VISION 2020:
THE DE-COLONIALIZATION OF ISLAMIC CULTURE
THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE, RELIGION AND TRADITION
A Paper Presented at The Islamic Conference, Cairo, Egypt, March 27-30, 2007
By Prof. Dr. Mohamed Elmasry
National President, The Canadian Islamic Congress
np@canadianislamiccongress.com
1. INTRODUCTION
Today the question for a Muslim, any Muslim, is not “Who am I?” but rather,
“Who are we?”
Humans, in contrast to other social animals, do not just live in societies --
they produce societies in order to live. It follows logically then, that
Muslims can only know themselves by knowing who they are in relation to
others.
But Muslim countries, more than any others in today's world, are being
subjected to dangerous forces of recolonialization due to: (a) their natural
resources, especially oil; (b) their strategic geopolitical positions, and;
(c) their huge potential consumer market of more than 1.2 billion people.
By “recolonialization,” I mean the cumulative economic and political
injustices committed against Muslim countries by the West, which in some cases
have escalated into military aggression, invasion, and occupation. These
forces of recolonialization are working in the context of an unbalanced and
unfair system of globalization that benefits mainly the world's rich and
powerful nations. Both historically and in our post-modern times,
colonialization and re-colonialization do not only mean that the West is
trying to impose its political and economic interests on others, but its
culture as well.
We know from past centuries that the colonizing powers did not simply
overthrow local governments. Over time, they destroyed the languages,
religions and traditions of native and indigenous peoples, through the
imposition of foreign education, media, art forms, literature and propaganda.
Colonizers would label native languages as inadequate, native religions as
backward and native traditions as not worth keeping. Once the natives bought
into this portrayal of their cultural inferiority, it became an easy matter to
recolonize their “primitive” ways with foreign political and economic systems.
Major colonizing powers of the past often claimed religious imperatives as a
mainstay of their drive to “civilize” other parts of the world; today, those
same powers are witnessing a steady decline in civic religion. Similarly,
Islamic culture is feeling the effects of a gradually weaning away from its
religious roots; today, the gulf between spiritual and secular spheres of life
is wider than ever, and increasing. Today’s Islam -- like Christianity and
Judaism -- continues to influence deeply individual Muslims, but has ceased to
have the profound effect it formerly exercised over vast ranges of people.
Obviously, it would be counterproductive for the Muslim world (the Ummah) to
reject everything globalization can offer; but when it comes to preserving
Islamic culture -- more specifically, language, religion and tradition -- the
Muslim world must move into a protective mode of the first order.
The problem -- indeed, the universal dilemma -- facing Muslims is how to
preserve their culture and values within their heritage, while integrating
them with the culture and values of the rest of the world. It has now become a
matter of survival for the Muslim world to pay attention to decolonizing
Islamic culture. This must be done through proactively protecting language,
religion and tradition -- in that order. By “tradition” I mean family values
and our “Oruf,” or social customs.
There is, certainly, no substitute for an objective and critical examination
of how the colonizing powers of Europe and the Americas have used language,
religion and tradition to oppress Muslims and other indigenous and aboriginal
peoples for more than 500 years. But I believe that the remedy for half a
millennium of such abuses is within our reach.
First of all, no decolonialization can be possible if Muslims do not begin by
reclaiming the languages they use, the religion they practice, the traditions
they follow and the social system that produces and influences these three
factors, particularly through education and the media.
In Muslim countries today, Islam -- instead of being the whole focus of
education -- is incorporated into the curriculum as a separate subject,
following the Western model of education. Instead of reforming the original
Islamic school system, secular Western educational models have been imposed in
many places and given the material and financial resources to succeed, at
least in Western terms. But the plain fact remains; a school where Islam is
taught as one subject among many others is a secular school. Moreover, even
schools where Islam is taught as a separate subject are becoming all too rare
in Muslim countries; more and more private schools have been established and
an increasing number of public schools use a totally foreign-based curriculum.
Unfortunately, American cultural domination in education and many other areas
shows no signs of waning. To preserve Islamic culture through language,
religion and tradition, Muslims urgently need to devise a grand collective
plan for the next 10 to 20 years. In fact, the decolonializing of Islamic
culture should be classed as a matter of national security and governments of
Muslim countries must be strongly encouraged to allocate the necessary
resources to implement cultural preservation programs without delay.
