Islam is a truly global religion. It already has a quarter of the world’s
population as followers, and is the fastest growing religion in the world. Wherever I go in the world, I see mosques
alongside Christian churches and cathedrals, and even (notably in Almaty)
alongside Jewish tabernacles. I confess
to knowing little about the faith, nor ever having read anything from the
Koran, but from conversations I’ve had with Muslims on my travels (and a brief
read through of Wikipedia’s page on the subject) the central core beliefs of
One True God, peaceful co-existence, and helping others less fortunate than
yourself, in order to obtain entry into Heaven, Nirvana or (simply) the
afterlife do not seem to differ that much from Christianity in all its guises,
or Buddhism or pretty much any other faith (I exclude Scientology here). I understand that in other areas, Muslims are
stronger in their insistence that “their” God is the one True God, that
Mohammed is the Real Prophet (and that Jesus was merely a prophet rather than
the Son of God), and that Sharia Law is the only true law. There is more fasting in Islam (the Holy
Month of Ramadan), women hold a lesser place in society than in Christianity or
other faiths, and overall its followers take it much more seriously than any
other faith I’ve been exposed too. I’ve
worked in banks in the Middle East where a room on each floor was set aside as
a prayer room, and was used each day by people praying to Allah at the
designated times – you never get a prayer room at your local NatWest.
I applaud that – there is nothing wrong with taking your
religion seriously, even if I don’t do so, and with the followers of Islam that
importance seems so much more genuine and of vital importance than the mealy
mouthed version of worship that seems common elsewhere. Whenever I see a US President, whether Bush
or Obama, closing a brief tv address with “God Bless you all and God Bless
America”, I’m afraid I cringe…..it never seems sincere to me, nothing more than
a soundbite to appease the masses. By
contrast, when the Queen makes a similar “Gawd Bless You All” statement at the
end of her annual Christmas message, it seems somehow to be sincere and from
the heart, in a way that no President in my memory (that unfortunately
stretches all the way back to LBJ) seems able to replicate. I mean no offence to my American friends and
readers – it’s just my perception.
There are, of course, many people across the US who take their
religion very seriously indeed, particularly in the South – the Bible Belt –
and even to extremes. I watched a
program recently on BBC Entertainment where Louis Theroux re-visited “The Most Hated Family in America”. Now these guys were the classic example of
American religious fanatics. They run
their own church, that has only a handful of believers, its tenets based solely
on the grandfather’s personal interpretation on the Bible. Like all fanatics, they are absolutely
resolute in their version being the Truth and every other version a lie: we’re
right and the rest of the world is wrong.
We’re on a fast train to Heaven and you’all on a one-way ticket to Hell
and Damnation……unless you join Our Church, of course – that’ll be fifty
thousand dollars. Hallelujah! Anyway, these guys actively travel across the
US and stage pickets and demonstrations outside various churches – one that had
a female minister, another where the pastor was openly gay – and these pickets
invariably featured verbal abuse of the most virulent kind directed at anyone
and everyone walking by, whether they were attending the targeted church or
not. The guy running the church even
kicked his own daughter out of the family home because she danced with a guy
who was not a church member at the end of term school dance – she was 17 at the
time. He was unrepentant, and said she
deserved to go to hell…..hallelujah. It
was uncomfortable viewing.
But one thing about Islam troubles and confuses me. It is that to be a true follower seems to
mean a sense of humour bypass.
Over the years, there have been many situation comedies on
tv or in the cinema that gently (more or less) mock Christianity – All Gas and Gaiters, for instance, or
the Vicar of Dibley. Father
Ted, with all its politically incorrect parody of Catholic priests is
perhaps the most extreme mockery – but some of the characters in it do bear an
uncanny likeness to some priests and their housekeepers of my
acquaintance. In the cinema, The Life of Brian is without doubt the
classic example and for its pains was banned in many towns and cities across
the UK at its release, before more tolerant times allowed for its
acceptance. I remember seeing a studio
discussion on the tv at the time, where John Cleese and Michael Palin, two
Python stalwarts, defended the film in a live debate with philosopher Malcolm
Muggeridge and some Archbishop (I can’t remember which) and succeeded in making
them look complete idiots, old fashioned, bigoted and out of touch with late 20th
century reality. It remains one of my
all-time favourite movies, and “He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy”
the best line in the history of cinema (but perhaps I’m easily pleased….).
