Whenever an issue concerning Islam comes up in the news, most Muslims adopt a "woe me" attitude. We find it easier to play the victim than to take responsibility for our actions or non-actions. The question is, in doing so, are we further tarnishing the face of Islam? We often ask why others cannot see the good side of Islam. I think the question we should be asking is, what have WE done to generate negative opinions? Even if we have done nothing wrong, what are we doing to dispel those negative perceptions? I believe the Muslim world needs to adopt a new paradigm, one in which unity and intelligence are the foundations. To do so, we first need to educate ourselves about our Faith – what does Islam stand for; what is its philosophy? Second, we should embrace diverse views and discuss them freely without fear of prejudice or controversy.
To discuss the philosophy of Islam, we first need to understand it. Muslims are reaping the consequences for the so-called experts on the Quran, the self-appointed religious authorities, who pompously speak on behalf of Islam while being misinformed. I recently watched a TED video (http://www.ted.com/talks/lesley_hazelton_on_reading_the_koran.html) where Leslie Hazelton, a self-declared agnostic Jew, objectively discussed the Quran. She noted how the perverse mind can distort the message of God. Many people would much rather misquote the Quran than to actually put forth the energy it takes to understand a holy scripture in its esoteric essence. We Muslims have made the Quran vulnerable to attack by others because of our own misunderstanding of it. Rather than work on our mistake, we point fingers at others, accusing non-Muslims of misinterpreting Islam and spreading fear. If we do not properly represent our faith, how can we expect others to see its good side? Islam calls for unity and tolerance amongst mankind. Yet everywhere we look, we see factions among Muslims, Shia against Sunni, and country against country. It seems that we are creating problems for ourselves and prefer to live in the past and wallow in our self-pity. Islam would benefit if more Muslims stepped up and took initiative to understand Islam with contemporary perspectives and then educated others. In order to do this, however, we must first be willing to put aside any bias we may have and objectively learn about Islam – how others perceive it and what Islam's place is in modern society.
The Muslims have rapidly devolved from being leaders of innovation during the Golden Ages to mere followers of technology in today's world. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his Discourses on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men, writes about l'homme sauvage and the modern man, noting how modern man has regressed toward sin and away from the innocence of original man. The original man had few needs and no intellect – therefore, he operated according to the laws of nature in which self-preservation and compassion for others were the foundations. Modern man, because of his reason, has increased his appetite, and bred vice – greed, lust, and jealousy all stem from reasoning out our insatiable appetites. Muslims today seem to embody the Modern Man in their lust for power, money, and population. This ongoing clash between Shia and Sunni Muslims now has purely political reasons. The growing unrest in the Middle East is all about power-grabbing – how to oppress the largest amount of people with the least amount of work to gain power and money. Muslims leaders have unleashed their appetites and are now working to justify their actions. Meanwhile, nations have fallen to pieces because of the resulting unrest and instability. We have become animals, letting our stomachs rule our brains. We should be embodying the spirit of Islam and uniting instead of constantly fighting with each other while the Western countries laugh at our incompetence. We were once at the zenith of the scientific revolution. While the Dark Ages blanketed the rest of Europe, the Muslim empire was the beacon of Knowledge. Where has that passion for knowledge gone? Why are we just settling to revel in our past glory rather than stepping up to take charge of the technological development in today's society? Instead of discussing our faith actively and publically, we have done nothing to portray the positive side of Islam. Since 9/11 few Muslim leaders have emerged on the world scene that are credible, condemn the terrorist acts, and portraying the true Islam except for His Highness the Aga Khan. I have yet to see books published by mullahs that seek to clear the air about Muslims and promote unity and tolerance. We need to be able to discuss diverse ideas with one another without fear of prejudice. The Muslim leaders should be advising their followers to come up with creative solutions to today's problems – this would put Islam at the forefront of change and show others that we are able to unite and produce ideas that benefit others.
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