By Farish A. Noor
When the time came for me to take my yearly break this year, I decided to
combine leisure with work and set my mind on visiting my dear friends in Pakistan. So I booked my ticket and packed my bags for Pakistan, where I hoped to visit friends I had made a few years ago while also visiting the libraries and archives where I wanted to do some pain-staking though necessary research work into the historical links between Pakistan and Southeast Asia. (I am, in fact, writing a book about the historical contribution of Muslims from the Indian subcontinent to the political, economic and cultural development of the Malay Archipelago.)
Prior to making the trip from Berlin to Islamabad, I made the usual round of good-byes and was somewhat surprised by the reaction I received from my colleagues in Europe. Most, if not all, had offered me the same morsel of advice: “You are going to Pakistan for your holiday? Be careful! I’ve heard that terrible things are happening there now!” When I asked them where they received this nugget of pedestrian wisdom, the answer was invariably the same: “I saw it on TV”, “watched it on CNN” or “read it in the newspapers on the metro”.
That so many of my – admittedly educated and usually level-headed – friends could say such things would have struck me as odd several years ago, though sadly under the circumstances we live in today I have to say that their reaction was understandable. Cliché though it is, it remains a deplorable fact that the image of Pakistan in the global media is rock-bottom at the moment.
In the wake of 11 September and following incessant reports of recent tragic events, popular perception of Pakistan abroad is at an all-time low. From the corridors of power in the capitals of the West to the level of ordinary street prattle and the tabloid press worldwide, Pakistan is inching precariously close to being categorised as a ‘rogue state’ or ‘dysfunctional polity’, even though the terms have not come into official circulation- yet.
But these are precisely the times when foreign observers – particularly those from North America and Western Europe (said to be the birthplace of the Enlightenment, as we are reminded time and again) – should exercise a modicum of enlightened self-criticism and introspection. After all, I have just come from Germany, where, as we all know by now, cannibalism has made a somewhat dramatic comeback after being unfashionable for centuries. How would Germans feel if other countries were to issue travel warnings to their citizens who intended to go there for their holidays? “When in Germany, be kind to the natives but always count your fingers after shaking hands with the locals.”
Much of the negative publicity heaped on Pakistan has to do with the outside world’s ignorance of local Pakistani affairs and politics. Issues like the so-called ‘Islamic bomb threat’ have been blown out of proportion and it should be added that the focus that has been put on Pakistan is unfair to say the least. It is well known that Israel has shared its nuclear know-how with other states, yet thus far the outcry against Israel has been muted. And if fears of religious extremism and ethno-nationalist sectarian conflict are the issues that have kept visitors away from Pakistan, then surely the same problems affect other countries like India and Eastern Europe, where neo-Fascist right-wing parties are visibly on the rise.
The unbalanced approach of the global media can only be described as a case of Pakistan-bashing in the crudest of terms. But these are times when bashing the reputation of Muslim countries is en vogue, and like Pakistan, Malaysia too has been roped into this sordid ‘nukes-for-sale’ business. Needless the say that the damage that is being done to the reputation of these countries can be counted in terms of lost tourist earnings and direct foreign investment. Can Muslims be blamed if they think that there is an undeclared conspiracy against Muslim nations the world over?
The lesson to be leant from this fiasco is that Muslim states and societies really have to get their acts together and do some serious public relations work. Though we are loathe to admit it, the fact remains that the image of Islam and Muslims at the moment is deploringly bad. This is as much our fault as it is due to the ignorance of others.
One central tenet of Islam is da’wa, to reach out and to tell others of and about Islam. This should not be limited to simply trying to preach the message of Islam, but also to tell the world about the normative experiences of Muslims too. While being honest and open about our failings, highlighting the plight of Muslim nations is also a part of da’wa. So is telling the positive story of the successes of Muslims in fields as diverse as economics, medicine and education. I look forward to the day when an enlightened alim would state that to even improve business links and expand trade with other nations falls under the broadest scope of da’wa as well. For by doing so Muslims would not simply be communicating the message of Islam, but also saying to the world: “Look, we Muslims are just like you. We live, work, suffer, have moments of joy and sadness, have aspirations and longings, as well as fears and concerns. Why can’t you understand that all we want is to have a good, safe, prosperous life like what you already enjoy?”
For this to be successful, however, Muslim states and societies have to do several things:
For a start Muslim states and nations must stop undermining each other’s efforts or trying to undercut one another. Rather than trying to undermine each other’s efforts we should be helping one other, and the world by extension, via co-operation and helping our neighbours prosper.
Secondly, Muslim governments in particular should desist from the craven practice of vying against each other to be in the good books of Washington and Wall Street. For too long we have seen how Muslim governments have not only failed to come to the aid of other Muslim states in crisis, but in some truly shameful instances actually helped others undermine, destabilise and even invade Muslim countries. At present Iran and Pakistan have been singled out by the global media, yet what has been the reaction of other Muslim governments? Most have opted to play safe and steered as far away from the two countries as possible.
Thirdly, - and this relates to the concept of da’wa mentioned earlier – Muslims need to overcome the divisive and ultimately destructive tendency of dialectics when relating to the Other. Believing that the entire planet is against us is simply untrue. Nor is it true that the average non-Muslim in the world is a pathological Muslim-hater. The simple truth of the matter is that the average non-Muslim simply does not know enough about Muslims and is actuallyambivalent about Islam.
To put it simply, one should imagine the life of a typical stock-broker in Tokyo, who goes to work by metro in the morning, works all day till his boss leaves in the evening, has a round of drinks with his mates before stumbling home late at night, just to repeat the same ritual the next day and the for the rest of his working life. The Tokyo resident’s exposure to Muslims may be no more than a couple of minutes over the course of a week, limited to what he reads in the paper or sees on TV. Can we blame him for having a negative perception of Muslims if all he sees and reads are stories about Muslims killing each other, blowing each other up or running riot in the streets? The average Japanese working man does not have the time to read books about the history of Palestine, Bosnia or Kashmir. It is not that he is ill-disposed against Islam per se: rather he simply has not had exposure to it. This gulf of knowledge and contact can only be bridged if and when Muslims make the conscious effort to relate their experiences to the rest of the world in a simple, objective and universally acceptable way.
For this perception to change, Muslim countries and societies – be it Pakistan or Malaysia or whichever – would have to rethink the way we present ourselves to the rest of the world. So far our attention has been obsessively focused to the West, and it is for this reason that we remain caught in a vicious dialectical relationship that divides the world according to a monochromatic logic of good and evil, black and white.