Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : INSTITIUT KEFAHAMAN ISLAM MALAYSIA,
KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 24/03/98
Tajuk/Title : THE OPENING OF THE MALAYSIA-EUROPEAN
UNION JOINT SEMINAR
1. Firstly I would like to thank the organisers, the
Institute of Islamic Understanding, Malaysia for inviting
me to officially open the Malaysia-European Union Joint
Seminar on "Europe and the Islamic World".
2. This is a subject of great importance to Islam and
the Muslims for the European perceptions of Islam and its
followers will always have repercussions in the Muslim
world. The Muslim perception of Europe and the Europeans
may result in sporadic and ineffective actions which will
not change the course of Europe and its future. But
these puny attacks can so shape the perceptions of the
Europeans as to result in attitudes and retaliations that
can be out of all proportion to the severity of the
attacks. Whole countries and peoples are made to suffer
for years and years because of the crimes or misdemeanor
of a few irresponsible Muslims. In turn the sufferings
of these people harden the attitudes of the Muslim world
towards the definitive Europeans.
3. For this reason this seminar is timely because it
can contribute at least in a small way to an
understanding of the problem and may even help bring to
light a few ideas and suggestions which can ameliorate
the situation.
4. Actually Europe's perception of the Islamic World
has not changed very much since Islam first became known
to the Europeans and the establishment of the first
contact between them and the Muslims. In the first
hundred years of Islam the extent of the physical contact
reached the maximum level. Byzantium and Spain
confronted the Islamic ummah across battlefields in
Eastern and Western Europe. The contact was painful for
Europe for much territory was lost to Muslim forces. For
centuries after that Europeans lived in fear of Muslim
attacks and more losses of territory.
5. Despite the contact, and despite the Muslims
allowing the European Christians to remain in the
conquered territory, European understanding of Islam was
minimal. For a very long time they actually refused to
believe that Islam was a monotheistic religion like
Christianity. They called the Muslims 'Muhammadans' and
regard the Muslims as the worshippers of Muhammad along
with two other Greek gods.
6. This refusal to recognise Islam as a religion runs
parallel with the European attitude towards the Jews and
Judaism. The Jews had of course been in contact with
the Europeans much longer. They had lived in Spain or
Sepharad as they called it before the Visigoths of the
Iberian Peninsular converted to Christianity. The
Europeans whether as Christians or not, regarded the Jews
with hostility.
7. This attitude went on for centuries. The Europeans
for a long time actually believed that during the Jewish
Passover Christian children were slaughtered and their
blood was mixed with the bread eaten by the Jews.
Pogroms against the Jewish community occurred regularly.
In fact when they embarked on the First Crusade, Jews
were massacred along the way.
8. In Spain the Jews were persecuted and often forced
to convert to Christianity. But when they did, they were
suspected of not being truly Christians. Along with the
Muslims who had been similarly forced to convert during
the Spanish reconquest of Spain, they were subjected to
public trials during the 300 years of the Spanish
Inquisition and often burnt at the stakes.
9. As the Spaniards reconquered Spain, the Jews and the
Muslims who refused to convert had to flee the country.
While the Muslims fled to North Africa those of the Jews
who did not follow them, migrated to Portugal and to
other countries in Europe. Their reception by the other
Europeans varied. Holland and later Britain gave refuge
to the Jews and allowed them to practise their own
religion. Elsewhere the persecution continued
culminating in the biggest pogrom of all in Nazi Germany.
10. After that bloodbath the Europeans awoke to the
injustices that they had inflicted upon the Jews for
almost two millennium. And so whereas the fate of the
two non-Christian people at Europeans' hands was
identical for many centuries, there is now a big
difference between the fates of the Jews and the Muslims
at the hands of Europeans today.
11. Europeans now accept Jews as their equals and as
Europeans with all the political and religious rights of
Europeans. They are not only full citizens but very many
of them hold high office and are allowed to determine
the affairs of Europe and the Europeans without having to
convert. Even dual nationality is permitted the European
Jews now, surely a radical departure from past practices.
12. The Muslims on the other hand have not made any
headway. If at all their relation with the Europeans has
become worse than ever before. After the end of the Cold
War, confrontation between Europe and the rest of the
world seemed to be confined to Muslims and Muslim
countries. There is wide spread talks about a clash of
civilisation, meaning a clash between European
civilisation and the Muslim civilisation. Is there no
way for the European perception of Islam and the Muslims
to be changed the way their perception of the Jews have
been changed? What is there that the Muslims have to do
or for that matter what can Europeans do to change their
relations with the Muslim World?
13. Throughout the history of European relationship with
Islam and the Muslims, although generally understanding
and appreciation was negative, there have been among
European Christian notables who had tried to learn about
Islam and to change the attitudes of the Christians.
