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A MURDER AND A WORLD WITHOUT ISLAM
MUSTAFA AKYOL
Hurriyet
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=a-murder-and-a-world-without-islam-2010-12-14
Dec 14 2010
Turkey
Something terrible happened in Istanbul last Saturday. A newly married
couple was shot dead in a car, only 10 days after their wedding. The
police arrested the bride's older brother as the suspect. The
man confessed the crime and said that he had to kill his sister
and her husband for her treason to the community - for this was a
Christian-Muslim marriage the bride's family strongly opposed.
If you haven't heard more about this story, you might easily assume
that the lethal communalism in this shocking violence must have
something to do with Islam. It is Muslims, after all, who have become
notorious in the West for such honor killings. So, you might easily
assume that the murdered bride, Soney Vural, 26, was a Muslim woman,
and that her Muslim brother killed her for marrying a Christian
infidel.
Muslim or Eastern?
But, lo and behold: the reality is the exact opposite. The Christian
side in this tragedy is the bride and her family: They are members
of the Turkish Armenian community. The Muslim side is that of the
bridegroom, Zekeriya Vural, 29, and his family, which apparently had
no problem with their son's interfaith marriage.
"A difference of religions should not be a problem," indeed, said
Cemil Vural, the Zekeriya's Muslim uncle, explicitly. "We struggled
so much for peace."
I am sure the same belief exists within the Armenian Turkish community
as well, along with a deep sorrow for the tragic fate of Soney and
Zekeriya. I share that sorrow. But I also have thoughts on this
appalling incident - thoughts that relate to the popular discussions
on Islam, the West, and liberty.
It is no secret that many Westernizers have been disturbed lately by
some of the illiberal attitudes they see among Muslim some communities:
A male-dominating culture that grants very little freedom to women;
a rigid communalism that sees the outside world as corrupt and bans
any form of "apostasy;" and a self-righteous attitude that sees all
sorts of criticism as attacks that should be countered.
Such cultural traits that some Muslims display - let alone violence
and terrorism committed in the name of Islam - have led some
Westernizers to suspect whether there is an inherent problem in Islam
as religion. Some even believe that the world would be much better if
the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad, and the whole Islamic civilization
had never existed.
In his recent book, "A World without Islam," former CIA analyst and
historian Graham Fuller takes on this argument very well. Despite
all the superficial rhetoric on the supposed dichotomies between
"Western values" and the "Muslim world," Fuller shows that the real
dichotomy is actually between the West and the East. For example,
the East's reactions to the West's dominance, real or perceived, are
the real source of what is dubbed as "Islamic terrorism." Even if the
Middle East was not Muslim at all, hence Fuller argues, "Palestine
would still burn; Iran would still be intensely nationalistic; [and]
we would still see Palestinians resist Jews."
The ways of the fathers
Although Fuller focuses mainly on the political attitudes in the
Muslim world, and shows that their Eastern origins predate Islam and
go back to ancient empires such Byzantium, he touches upon cultural
traits as well - which might look Muslim, but are actually simply
Eastern. "The culture of the Orthodox Church," he notes, "differs
sharply from the Western post-Enlightenment ethos, which emphasizes
secularism, capitalism, and the primacy of the individual."
Eastern Christians, Fuller adds, often show a tendency "to perceive
religion as a key vehicle for the protection and preservation of
their own communities and culture." Hence comes the intolerance toward
inter-faith marriage among these Christians - something that has become
quite normal among their Western, especially American, co-religionists.
"A World without Islam," I believe, is a must-read for any intelligent
discussion on "Islam and the West." It is also a good food for thought
for both liberal Westerners and conservative Muslims.
The former should understand that some of the things they see within
Muslim societies and do not find terribly pleasant might not be
the products of Islam as religion. Some are in fact the products of
their own civilization, such as the doomed heritage of the West's
colonial adventures. Other troubles in the Muslim world - troubles
from a liberal perspective - stem from traditions of the Middle East
that both predate Islam and extend to non-Muslim Easterners as well
- such as the rigid communalism that just killed a would-be-happy
Turkish-Armenian couple.
Conservative Muslims, on the other hand, should beware of being trapped
in the illiberal traditions of the East in the course of their more
noble effort to stay loyal to their faith. In fact, breaking those
illiberal traditions was one of the early impulses of Islam. The
Quran criticized the Arabs who said, "We follow what we found our
fathers upon," and asked them: "What if their fathers had no sense
at all?" (2:170)
Today, there still are many traditions that come from "fathers had no
sense at all." Challenging them is the only way to save our religions
from bigotry - and to protect innocent lives.
