Globalization and the conflict between Christian and Muslim society

9. Why do you think globalization is connected to the conflict between Christian and Muslim society? Considering the integration of Muslim immigrants in Europe, what do you think is the main problem to be solved now? Do you have any experience with this minority (Muslim immigrants) making demands and the perception of it in official places?

Jana Hybášková:

I never said globalization is connected to the conflict between Christian and Muslim society. There is no connection whatsoever.

Muslims in Europe are not a unified group. We can not generalize about their situation. The situation of Moroccans in the Netherlands differs from situation of Algerians in France, and the Kurdish situation in Sweden differs from that of Turks in Germany. We find among them huge religious, legal and ethnic differences. Any equalization is a mistake. We have to inform ourselves about their social and economic situation. We have to try to avoid their social exclusion, as we do now with the Roma population to support by all means their inclusion in our society - our country. We have to support their inclusion by all means in our society. The key issue is education and language. They should have an equal opportunity to gain skills, habits, norms, and education as our children do. Then they can be more close to finding more equal opportunities to enter the labor market and to improve their social position. Then, if they are confident and satisfied citizens, I am sure they will keep their customs and manners, knowledge of Islam as an additional cultural capital, not as the confirmation of social exclusion. The issue then is to design proper systematic way of social inclusion and equal opportunity.

The important political issue is the way many EU states interfere in Muslims' religious affairs, often with disregard towards differences between Sunnis and Shiites, between Turks and Kurds and Arabs, among Malikis, Hanbalis, for instance. We should be much more sensitive to our approach to The Muslim Council, for instance, in Germany. Neglecting one group because of another does not help.

Irmawan Rahyadi

Thank you Jana for the answers. I would like to say that the answers are interesting and insightful. The reality in the Arab peninsula as the small example in the big scheme of globalization really makes me realize we are dealing with the huge span of issue here.

Since Jana was an expert in Arab matters, I tend to pay more attention on the questions related with this. So let me start with the perspectives of terror that at this time always being related to the Middle East a.k.a Arabs. As Jana mentioned that this so called "terror" phenomenon has been around for over centuries in different parts of the world, that means the Arabs terror origins were never been proved. The relations between terror and the globalization are not shown she said.

Jana then in different answer said that globalization is much more manageable in the hand of society which could steer the strategic threats to the minimum. I would like to link my next question with the fact that you said a certain religion is much more difficult to open up to modernization. Since education and language are important elements in supporting the inclusion to the modern society. In this case are you neglecting second or third generation Muslim which “turn to religious root” at the same time could participate in the modern society such as in Europe and North America?

Tuesday, 8 December 2009

Jana Hybášková

Dear Imrawan, Thank you very much for your question. For me it was the best one. And please, consider my answer my humble opinion, since it is very difficult to judge one other region, if you are not its believer. A do not have any problem with Islamic “usuliyya”. Coming back to roots, when you feel you cannot find clear answer as if centuries of tradition laid dust upon the religion illuminated truth, you try to do everything to dig back. We Christians read the Qumran Scroll, study Gnosis, we have apocrypha to try to discover, what really Jesus meant…If we do so, it is not extremism, it is not curiosity, it is true belief, as if we want to have it clearer. I know many fundamentalist Muslims, who are really pious people, who know Islamic Music, Islamic art, who contribute to Charity, who pray, who are blessed by great stay of deep belief, of trust… So never ever I can be neglecting them. More complicated issue usually lies with the answer: ” No, it is not the Quran al karim, it is how experts see it, it is in Bukhari"… As if the Quran is not sufficient source, and people seeking for truth are relying on the interpretations. Even this is o.k., unless the interpretation is misleading them. We people from post-communist countries are extremely suspicious to all those who feel, who like to impose their truth upon us, who try to say, we have the truth for all, for majority, we are bolshevicks./ meaning is the same/. So if someone tries to seek answers to globalization, and ends with quoting Nasrallah, al Manar TV, and sheikh Qaradhawi, this is were problem lies.

In Western Christianity we had Protestantism. It caused millions of dead people, the reformation was one of the bloodiest parts of our history, but it came with recognized reinterpretation, which is not reinterpretation of some. Islam has no more its Caliph; it has not the highest reinterpretation body. Might be, this is part of the problem. How to find proper reinterpretation, modernization question’s answer in real Quran of our day’s lives of Muslim second and third generations living inside Europe is the big question for me. This is the way forward to our common future; this is how we have to operate. Not to stop imams to bring to Europe tapes with messages from the Middle East interpreters, but might be, to open together the second and third Europe Muslim´s right to reinterpret?

Monday, 14 December 2009