Essay Example about Islam
With a population of 1.8 billion people around the world, and with nearly 60 nations that identify as Islamic states, the Muslim world is one of the most established and recognizable groups on the planet. Because of its sheer size and complex culture and history, it can be challenging to understand exactly how Muslims live and interact with others, those of their faith but also those outside. The point of this course, however, is to scratch the tip of the iceberg and to make sense of what and how Islam works in the contemporary world. Even in just the span of the first few weeks, various key topics have been covered and discussed. Of all of these topics, this paper will go over the three that I personally found to be the most important, those being: democracy, migration, and Islam and the West. It should be noted that, although these topics will stay fairly broad, the goal of this essay is to explain why each of these points is prominent in multiple ways.
TOPIC I: ISLAM AND DEMOCRACIES
The past couple hundred years have seen the world trend into a new era of governance and leadership. The revival of democratic institutions has become the basis of most nations around the world. In many ways, being a democracy has become the litmus test of the social standings of nations. Indeed, in the modern era, it pays to be a democracy. With that, however, brings up the question of compatibility between democracy and Islam. This conflict has many torn, with some claiming that Islam as an institution simply can not coexist in a democracy. This may be due to a magnitude of reasons. Reasons such as Islamic nations that are notoriously non-democratic, the rise of islamophobia, and/or a lack of education all can play into this notion.
The significance of democracy and Islam is it actually has less to do with Islam and more to do with regional cultures and other variables. For example, Victoria Schofield wrote about the struggles of democracy in Pakistan, explaining why the system does not work and how it potentially could. For example, “The natural hierarchy… has meant, exactly as it did for us in Britain several hundred years ago, that the concept of one man, one vote, goes against customary practices…” (Schofield) Particularly, her mention of the similarities that were seen in Britain when it was a monarchy illustrates how customs and “the way of life” have a far greater aspect on change. This idea, paired up with the abuse of military power as well as the diversity and size of the country helps form a more intricate problem than just Islam and democracy. This general fact was also covered in the lecture in module 3, which went over all the different forms of governments found in Muslim countries. One part that stood out to me was the historical aspect of colonialism in these regions. (Lecture 3-1) A lot of issues seen today in many of these nations are due to the impact that colonizing had on them, as the natural makeup of different cultures was rerouted to better fit the needs of the colonizers.
TOPIC II: MIGRATION
The modern world functions in part to the migration of people. As people move, so do their cultures and ideas. As immigrants come in, the economies and politics change in their new homes. Immigration is a messy subject, which houses both good and bad aspects. The underlying fact that migration is as complicated as it is is what makes it important to understand. For many Americans, for example, immigration on the southern border plays a major role in our lives and politics. And Europe, especially more recently with the migrant crisis, has seen a similar impact on the social and political sphere. Many of these migrants coming in were Muslims, which in many ways has required many European nations to adopt new ways of dealing with everything. There often is a culture shock on both sides. Perhaps the most telling example of this was the Norwegian class teaching how to treat women. There is a quote by one of the immigrants where he says we shouldn’t look at women in miniskirts but then why do some Norwegians look at our women wearing hijabs. (Video 1-4) Of course, every European country handled the wave of migration differently. Some countries like Germany embraced the migrants whereas other nations like the UK in part used the crisis to fuel Brexit. (Video 1-4) Even before the 2015 migrant crisis, Europe has had a busy history of immigration. Following World War II, for example, many Muslim migrants took advantage of job opportunities throughout Europe, which lead to various changes in governments and social structures. (Lecture 4-1) The importance of this shows that there is no “one migrant” or a simple effect of migration. How both sides, the migrant and the native, reacted to these changes just goes to show how difficult it is to manage or fix something like migration.
TOPIC III: ISLAM AND THE WEST
The relation between the two sides, such as the migrant and the native, is just one of the many subcategories of the relation between Islam and the West. This concept, that being ‘Islam’ and ‘The West’, which is found all over the world, is simply not a perfect measure of all things. The focus of this course is to better understand how the rather diverse Muslim world works and interacts together. In fact, the earlier modules focused on differentiating the types of Muslims (Sunnis and Shias). To say Islam very well can mean a wide range of things to many Muslims across the world. This applies to the West as well. Referring to the United States can imply something different than Canada or France or Australia, even though they all are considered western worlds. Professor Bill Smith talked about this briefly in Lecture 4-2. That is not to say that we can not relate nations that share western values together or nations that share Islamic values together. It can be useful in many ways, as evidence of the existence of the OIC. However, it is important to be careful when defaulting to these broad labels, as it can often muddy the inner workings of what actually is happening. Often, many perceive Muslims or aspects of Islam with terrorism and extremists. Bichara Khader talked about this in his piece examining the impact of immigrants in Europe. It is easy to generalize groups when a tragic event happens, but doing so can often make the problem worse. “Speaking constantly of Muslim community means that Islam eclipses the individual Muslim as the presumed actor of social and political change.” (Khader) When the focus is lost on the individual and instead on the community, assumptions, stereotypes, and even hostile feelings can form and take over.
CONCLUSION
Democracy, migration, and Islam and the West are all topics I deemed important. These topics on their own are already paramount in their own ways. However, all these topics to me share a rather important quality as they highlight just how complicated and involved the Muslim world is. Ideas like democracy and Islamic nations are more in-depth than just “it will not work because of Islam” or how we view Muslim migrants when they immigrate to our country. There is not just one type of Muslim, nor is Islam the same everywhere (much like how Christianity differs dramatically depending on where you are). The world, in general, is diverse and messy. Understanding that mess can help make better sense of what is going on.
