THE article in this forum a fortnight ago was about a tale of two communities, one in the West and one in the East, the former basking in the glory of victory and the latter grimacing in the agony of defeat.
This week’s piece is on yet another tale, a tale of two events that took place the weekend before last. One happened in Kuala Lumpur, and the other some 300km away in Grik, Perak.
The first was Ikim’s seminar on “Enhancing the Understanding of Islam for the Media” aimed at assembling media players like reporters, news editors and broadcasters, together with policy-makers and Muslim scholars.
They were to discuss the salient issues of the negative reporting on Islam and Muslims that has been the rule rather than exception of the media for a long time.
The seminar itself was a follow-up action to resolutions proposed in previous inter-religious dialogues on the need to impress on disseminators of news to avoid using degrading stereotypes when reporting on religion.
The reporting of Islam by the media has been researched extensively by academicians like Edward Said, a professor of literature at Columbia University.
In his acclaimed 1981 book Covering Islam, he reveals how the media intentionally or otherwise moulds a misleading and oversimplified portrait of Islam and Muslims, based on sheer ignorance, inaccuracy and prejudice.
Years later, when commenting on the Gulf War, Prof Said reiterates: “The media is particularly happy to go along with the Government in bringing home to domestic customers, the wonderful excitement of American self-righteousness, the proud flag-waving, the “feel-good” sense that “we” are facing down a monstrous dictator.
“Far from analysis and calm reflection, the media exists mainly to derive its mission from the Government, not to produce a corrective or any dissent. The media, in short, is an extension of the war against Iraq.”
Then we heard about Islamophobia or discrimination, prejudice and harassment against Muslims. This is prevalent in the West when Muslim society begins to evolve side by the side with the Western, non-Muslim society.
A report prepared by the Runnymede Trust Commission of Britain some years ago concluded that Islamophobia did exist. It also showed just how much and how vitriolic the prejudice against Muslims was.
The report also stated that had the Press’ contemptuous stereotypes and cartoons featured a Jewish rather than a Muslim character, they would undoubtedly have been judged anti-Semitic.
One is tempted to ask, “Why are certain media in the West intent on insulting and degrading Islam and Muslims?”
The reason for this is perhaps the warped perception of Islam that the West has developed since the dawn of a religion regarded as the most credible challenge to the then prevalent theologies _ Christianity and Judaism.
Such fear was perpetrated through the various forms of writings and decrees. As early as the beginning of the eighth century, the Church declared Islam as a schismatic heresy.
Father James Murray, Religious Affairs Editor of The Australian, shared his experience with the other participants of Ikim’s seminar.
“I belong to a generation in the West which was brought up on prejudice against Muslims. It was not only that the dominant religion was Christianity, but that treatment of historic events always characterised Islam and Muslims as the inveterate enemies of Christianity.”
However, it was pointed out that Muslims should adopt a more understanding attitude towards the media. It should not be perceived as a biased institution with regard to their reporting of certain issues.
The occasional errors in reporting should be viewed as unintentional and due to a general lack of information on the part of reporters and editors, and the rush to meet set deadlines that preclude a thorough research to be made.
Another speaker, a correspondent from the International Herald Tribune highlighted the fact that some media people are confused about the Arabic terms conveniently used by those claiming to represent Islamic interests.
What do words like jihad and fatwa actually mean? Muslim academics especially owe it to the Press to explain the meanings of words such as these, so that they would be used correctly.
Let it be clarified here that jihad is not synonymous with holy war or Muslim fanaticism. Jihad basically means to struggle in order to uphold the sanctity of Islam.
There are various forms of jihad, the greatest of which as identified by the Prophet Muhammad, being the struggle to control one’s own passion and ego. Taking up arms against a legally elected rule is certainly not jihad.
Fatwa simply means a formal opinion on a point of Islamic law. It does not have the status of law and needs ratification in a court of law if it is to carry a legal status. Fatwa may vary from place to place, or at one time or another.
To help explain these to the media, participants of the seminar proposed the setting up of an independent Muslim “news advisory service” to explain specific terms and concepts pertaining to Islam.
The service should also provide key information to help the media form a balanced perspective of news related to Islam, and be made available via the telephone, fax or the Internet.
Further, media personnel need to be sensitised to covering religious issues. To dispel negative reporting on Islam, a prompt but non-confrontational representation could be made to the editors concerned.
However, although these and many other views were freely expressed during the seminar, the underlying reason for the negative reporting of Islam by the media was thought to have originated from Muslims themselves.
Muslims often proudly claim that Islam is a way of life. If this is the case then each and every inch of their lives has to be in line with the teachings of Islam.
Although Islam should not be benchmarked against the actions of anyone claiming to be a Muslim, the truth of the matter is that every Muslim is essentially a public relations officer of Islam.
He must therefore constantly promote his faith through his good deeds. A tall order indeed, but this is something every Muslim has to live with.
What baffles or rather irks a number of the seminar participants is that while some Muslims consistently flout the rules of their own religion, they have the cheek to expect others to treat them as the best example for mankind.
This incidentally brings us to the other event that without doubt captured the attention of the local as well as foreign media.
As though making a political statement in support of the media myth that Muslims are perennially bad, was the group that claimed to be Islamic, merely by bearing an Arabic name and with members reinforcing this through the standard dress code that included chequered turbans or skull caps, blatantly carting away an arsenal of arms and ammunition from army camps in order to engage in self-proclaimed jihad.
The media was quickly taken in by the group’s purported link to Islam. Thus stereotypes like “Islamic” deviationist group and “Muslim” cult were again splashed on the front pages of some newspapers, including local ones.
Had these reporters and news editors attended Ikim’s seminar, they would have been able to conclude that what groups like the Al-Ma’unah and many others professed had nothing to do with the teachings of Islam.
But to be fair to the media, true Muslims must practise what they preach. Most importantly, they should not perpetually shoot at their own feet.