The result of not decolonializing Islamic language, religion and tradition
will be the inevitable de-Islamization of Muslims themselves. They will become
accustomed to formulating their thoughts within the fabric of foreign
cultures. No matter how faithfully they practice their faith, their world view
and their values will become foreign to Islam.
The tragedy of North American First Nations peoples losing their language,
religion and tradition under the pressure of European colonialization is a
sobering lesson for Muslims today. The pressure on indigenous cultures was
brutal. European colonial powers separated children from their families to
raise them as so-called “civilized” Christians, speaking only English or
French. Jobs were offered first to those who had been forcibly “re-educated”
in the colonizers’ schools. Within just one or two generations, native culture
was reduced to the novelty of interesting shows at official ceremonies.
Islam in the past has succeeded in blending the cultures and traditions of
many peoples in ways that have proven fruitful to all, and this feature of
Islamic society should be restored.
At this point, I must emphasize the crucial distinction between Islamic
culture and tradition and Muslim culture and tradition. The former is highly
desirable; the latter is subject to the same human weaknesses and
inconsistencies of any ethnic community. In some Muslim countries, for
example, it is well known that women's education, human rights, legal status
and vocational opportunities have lagged far behind those of men. We must
reject the dismissive and segregationist attitudes of some Muslim men toward
women and restore the Islamic ideal of equal opportunity in all facets of life
for both men and women.
2. LANGUAGE
Language is not a neutral tool. It encompasses wide fields of association and
definite modes of conceptualization; hence, its impact on culture is huge.
By “language” among Muslims, I mean first of all a fluency in at least two or
three languages, including one's mother tongue (if different from Arabic), as
well as Arabic and English.
I have included the mother tongue as a necessary language, despite knowing the
practical difficulty of using it in certain cases; in some Muslim countries,
there are many different local languages and dialects.
We must give language the highest priority as it enormously influences the
identity of individual persons, entire nations, and the whole of the Muslim
Ummah. Language is used as a universal vehicle or medium, shaping both
religion and tradition. Divine Wisdom tells us that Arabic was chosen for the
revelation of the Qur’an, with several good reasons.
One reason is the makeup of the language itself. By the 6th century AD, Arabic
was mechanically developed; its rich vocabulary, sophisticated syntax, and
comprehensive semantics were unmatched by any other language of the time.
Another reason is that Arabic was the dominant language for a large number of
people in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Iraq and even the language of the
occupying Roman empire offered zero competition.
At that time the prestige of an Arab was largely measured by how well he or
she could master the language. Widely publicized annual competitions in Arabic
poetry were held and winners enjoyed the unique distinction of their work
being “published” by having it hung for a year on the wall of the Kaaba, the
sacred House of God in Makkah (Mecca).
Arabic gained universal prominence as the language chosen by Allah God
Almighty in which to reveal His holy book, the Qur’an. Qur’anic Arabic is
called “Mobeen,” which means clear, articulate, concise, and eloquent (16:103)
and (26:195). Qur’anic Arabic is the form in which the faithful learn to
understand the message of revealed scripture, to reason through it, and to
apply its teachings. (12:2)
The Qur’an has been transmitted through the ages in both oral and written
Arabic. Although early Muslims relied on translators to communicate the Qur’an
to those whose mother tongue was not Arabic, from 640 AD through the mid-17th
century – just over a millennium -- the followers of Islam succeeded in making
Arabic the most prevalent language of the Middle East, just as English
prevails today in the Western hemisphere.
When Cairo University opened its doors almost a century ago in 1908 as a
private school, its administration took pride in the fact that their
university followed the Western model of teaching Arabic and religion as
separate subjects. This new educational model – which continued in 1925 when
Cairo University became a state institution – was in marked contrast to the
traditional philosophy of giving Islamic values centre stage in the teaching
of all post-secondary disciplines. The secular university of Cairo was founded
to replace Al Azhar, a religiously-based Islamic university established in 641
AD.
In 1863, even before Cairo University opened, Protestant Christian colonial
powers founded their own post-secondary institution, the Protestant Syrian
College; some 12 years later, the Catholic Church followed with the College of
St. Joseph.