Among them were Peter the Venerable, the Abbot of Cluny
who initiated the first Latin translation of the Quran,
Muslim legends, history and an explanation of Islamic
teachings.
14. St Francis of Assisi in 1218 C.E. crossed the battle
lines in order to meet Sultan al-Kamil. His mission
however was to urge the Sultan to accept Christianity.
But because he did not condemn Islam or Prophet Muhammad,
the Sultan treated St. Francis with courtesy although he
rejected conversion to Christianity.
15. During the Renaissance, Europeans tried to acquire a
better understanding of Islam. After the Turkish defeat
of Byzantium, John of Segovia pointed to the need to cope
with Islam and the Muslims in other ways besides war and
conversion. He initiated a new translation of the Quran,
working together with Muslim jurists from Spain. He also
proposed an international conference to exchange views
between Muslims and Christians.
16. Also during the Renaissance, Arabic studies were
begun in many institutions which led to a more realistic
view of the Muslims and Islam. Barthelmy d'Herbelot
published the Bibliotheque Oriental which was regarded as
the Encyclopedia of Islam. It gave a less biased view
than was current at that time.
17. Unfortunately these attempts to change the European
perception of Islam and the Muslims did not have any real
results. Islam for the Europeans remained the belief of
the enemy, the anti-Christian and the non-Europeans.
Thus Lord Cromer the British Governor of occupied Egypt
felt only contempt for the efforts of the reformer
Mohamad Abduh (1905) to rethink some of the traditional
Islamic ideas. Islam he said, could not reform itself.
18. The memory of the Crusade was always fresh, so that
when the French captured Turkish-held Damascus after
being helped by Muslim Arab rebels, the French commander
went to the tomb of Salah-el-Din or Saladin and cried "We
have returned, Saladin".
19. Every now and then European writers and leaders
emerged who tried to change the European views of Islam
and the Muslims. But like their predecessors during the
Renaissance they all failed.
20. When an idea or a perception has taken root and
becomes an article of faith it is very difficult to
change. It does not matter that the idea is obviously
wrong. It does not matter that it is manifestly harmful.
Dislodging it will always be opposed and countered by
people who have accepted the idea and who distrust
change.
21. It took the Europeans nearly 2000 years to dismiss
the idea of the Jewish conspiracy. It took the Russians
a hundred years to realise and admit that Communism not
only did not work but was also harmful. In the interim
millions were killed and millions more suffered horribly
while the proponents continued to uphold their faith in
the ideology. Today we are seeing faith in new economic
and political theories which may not be challenged
despite the obvious harm that they do to many societies.
22. But if the Europeans can learn to accept the Jews
and Judaism, is it not possible for the Europeans to
tolerate Islam and the Muslims? Do we need a holocaust
to trigger this change? Isn't the massacre of 200,000
Bosnian Muslims not enough?
23. But the Muslims have to look at themselves also,
their contribution to the European distrust and dislike
of Islam and Muslims. They are not blameless.
24. During the period of Muslim rule of Spain, the
Christians as well as the Jews were allowed to stay and
to practise their own religions. Their relationship was
not completely harmonious but certainly many Christians
and Jews served in the service of Muslim Governments and
the Caliphs personally. Some Jews rose to very high
ranks and wielded a lot of power. But the Muslims
distrusted those Christians who converted to Islam. They
were treated as second class Muslims even though they
spoke Arabic and were well-versed in Arabic literature as
well as Islam. Many therefore remained crypto-Christians
who reverted to Christianity as soon as the Spanish
reconquest put them once again under Christian kings.
Had the Muslims accepted the Spanish converts as genuine
practising Muslims these people could have remained
Muslims and spearheaded a move for greater understanding
and tolerance of Islam and the Muslims in Europe. Of
course they could also have been expelled with the rest.
But in Yugoslavia, Albania and many Eastern European
countries they were allowed to remain. Sadly as we are
seeing European animosity against them remain unabated.
25. Generally there was no real awareness about Europe
and the Europeans among the Muslims until 200 years ago.
For a long time the Europeans were not a threat and could
not do much harm to the Muslims. The impact of the
Crusade was minimal. Even today Muslims did not consider
the Crusades as the cause of their antagonism towards the
Europeans, even though much atrocities were committed by
the Crusaders when they conquered Muslim territories.
26. But 200 years ago the Europeans began to conquer and
colonise Muslim lands in Africa and elsewhere. The
Spaniards and then the French carried their war against
the Muslims into non-European Muslim land. Remembering
their days of glory when they ruled Spain and even made
forays into France, the Muslims began to foster a
perception of Europeans as their enemy. Although there
was nothing religious about European hegemony the Muslims
nevertheless invoked religion in order to galvanise their
people against the Franks, the European Christians.