From: A. Papazian
MUSTAFA AKYOL
Hurriyet
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=a-murder-and-a-world-without-islam-2010-12-14
Dec 14 2010
Turkey
Something terrible happened in Istanbul last Saturday. A newly married
couple was shot dead in a car, only 10 days after their wedding. The
police arrested the bride's older brother as the suspect. The
man confessed the crime and said that he had to kill his sister
and her husband for her treason to the community - for this was a
Christian-Muslim marriage the bride's family strongly opposed.
If you haven't heard more about this story, you might easily assume
that the lethal communalism in this shocking violence must have
something to do with Islam. It is Muslims, after all, who have become
notorious in the West for such honor killings. So, you might easily
assume that the murdered bride, Soney Vural, 26, was a Muslim woman,
and that her Muslim brother killed her for marrying a Christian
infidel.
Muslim or Eastern?
But, lo and behold: the reality is the exact opposite. The Christian
side in this tragedy is the bride and her family: They are members
of the Turkish Armenian community. The Muslim side is that of the
bridegroom, Zekeriya Vural, 29, and his family, which apparently had
no problem with their son's interfaith marriage.
"A difference of religions should not be a problem," indeed, said
Cemil Vural, the Zekeriya's Muslim uncle, explicitly. "We struggled
so much for peace."
I am sure the same belief exists within the Armenian Turkish community
as well, along with a deep sorrow for the tragic fate of Soney and
Zekeriya. I share that sorrow. But I also have thoughts on this
appalling incident - thoughts that relate to the popular discussions
on Islam, the West, and liberty.
It is no secret that many Westernizers have been disturbed lately by
some of the illiberal attitudes they see among Muslim some communities:
A male-dominating culture that grants very little freedom to women;
a rigid communalism that sees the outside world as corrupt and bans
any form of "apostasy;" and a self-righteous attitude that sees all
sorts of criticism as attacks that should be countered.
Such cultural traits that some Muslims display - let alone violence
and terrorism committed in the name of Islam - have led some
Westernizers to suspect whether there is an inherent problem in Islam
as religion. Some even believe that the world would be much better if
the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad, and the whole Islamic civilization
had never existed.
In his recent book, "A World without Islam," former CIA analyst and
historian Graham Fuller takes on this argument very well. Despite
all the superficial rhetoric on the supposed dichotomies between
"Western values" and the "Muslim world," Fuller shows that the real
dichotomy is actually between the West and the East. For example,
the East's reactions to the West's dominance, real or perceived, are
the real source of what is dubbed as "Islamic terrorism." Even if the
Middle East was not Muslim at all, hence Fuller argues, "Palestine
would still burn; Iran would still be intensely nationalistic; [and]
we would still see Palestinians resist Jews."
The ways of the fathers
Although Fuller focuses mainly on the political attitudes in the
Muslim world, and shows that their Eastern origins predate Islam and
go back to ancient empires such Byzantium, he touches upon cultural
traits as well - which might look Muslim, but are actually simply
Eastern. "The culture of the Orthodox Church," he notes, "differs
sharply from the Western post-Enlightenment ethos, which emphasizes
secularism, capitalism, and the primacy of the individual."
Eastern Christians, Fuller adds, often show a tendency "to perceive
religion as a key vehicle for the protection and preservation of
their own communities and culture." Hence comes the intolerance toward
inter-faith marriage among these Christians - something that has become
quite normal among their Western, especially American, co-religionists.
"A World without Islam," I believe, is a must-read for any intelligent
discussion on "Islam and the West." It is also a good food for thought
for both liberal Westerners and conservative Muslims.
The former should understand that some of the things they see within
Muslim societies and do not find terribly pleasant might not be
the products of Islam as religion. Some are in fact the products of
their own civilization, such as the doomed heritage of the West's
colonial adventures. Other troubles in the Muslim world - troubles
from a liberal perspective - stem from traditions of the Middle East
that both predate Islam and extend to non-Muslim Easterners as well
- such as the rigid communalism that just killed a would-be-happy
Turkish-Armenian couple.
Conservative Muslims, on the other hand, should beware of being trapped
in the illiberal traditions of the East in the course of their more
noble effort to stay loyal to their faith. In fact, breaking those
illiberal traditions was one of the early impulses of Islam. The
Quran criticized the Arabs who said, "We follow what we found our
fathers upon," and asked them: "What if their fathers had no sense
at all?" (2:170)
Today, there still are many traditions that come from "fathers had no
sense at all." Challenging them is the only way to save our religions
from bigotry - and to protect innocent lives.
From: A. Papazian