During that same period in the late Ottoman Empire, a number of university-or
college-like schools were established in Istanbul. In 1859 came the Mulkiye,
which specialized in preparing civil servants; in 1900, Istanbul University
was established. By 1901 a School of Medicine had opened, followed in 1912 by
a School of Law. In all of these, however, Islam was studied as a separate
subject, rather than being the central philosophy grounding all education.
Today, almost all graduates of Egyptian universities leave their post-
secondary studies without ever having mastered classical Arabic. They cannot
express themselves in any depth using Arabic, yet many are proud of being able
to speak, read and write in one or more foreign languages, especially English.
In the faculties of Science, Engineering and Medicine, English is now the
primary language of instruction. Sadly, few university graduates take the time
to read any classical Arabic poetry or literature.
From the Qur’an we learn that God gave humans the ability to master language -
- multiple languages, in fact. Becoming fluent and literate is taught as a
religious duty, or “Bayan.” (55:4) This duty toward language allows people to
formulate broader and more accurate world views. Compared to the Judeo-
Christian Bible, the Qur’an appears to be a rather small book. But it
articulates every message concisely and emphatically. The Qur’an itself is a
miracle of language in the perfection, beauty, eloquence and economy of its
text. Down through the ages, its literary power has been a potent force in
molding the Arabic language and in shaping Islamic culture and thought.
With such a glorious background I believe that only a colonial mentality could
regard classical Arabic as a language to be kept apart from the mainstream
media, movies, theatres, schools, universities, businesses commerce, and
everyday life.
Muslims the world over could learn much from the example of France in how to
protect the integrity of their language and culture. Since the 1630s the
Academie Francaise has diligently overseen the use and development of French,
guarding the language and its culture against foreign incursions – first from
England and more recently from the American-dominated West. Today France heads
an international association called La Francophonie; their common link is that
French is either the principle or major second language of their citizens and
all are concerned to keep their cultures from being assimilated or diluted by
imported American influences. French Canadians are especially challenged to
safeguard their language and heritage while being surrounded by the dominant
North American pop culture.
Another lesson can be taken from colonialized Africa, where Christian
missionaries introduced an education system based on their own imposed
languages, where the accepted religion was Christianity and where native
traditions were replaced by the popular culture of the colonizing country. To
have any chance of a job, one had to graduate from such an educational system.
By contrast, existing Muslim education systems did not progress in colonized
countries due to lack of resources. The result was that within less than a
century, Christian areas of the world had evolved more rapidly than Muslim
areas.
3. RELIGION
In discussing a religion, any religion, we must consider also those factors
which compete against it and know how to recognize them for what they are, as
quasi-religious; I’m speaking chiefly about nationalism, materialism and
secularism.
Here, we must distinguish between secularization and secularism. The first
describes the change from a religious to a non-religious culture, in which all
spheres of life are equally affected and included, whereas secularism pertains
to an ideology, an attitude toward life that rejects spiritual values and the
religious world-view.
Islam accepts the former state – secularization – while rejecting secularism.
This is because, for a Muslim, that which is spiritual cannot be separated
from all other aspects of life. At the same time, it does not mean that the
political, economic, cultural, educational or military policies of any
government should not be criticized for the common good.
Secularization need not necessarily lead to secularism, but it opens the way
for applying freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, and the freedom to
express one’s views without fear of reprisals.
There are Muslims today whose practice of Islam, as a spiritual and moral
force, is becoming irrelevant to their lives, but who at the same time retain
loyalty to Islam as the social and perhaps cultural environment to which they
belong.
Here, as elsewhere, the future of Islam depends upon the forging of a new kind
of relationship between religion and contemporary life, and this new state of
being promises to be different from anything known to our Islamic past.
Islam is not only about monotheism: it concerns itself also with building and
nurturing community. Although other mainstream world faiths have been guided
historically in a similar way, its communal aspect today sets Islam apart from
them. A dual concern for the shaping of the community and for the success of
that community in the world has been a consistent force throughout Muslim
history.
Islam freed itself early from the restrictive bonds of nationhood by
envisioning itself as an international community. It was, and in many ways
still is, that sense of international fellowship that continues to nourish and
sustain our faith.
One of Islam’s great contributions to the religious experience of humankind
has been to demonstrate the way in which faith can be harnessed to the
creation of a complex and successful earthly community – not a Utopian or
idealized one, but a matter-of-fact everyday one – a community in which
people’s primary needs, hopes and ambitions are not denied, but channeled into
a collective pattern of pious fellowship.