27. The Turkish conquest of Eastern Europe was not the
result of any desire to spread the Islamic faith. The
wars were not holy wars but the battles were cruel and
both sides were guilty of dreadful atrocities. But this
was the way wars were fought in those days. The
important thing is that once the conquest was over the
Christians were allowed to continue living in the
conquered territories. They may have been discriminated
against as was normal for conquerors over the conquered
but they were not hated because they were Europeans and
Christians.
28. But when the Turks were driven back, their attitude
towards the Europeans changed. This was especially so
when later on the British and the French actively
supported Arab rebellions against the Turks. But as we
all know, later on the Turks became disillusioned with
Islam and blamed it for their humiliation. Muslims
though they are, their attitude towards the Europeans
differ generally from those of other Muslims, although
they do take the side of the Bosnian Muslims when those
people were massacred by the Serbs in the course of their
ethnic cleansing, in what is the only real European
religious war in modern times.
29. Believing that the Europeans were helping them to
gain independence the Arabs within the Turkish Muslim
Empire fought alongside the French and the British
against the Turks. But the defeat of the Turks did not
result in independence for the Arabs. Their land was
divided up between the British and the French and the
countries created became de facto colonies of these
European powers. Thus was the opportunity to cement
friendship between Europe and the Muslim world missed.
The disillusionment of the Arabs left them embittered
against the Europeans.
30. Had the Europeans honoured their promise and given
the Arabs their independence, relation with Europe today
would have been very different. As it is, when finally
the Arab countries gained their independence, they
distrusted the Europeans and could not bring themselves
to regard the Western Europeans as friends. There is no
religious basis for their attitude. It is purely
political.
31. As a result the Arab countries aligned themselves
with the Communist bloc during the Cold War. This is
really contrary to their religious creed. As Muslims and
believers in the same God as the Christians they should
really be well-disposed towards the Western Europeans.
But such was their distrust and dislike of the Western
Europeans that they were prepared to be closely
associated with the atheistic Communists and Communism.
Many Arab Muslims actually accepted the Communist
ideology or at least their version of it.
32. Then came the Palestinian issue. This is really the
straw that broke the camel's back. The Arabs fought
together with the British to wrest Palestine from the
Turks. But in the end the land they liberated together
was partitioned and given to the Jews.
33. With every failure of Arab attempts to recover what
they consider is their land their bitterness increased.
Their armies defeated they resorted to unorthodox war, to
guerilla war and finally to terror attacks against their
detractors including the Europeans.
34. Again it must be pointed out that the basis for the
anti-European feelings of the Arabs in particular and the
Muslims in general is political. But quite naturally
religion is invoked. Ancient feuds and the historic
quarrels as related in the Quran between Jews and Muslims
are resurrected. Since the Europeans invariably support
the Jewish State, the perception of the Muslims about
European enmity towards them remain. Even when they gave
up terror attacks and chose the negotiating table to
settle their problems their distrust of the Europeans
continued.
35. There is of course a need for both the Europeans and
the Muslims to improve their perceptions of each other in
order to improve their relations. If the Europeans can
banish their much more deep -- rooted antagonism towards
the Jews, the alleged betrayers of Jesus Christ, there is
no reason why they cannot lessen their antagonism towards
the Muslims, to change their view and their attitude
towards the Muslim world.
36. We do not need a saint to bring about a better
understanding about each other. All that we need is fair
and accurate information about Islam and the Muslims on
the one hand and about the true concern and generosity of
the Europeans on the other. This is actually more
important than an understanding of each other's religion.
37. For example the activities of the French doctors who
risk their lives to attend to the medical needs of people
in Muslim countries who had been displaced by wars have
not received the right publicity among Muslims.
Similarly the fact that most Muslims did not support the
death sentence passed on Salman Rushdie has also not been
publicised among the Europeans.
38. Mostly the reports about the Muslims are sensational
and calculated to create the impression that Muslims are
all terrorists, they ill-treat their womenfolk, they are
fanatics and are so-called fundamentalists. No attempt
is made to explain that fundamentalists and extremists
are found among people of all religious persuasions. The
Hindus, the Sikhs, the Christians and even the Buddhists
have produced their share of extremists and
fundamentalists. Their deeds are every bit as cruel and
irrational as the Muslim terrorists, indeed often more
than them. The kind of ethnic cleansing invented and
practised by the Serbs has never been perpetrated by the
Muslims, not in recent times certainly.
39. It is also useful for the Europeans to know the debt
owed the Muslims by European civilisation. When the
Muslims conquered Spain, it was during the Dark Ages when
the Europeans were very backward and superstitious.
Education was limited to select members of the clergy who
were jealous of the knowledge they had. Science was a
taboo subject, as was medicine, mathematics and the
philosophical and other works of the ancient Greeks.
