (p98)

Islamic Humanism: Divine Love is love for all Humanity

Yalman: Yet another very important element distinguishing it from some of the other world religions is Islam’s immense emphasis on the idea of divine love. For centuries, literature in the Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Turkish and Arabic traditions has been about the individual’s love of God. Centuries of writing, particularly poetry, deal with the love of the individual for God, which is really a metaphor for the love of human beings for each other. This is a critical matter because obviously the great Islamic poets and writers have emphasized the expansion of love from the individual towards the entire community.

Ikeda: A symbol of Islamic humanism.

Yalman: Yes. Other traditions also emphasize the idea of love. For instance, I might mention the Gopis and their unconditional devotion to Krishna in the Indian bhakti tradition. As a human being, Jesus expressed Christian love for the rest of the world. In Buddhism, Maitreya – the Buddha of the future – embodies compassion. (p95)

Yalman: ... In Islam, the idea of divine love expressed in human metaphors and human terms is developed to an extraordinary extent. Otherwise, we would not have had such an immense outpouring of feeling and emotion on the subject. In all Islamic countries, from the eighth century to the present, the great Sufi traditions have been closely associated with the sense of adoration for other human beings, which of course underlines the desire for peace… (p95)

Untangling and Understanding Mideast Tensions

Yalman:… much of the so-called ‘fundamentalist’ activity in the Muslim world is a delayed reaction to destructive, indeed warlike, activities of the major Western powers. The British and the French had long been deeply implicated. They have now been joined by a naïve USA that had no idea of what it was getting into. The result of the arrogance of military power and the ignorance of local cultures is a much increased atmosphere of fear, danger and xenophobia everywhere. It is greatly to be regretted that the conditions that lend themselves to ‘asymmetrical warfare’ are now the order of the day in many places. It is vital for people who value human life and peace to question the policies that have led us to this dangerous brink. (p63)

Ikeda: Stereotypical characterizations of culture – for instance, as somehow behind the times – are easy to understand and popularize but, in their very simplification, they sacrifice richness and diversity. What is more, they may wipe out the possibilities for change in human beings. (p63-64)

Yalman: In his The Clash of Civilizations, Samuel P. Huntington deals in particular with the relationship between the West and Islam... He argues that, in a sense, the United States needs an enemy to maintain a sense of its own cultural unity. Lamentably, the relationship between Islam and the West revolves around stereotypes on both the Islamic and Western sides. This (tyranny of stereotyping) has led to an exaggerated sense of ‘Islamophobia’, both in Europe and in the USA. (p66)

Ikeda: Such stereotyping generates a cycle of mutual misunderstanding and animosity. Western society now talks in patterns and clichés removed from the actuality of Islam, while the Muslim world speaks of Western culture as materialism devoid of spiritual tradition. In this way, both aggravate misunderstanding and animosity. (p66)

Yalman: There is, however, a big difference between the way Westerners conceptualize Islam and the way Muslims conceptualize the West. The Muslims’ problem with the West has to do with imperial and colonial policies in Islamic countries. These are matters not of civilization, but of political and military control. The number of military actions, including covert CIA operations, carried out in the Middle East is beyond counting.

Since the nineteenth century, Western powers such as France and Britain, and more recently the United States, have been constantly involved in the political life and future of these countries, and have manipu[1]lated them as much as they could. So it is not surprising that Muslims feel challenged by Western power and demonize Westerners for what they did, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Evidently the twenty-first century is no exception.

The Western attitude towards Islam is one of lack of comprehension. In the West, ignorance about the impressive achievements of Islamic civilization results in caricatures used to generate a sense of grievance and crisis against Islamic countries. (p67)

Yalman: You have delivered two wonderful addresses at Harvard University: ‘The Age of Soft Power’ in 1991, and ‘Mahayana Buddhism and the Twenty-First-Century Civilization’ in 1993, which I heard. Your idea of ‘The Age of Soft Power’ is far-reaching and important.

The shortcomings of hard power can be disastrous, as in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. In my opinion, it was a great mistake for the United States to resort to hard power after 9/11. It is not that I recommend making no response at all, but 9/11 should have been treated as a criminal, not a military, act. It was not warfare – it was a crime. Attempts to use hard, military power in Afghanistan and Iraq caused a great many local deaths.

Far from stimulating recognition and gratitude, American actions had a very negative effect. Pakistan was destabilized, and Central Asia became much more problematic than before. The Arab world seethed with repressed anger and confusion. Muslims in many parts of the world, who had been relatively open and sympathetic to lofty American promises of equality and liberty, became cynical and alienated. The depressing nightmares of Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib will not be easily exorcised.

It could all have been avoided. It would have been much more effective to use the immense soft power of the United States to bring to bear on the idea of justice and fairness in these countries. Diplomatic work would have been much more effective. If the United States had used its expertise in the Western countries along with the United Nations, the world would have been a much safer place today. (p82-83)

Yalman:…I think Mahatma Gandhi, whom I respect greatly, had the right idea when he said that their positive teachings really do bring the world’s great religions together. Insufficient understanding of their own true natures, however, sometimes leads their followers astray.

Ikeda: Your insight is very significant. Conflicts arise more from political and economic causes than from religious confrontations. The struggle between Israel and Palestine and the Middle East policies of the United States government make this perfectly apparent. (p92)

Yalman: Western misunderstanding, however, in no way justifies terrorism. The events of 9/11 were indeed extremely destructive on both sides and served only to further the agenda of people who would like to see a greater division between the West, Islam and other civilizations.