Judaism too has had its comedy moments on tv, especially in
Britain I think – Never Mind the Quality
Feel the Width in my youth, about an old Jewish tailor was awful and
portrayed a stereotypical Jewish tailor.
More recently, Guy Ritchie’s movie Snatch,
another personal favourite, featured a good line up of Jewish villains. But in both, the mockery was more of national
characteristics rather than the Jewish faith.
Even Sikhs and Hindus have had their moments of caricature – the Tea
Wallah in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum is
probably the best example: an embarrassing impression of a Sikh man-servant
played by an English guy in full make-up including turban and waxed moustache,
and an excruciating Indian accent (it makes me chuckle still, I’m afraid….).
But the point is, that in each of these cases, everybody
recognized the characters for being parody, there to be laughed at as part of
the performance and not meant to denigrate in any way the people or faith
portrayed. Even those Catholics or Jews
or whatever that were offended, once they had made their feelings known by
letters to the newspapers, interviews on tv or whatever, let things go,
accepted the joke and moved on, peaceably, with their lives – and in private
I’m sure quietly laughed along with the rest of us. That surely is how it should be.
Compare and contrast that with any non-serious (or even
serious) view of Islam, portrayed in literature, film or whatever, and the
furious reaction of Muslims worldwide.
Case 1: The Satanic
Verses, a book released getting on for thirty years ago by Anglo-Indian
writer Salman Rushdie. I read the book
and found it turgid and dreadfully dull.
I can’t remember the plot, and certainly not the few paragraphs that
apparently were offensive towards Mohammed and caused such outrage throughout
the Muslim world. In any case, the
Ayatollah Khomeini, then ruler of Iran after the overthrow of the Shah, was so
incensed he announced a Fatwa against Rushdie – essentially an instruction to
any good Muslim to guarantee his entry to Heaven by killing Rushdie. The author spent years in hiding, using an
assumed identity and under 24-hour armed guard for his own protection at a cost
of millions of pounds.
Case 2: The rise of al Qaeda and Militant Islam. This has been an on-going problem for twenty
or more years, and has led to the most appalling bloodshed and slaughter from
the 9/11 tragedy to the current killing fields in Syria via the London and Bali
bombings, the insurgency in Iraq after Saddam’s downfall and the Taliban
activities blighting Afghanistan and Pakistan for years. What the root causes for that little lot are
I have no clear idea – I don’t think any one event triggered it all – but
despite years of bloodshed and tit-for-tat killings there is no sign of it
ending any time soon, despite the killing of bin Laden last year by US Navy
SEALS in Pakistan. Whole books have been
written attempting to explain it all, and it is without doubt the biggest issue
facing world peace today – and one that neither the UN nor any government seems
able to come to grips with, never mind resolve.
Case 3: Most recently, The
Innocence of Islam. This is a quite
appalling home movie apparently filmed in the US and placed on You Tube that
has offended Muslims worldwide. I’ve
looked at It (or at least a ten minute trailer – it was all I could stomach),
and it is the most awful pile of trash I’ve ever seen – I have home movies of
my kids on my phone that are better quality.
The acting is dreadful, the script a joke, and I cannot understand how
anyone in their right mind can take it seriously. It is grossly offensive, and there are scenes
and dialogue that do indeed poke fun at Islam and Mohammed in the most crude
and unamusing way possible. But here is
the thing – the offensive bits have clearly been added in post-production, the
dialogue dubbed by somebody else – the actor’s voice is totally different. Really, it’s laughable – but tragically,
instead of treating it (and its mysterious Egyptian -American maker) with the contempt
it deserves, there has been an explosion of anti-American outrage across the
entire Muslim world. The American
Embassy in Tripoli was stormed and the American Ambassador to Libya killed
along with three members of his staff (the fact he played a key role in helping
the insurgents topple Gaddafi less than a year ago counting for nothing). There were other protests across North
Africa, the Middle East, and as far as Malaysia. After initial rioting, the Pakistani
government declared last Friday a National Holiday to allow people to
demonstrate “peacefully in demonstration of their love of Islam”. More than 30 people died in the subsequent
rioting. Obama and Clinton apologized to
the Muslim world, and condemned the film and its maker, but quite rightly
condemned too the violence that has followed.