40. It was the Muslims who resurrected the learnings of
the Greeks, and expanded on them. The Muslims added new
subjects and produced numerous books and papers. They
built great libraries in Spain and in Baghdad and did not
object to Europeans studying the treasury of knowledge
they had amassed. Even as the Crusaders were attacking
the Muslims in the Middle East, others were sitting at
the feet of Muslim scholars in Spain. Thus was the
ancient wisdom brought back to Europe. And thus was the
European Renaissance begun.
41. It is unfortunate that having studied, documented
and passed on their learnings to the Europeans, the
Muslims themselves began to reject such knowledge as
unIslamic. And so even as they helped bring light to end
the Dark Ages of Europe, the Muslims themselves were
sliding into their decline. And that decline has
continued despite several attempts by Muslim Reformers.
42. That the Muslims literally fueled the rise of
European civilisation is something Europeans are loath to
admit. They even forget that such scholars as Avicena,
Averroes and others were Muslims. No attempt is made to
explain that the real names of these two are Ibn Sina and
Ibn Rushdi.
43. It is time that the contribution of the Muslims to
science and the subsequent progress of Europe is
acknowledged by both Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe
and elsewhere. As much as the Muslims want the
Christians to believe that Mohamad is a prophet of a
monotheistic religion, the Muslims must not try to deny
or to ignore that the Quran clearly acknowledges the link
between Judaism, Christianty and Islam and the prophets
of the three religions are the same, as is the one God
that they worship. Having acknowledged this we can then
differ over each other's versions of the three religions.
Until there is this admission of what the Quran says
about the three religions, Muslims cannot develop a more
rational and friendlier view of the Europeans.
44. Is there merit in changing the European perception
of the Muslim World? There is of course, because
otherwise much will be wasted in useless confrontation.
So many lives and so much wealth have already been lost
for so very little gains. Practically all the Muslim land
conquered by the Europeans have been regained by the
Muslims. And all the European land have been retaken by
the Europeans. The net result is really a draw. But
because of the continued misunderstanding neither the
Europeans nor the Muslims can feel comfortable with each
other.
45. Muslims living in European countries are often
subjected to attacks. European tourists in Muslim lands
are similarly attacked. Of course the attacks on Muslims
in Bosnia need no elaboration. These are not Turks or
Arabs. They are Europeans. But because they are Muslims
they have been subjected to the worse kind of bestial
attacks seen in modern times.
46. Many Muslim countries are now under siege by
Europeans. Their people starved and deprived of medicine
and the necessities of life. It may not have been a
conspiracy against Muslim and Muslim countries but the
fact is that the victims are Muslims and the perpetrators
are European or of European antecedents.
47. We talk a lot about human rights, about justice and
fairplay, about democracy and freedom. But the fact is
that for long periods of time in the past and even
presently the Muslims have experienced no freedom from
European hegemony. Today Muslim countries and their
peoples have actually lost their independence i.e. their
freedom, through the sanctions applied against them and
now through financial pressures brought to bear upon
them. They cannot fail to note that these sanctions and
pressures have enriched the Europeans and made them more
powerful.
48. In Malaysia, Muslims have been living and working
with non-Muslims quite harmoniously. Admittedly there
have been instances when they did not. But that is the
point. It is possible for people who perceived each
other as enemies to overcome their feelings because they
realise that they can get a better deal by overcoming
their feelings. Historically the coming of Islam to the
Jahiliah Arabs did exactly just that -- it banished the
eternal feuds between the tribes and united them and
brought peace and greatness to them.
49. By religious teachings and by culture Muslims are
eminently amenable to reconciliation. If the Europeans
can change the views of Islam and the Muslims, it is
possible for reconciliation to be effected and a
completely new relationship established between Muslims
and the Europeans, a relationship that will solve most of
the conflict that we see today and will certainly prevent
any clash of civilisations in the future.
50. The experience that Malaysia has in leading a
violent-free Muslim majority country would perhaps
qualify us to provide the example of a truly Islamic
modus vivendi in inter-religious and inter-civilisational
accord. In doing so, we are constantly guided by verse
48 of Chapter 5 (or Surah Al-Maidah) of the Holy Quran,
which is translated thus:-
"To thee (O Muhammad) We sent the scripture in truth,
confirming the scriptures that came before it, and
guarding it in safety. So judge between them (i.e the
peoples of differing faiths) by what God had revealed,
and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the
truth that has come to thee. To each among you, We have
prescribed a set of rules of practical conduct and a
spiritual way. If God had so willed, He would have made
you a single community, but (His plan is) to test you in
what He has given you; so strive as in a race in all
virtues. The goal of you all is God. It is He that will
show you the truth of the matters in which you dispute".
51. It is never too late to change. Even as the
European perceptions of the Jews have changed, it is not
impossible for European perceptions of the Muslims to
change. And Muslim perceptions of the Europeans should
change also.
52. I now have pleasure in declaring open the Malaysia-
European Union Joint Seminar.
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