Ikeda: Terrorism is an absolute evil that resolves nothing. (p67)

Yalman: Although he has certainly drawn attention to some serious problems in the way people perceive each other, to my mind, Samuel Huntington has insufficiently emphasized the role of symbolism and scapegoating. Stereotypical conceptions of ‘the other’ as enemy can be extremely destructive to both parties.

Ikeda: I agree entirely. They breed opposition and division.

Yalman: Instead, your ideas of empathy and person-to-person exchanges contrast sharply with the dangerous and negative outcomes of demonizing. (p68)

Lessons from History: Islamic Beneficence

Ikeda: The time has come for us all to re-examine history honestly, without prejudice and preconceptions. For instance, we should pay more attention to cases in which exchanges between Islam and the West have been highly productive.

A case in point is Ibn Rushd – Averroes as he is known in Europe – who was born in Cordoba, Spain. His name has gone down in history as a great Aristotelian scholar whose philosophy exerted a great influence on Christian theology in Europe. (p68)

Yalman: There is much that the West can teach Islam, but similarly there is much that Islam can teach the West. In terms of human relations, equality and social justice, there are immensely rich areas in the Islamic tradition that the West would find it worthwhile to cultivate.

Ikeda: Certainly the Islamic tradition of social responsibility towards the poor and unfortunate and towards women and children can help correct Western civilization’s excessive concentration on economic interests. Civilizations that unassumingly incorporate the superior viewpoints of other civilizations as the valuable spiritual heritage of all humanity are the ones that will achieve true prosperity in the future.

Yalman: That is precisely what I would say. I have the greatest respect for your fair assessment of Islam. (p71)

Ikeda: … Unfortunately, Japan demonstrates the informational biases about Islam that Edward Said pointed out in Covering Islam. Nonetheless, Islamic culture influences our daily lives. For instance, many things and words in daily use are Islamic or Arab in origin: pyjamas, cotton, sofa, magazine, lemon, orange, syrup and tulip are but a few examples. Even the football-match cheer Olé Olé! is said to derive from an Arabic expression meaning ‘from God’. Numerous elements like these have had culturally enriching effects all over the world. This extensive Islamic cultural heritage enriches our daily lives and demonstrates the importance Islam can have in our lives. (p91-92)

Yalman: Your pronouncements on Islam are always appropriate. It is wonderful to talk with you about the positive aspects of Islam in a Buddhist context, and to bring Soka Gakkai into closer focus with the practical aspects of Islam. (p92)

Ikeda: Professor Majid Tehranian and I agree that failure to recognize the Muslim origins of many of the scientific technologies, which developed rapidly in the West after the Renaissance, results in a most inadequate understanding of Islam. (p67)

Ikeda: The lessons we can learn from Islamic history can help us promote harmonious coexistence and mutual prosperity for the whole human race. More specifically, Ottoman history shows the empire to have been admirable in numerous respects, as is illustrated by the manner in which Constantinople was taken over. The Turks allowed the indigenous people to preserve their traditional customs and rites without interference. They were permitted to travel freely at home and abroad on commercial business. Their sons were not drafted into the Janissaries (infantrymen in the sultan’s guard), and no one was compelled to convert to Islam. Indeed, one of the first and most far-reaching acts of the Sultan (Mehmet) was to ensure the continuity and legitimacy of the Greek Orthodox Church. The diverse Christian peoples in the empire, both in the Balkans and in the East, were thereby invited into the fold. (p89)

Yalman: The Ottomans were a remarkable dynasty. As you point out, they did not force anyone to convert to Islam. People of different religions were able to continue their practices without interference. The empire provided a very welcome haven for Jews escaping racism and the destruction of the Jewish way of life in Spain and other parts of Western Europe. They found a peaceful home in the Ottoman Empire. 

Famous letters from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by Jews in the empire urged their co-religionists in Germany and France to join them. Some of these letters still exist. The gist of the letters was that they promised lives of safety, personal and religious freedom, and happiness in Turkey.

Bernard Lewis quotes the famous Edirne letter ‘written some time in the first half of the fifteenth century’:

I have heard of the afflictions, more bitter than death, that have befallen our brethren in Germany – of the tyrannical laws, the compulsory baptisms and the banishments, which are of daily occurrence . . . on all sides I learn of anguish of soul and torment of body; . . . Brothers and teachers, friends and acquaintances! I, Isaac Zarfati, though I spring from a French stock, yet I was born in Germany, and sat there at the feet of my esteemed teachers. I proclaim to you that Turkey is a land wherein nothing is lacking, and where, if you will, all shall be well with you. The way to the Holy Land lies open to you through Turkey . . . Here every man may dwell at peace under his own vine and fig tree. Here you are allowed to wear the most precious garments. In Christendom, on the contrary, you dare not even venture to clothe your children in red or in blue, according to your taste, without exposing them to the insult of beaten black and blue, or kicked green and red, and therefore are ye condemned to go about meanly clad in sad colored raiment . . . and now, seeing all these things, O Israel, wherefore sleepest thou? Arise! And leave this accursed land forever.

Lewis goes on to quote from a Portuguese Jew a century later, Samuel Usque: ‘most signal [among the human consolations] is great Turkey, a broad and spacious sea which God opened with the rod of His mercy as He opened the Red Sea at the time of the exodus . . . here the gates of liberty are always open for the observance of Judaism.’ and adds, ‘this must have come as a considerable surprise to a traveller from sixteenth century Portugal.’

It is a matter of great regret that subtle – and not so subtle – racism, which led to the destruction of the Jews and their displacement to Israel, is now practised against Muslim immigrants in a supposedly chastened and enlightened Europe. The European Union, which prides itself on its liberality, has, in fact, much to learn from the open-mindedness of the early Ottomans. (p89-90)