As they rightly pointed out, the film is the work of a single misguided
individual and not in any way condoned or supported by the US government – and
in any case under the Freedom of Speech laws in the US there is actually
nothing illegal about what he has done, no matter how distasteful it might be. They have clearly wasted their breath, as the
protests continue unabated.
I can understand where they’re coming from – freedom of
speech is perhaps the most important benefit of a free and democratic
society. Certainly that was a point
Rushdie made during his hidden years – he has remained steadfast in his belief
that as a writer, it was his duty to write stories about any subject that
occurred to him, even if the tale offended people. It’s a belief I share, else I would not be
writing these words now. The Python crew
used a similar view in defending Life of
Brian and pointed out that anyway the film was about Brian Cohen not Jesus
Christ….. Many other comedians and
writers have equally defended their art by insisting that no individual or
institution – whether the Queen or the Catholic Church, Prime Minister or Pope
– should be exempt. It is a consensus
not shared by the church of Islam. To
mock Islam is an offence, against Allah and his followers. But mocking God and the Pope could be
considered a sin too, against God and his followers. The difference is that with Christianity such
things are forgiven.
The problem I, and most people, have is equating a religion
that is supposedly a peaceful one, with the most extreme violent reactions that
invariably follow any critical (intentional or otherwise) comment or view on
Islam. For a supposedly forgiving faith
to preach Fatwa and jihad against non-believers makes no sense at all to this
mystified Englishman. If the idea is for
world domination and the scouring of all non-Islamic faiths, then frankly the
methods being employed by Islamic fundamentalists make Hitler’s antics seems
like a walk in the park – and should make us all fear for the future.
I wrote on here a few months ago a piece about Anders
Behring Breivik, who justified his slaughter of 77 young Norwegians last year
as being a reaction to what he perceived as an Islamic invasion of Europe and
his homeland that needed to be stopped.
I wrote then that, while his actions could in no way be condoned (and he
is as guilty as hell and should spend the rest of his miserable life rotting
alone in a cell somewhere) he actually had a point to make there. I cited a number of e-mails and other
communications I had received over the previous couple of years that made his
claim about the existence of an extreme right wing anti-Islamic group not as
far-fetched as it was made to sound in the court case.
The events of the past couple of weeks make me worry for the
future. Clearly there is a very militant
and violent strain of Islam, acknowledged everywhere I think, that has an open
anti-Western agenda. The militant cleric
Abu Hamza and four others, held for several years in British prisons on
terrorist charges, have this week lost an appeal at the European Court of Human
Rights and will soon be extradited to the US to face more charges and
potentially life in a maximum security jail – an event that is bound to cause
yet more outrage and violence across the world.
The belief is that Militant Islam is only a very small
minority of Muslims. That may well be
true – but what seems unarguable is that the militant minority is extremely
well organized, extremely well-armed, and quite willing to die for its
perceived cause. It therefore is
extremely dangerous to the rest of us.
Is it not possible that the peaceful majority of Muslims who do not
follow this course, could actually do something about it themselves, from
within? Is it perhaps time for Muslims
everywhere to reclaim their faith somehow, take it back to a more peaceful
path, before it destroys us all?
I hope that is case – but I fear it’s gone way too far for
that to happen now. I believe that
Islamic militancy is something we are all going to have to live with, and take
whatever precautions we need to in order to stay safe. Please don’t think for one minute I am racist
or anti-Islamic – I’m not. It’s not
possible really to be racist in my job, and through that job I have many good
friends in other countries and societies, including Muslims. I strongly believe an individual’s religious
beliefs are solely the business of that individual, and nothing to do with me
at all – but I do not expect that individual to try and force those beliefs on
to me (in the same way that I would never consider trying to force my beliefs
on someone else). I certainly would
never expect (or respect) anyone who reacted with anger or violence if I
disagreed with their opinion.
I try to be tolerant.
I condemn all violence, but especially that carried out in the name of
religion or politics – whether Catholic against Protestant, Jew against
Palestinian or Muslim against the World.
I sincerely hope that someone, somehow, can find a solution to these
problems, because I worry about what sort of a world my kids are growing up
into, or my grandkids are going to be born into. I have no faith in the UN to do so, and no
faith in the current crop of politicians to do so either – by and large,
they’re a poor bunch.
It’s a rum old world, as my mum used to say. And frankly, mum, not getting any better.
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