Profound interest in history notwithstanding, nothing had prepared me for Historical Dimensions of Mutual Misconceptions between the Muslim World and the West - even if it was only a half-day seminar. The simple title, apparently, didn’t do justice to it.
The guest speaker was Dr. Andreas Radtke, the First Secretary of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to Malaysia. The discussants were Emeritus Prof. Dato’ Osman Bakar, from International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC); Prof. Abdullahi Ahsan, from Kulliyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS); and Assoc. Prof. Kamar Oniah Kamaruzzaman, from KIRKHS. The moderator was Prof. Abdul Rasheed Moten, also from KIRKHS. The two-and-a-half-an-hour discourse was organized by two departments under the umbrella of KIRKHS, Department of History and Civilization and Department of Political Science.
The need of such a seminar was pointed out by the Dean of KIRKHS, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hazizan Mohd. Noon, in the opening remark as owing to contemporary reasons and historical/classical reasons. The moderator, then, kept the objective simple by asserting that the talk is hoped to erase misperceptions of one side to the other.
Dr. Andreas Radtke went on a lengthy introduction about himself, which was rather amusing. He’s a Catholic Christian, but possesses Master’s Degree in Arabic Language and Doctor of Philosophy in Arabic Language and Islamic Studies. You’ll be forgiven for accusing me as a captive of stereotype, but I suppose I wasn’t alone in quickly prejudging him as an orientalist, to which he strongly denied. He began his presentation by showing pictures of the Bradenburg Gate, Central Berlin in May 1945 and today; the Memorial Church and Hiroshima; the 9/11 incidents; and Osama bin Laden. Having a Master’s Degree in Media Studies as well, he asserted that images trigger emotions and convey messages, and those historical images give historical knowledge that allows us to understand better why we see what we see; prove wrong any cultural determinism; and immunize us against all too simple propaganda. The discussion is divided into four parts. Part One deals with Secularism in the West. This was further elaborated into: (i) Critique of Secularism. Secularism is a flowing process in the West, and in Germany specifically, it is a separation between the church and the state. The scope of influence of religion is determined by democratic process. The question is, is secularism a surrogate religion with a universal truth claim? (ii) Secularism in German history. A German "clash of cultures" from 1871 to 1879, where civil marriage was made obligatory in 1875. It was a thousand years of struggle over the scope of church influence in politics. (iii) Case Study: Civil Marriage. The picture shown was his sister (who’s a Catholic lady) and brother-in-law (who’s a Protestant man) tying the knot in front of two priests of each sect. Civil marriage first took place was in 1855, with the background of quarrels between different confessions. It took 20 years to be regulated obligatory by Bismarck, and the image of his sister’s wedding indicates that conversions is no longer necessary prior to the ceremony. Part Two concerns about Western secularism. Three sub-topics discussed were: (i) Legitimate and unjustified criticism. It is a long tradition of Western scholarship on Islam. Scholars at times misinterpreted Islam, and sometimes deliberately, either to degrade or to humiliate. (ii) How to study and teach about the "other"? Matters of faith must be taught by the believers. Matters of historical context must be taught in line with methodology curriculum. As in Islam, Qur’anic studies is most sensitive. (iii) Intra-Muslim discourse. "Exposure of inherent mechanisms of power through discourse analysis." Idealistic approach to Islam versus approach based on social realities. Part Three pertains to Muslims’ view on history. (i) Muslims’ conceptions of history. They view world history through theological lenses, and that is before and after the revelation. There is a linkage between history and the interpretation of the Scripture. (ii) Muslims’ self-conceptions of history. The emergence of Islam is a distinct historical process with idiosynocrasies. They define experience of the first generation of Muslims with victory and success. Feelings of nostalgia and revivalism are common in a situation of powerlessness. In conclusion, Part Four, Dr. Radtke stressed on knowledge of history helps to "put things in perspective"; relative value of history itelf differs between cultural traditions; try to find a common narrative of events; and if that proves impossible, know and respect the other’s narrative.
The second speaker, Prof. Abdullahi Ahsan, corrected Dr. Radtke’s point that Muslims’ conceptions of history is not always theological. For instance, the cartoon controversy. On the surface, people perceive it as a clash of civilizations. But if studied deeply, two elements that triggered the Muslims’ furore; belief perspective and double-standard perspective.
Assoc. Prof. Kamar Oniah Kamaruzzaman, the next speaker, was somewhat bold and outspoken. She started off by affirming her belief on gender equality, and doesn’t really prefer the "brother" and "sister" callings. Back to the point, more often than not, Muslims define themselves as in their own point of view to the non-Muslims. Instead, they ought to define themselves to the non-Muslim audience according to the latter’s perspective. By that she means we have to make ourselves understandable in order to be understood. As to bridging the divide between the two sides, she cited Romeo and Juliet as an example. Hatred endured through generations from one family to the other. We live in this world for a very brief period of time, so why can’t we be decent to each other?
The term "Muslim World vs. West" is better than "Islam vs. West", as the final discussant, Emeritus Prof. Dato’ Osman Bakar, believes. This is because there’s "Islam" in the West, as there’s "West" in the Muslim World (not in terms of people, but rather modern Western culture). People might wonder, what are our mutual misconceptions? They may range from insignificant to dangerous points, but what are they? (He suggested another seminar on this.) It’s a problematic relationship between the Muslim World and the West; call it love-hate relationship. It can be illustrated from the angle of the other as the shaper of identity. Also from the angle of clash of civilizations, which happened twice in the past; the Crusades and the colonial era. In this period, the post-colonial era, there’s no clash - thanks to secularism. But misconceptions are there, and so, what do we do? Remove them, and he also refered to Dr. Radtke’s How to Study and Teach about the "Other"?
Neddie’s Note: The program of German Cultural Weeks 2006 is in progress. Interested to join, check out more information on The German Embassy, Kuala Lumpur.
Image: http://www.net4you.com/
The 3rd of January will always be remembered as yet another heart-breaking day in my life. How could a day that started off so well ended as a painful life experience that I don’t think I can ever forget? 