Islam has preserved the essence of that ideal community in the Qur’an, where
one can read and learn of a people united in sensible and sober fellowship,
guided by the justice of Qur’anic teaching.
In his book, The Religious Experience of Mankind*, *Prof. Ninian Smart writes;
“From the standpoint of religious history, Islam’s importance lies partly in
the stress it lays on the social dimension. It is a faith which demands
institutions, but not those of a [Christian] Church, centered primarily in the
promotion of religious quest by itself: rather, it demands institutions which
cover the whole life of the community. There is nothing in Islam (except in a
few sects here and there in its history) corresponding to the Church. There is
no place for a special institution within society devoted to the ends of the
faith. For it is the whole of society which is devoted to the ends of the
faith. **
“It would be mistaken, however, to stress the political side of Islam to such
a degree that we lose sight of the religious experience and practice which
have been nurtured within. The Prophet, through his vivid awareness of a
majestic and overwhelmingly powerful God, passed on to the Muslim community an
impressive dedication to worship. The Muslim’s daily prayers continuously
express his awe before the Almighty, and thereby he gains a sense of divine
Presence. Islamic monotheism is simpler than that of Christianity. It does not
contain the Trinity doctrine.”
Also unlike mainstream Christianity which stresses salvation-by-faith, the
Qur’an stresses the need for “good deeds” as well as “good faith” in order
that a believer can reach a high status among his / her community and in the
eyes of the Creator.
For example, the Qur’an says; “There is no piety in just turning your faces
towards the East or the West, but he / she is pious who believeth in God and
the Last Day and the Angels and the Scriptures and the Prophets; who for the
love of God disburses his / her wealth to his / her kindred and to the orphans
and the needy and the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and for ransoming; who
observes prayer and pays the Legal Alms, and who is one of those who are
faithful to their engagements when they have engaged in them, and are
steadfast under ills and hardships and in time of troubles: these are they who
are just, and these are they who fear God.” (2: 177)
Furthermore, the Qur’an always addresses its message to the people as a whole,
not to local groups or individuals. The individual must look to the well-being
of his / her community, knowing that the well-being of individuals cannot be
divorced from the well being of the whole. A strong and healthy community
based on fellowship and faith is the best protection for its individual
members. The community in return must help the individual when he / she is in
need, whether that need is for education, health care, security, financial
help, kindred support, etc.
For example, prohibitions on gambling and drinking were instituted to combat
widespread social problems that threatened to destroy early Islam; the Qur’an
says that while there are some benefits in gambling and drinking, they are far
outweighed by the harm of these activities.
Calling for the decolonization of Islam and Islamic teaching does not mean one
should not accept and be in dialogue with all people of other religions. On the
contrary, Islam encourages, demands and rewards such dialogue. Only in the
present century, with the advances in information technology, have religions
been in a real position to understand one another. It is possible for religions
the world over to enter into a process of friendly exchange and mutual
understanding, even today when political conflicts are seemed, falsely, to be
religion – based.
4. TRADITION
In keeping with the Islamic tradition of healthy moderation, Muslim countries
should discourage their citizens from eating in American-style fast food
restaurants whose menus are unhealthy for all of us! Instead, national foods
should be promoted; they are often just as fast for restaurants to prepare and
are usually both cheaper and healthier.
In the whole of the Muslim world today, the study of any subject must include
contributions of Muslims to that field of endeavor; after all, we can be proud
of more than 1,000 years of contribution to every facet of human life.
In all fairness, however, individual school teachers and university professors
cannot be blamed for not introducing or lobbying for Islamically-grounded
courses and research topics. There must be a collective effort led, for
example, by well established bodies like the OIC (Organization for Islamic
Conference) to promote and support the development of more meaningful and
culturally appropriate teaching materials. These revised, revamped and
enhanced curricula must be prepared to the highest available standards by
experts and packaged in ways that will attract and motivate the youth of
today’s internet and video-gaming generation.
As we have seen, the impact of Western culture upon Muslims has assailed the
very foundations of our society by undermining traditional and extended family
dynamics, and by introducing an education system that reflects non-Islamic
ideals and aims. Largely as a result of this systemic Western influence the
economic and material prosperity of the individual has now become the deciding
factor for many of today’s Muslims when dealing with contemporary societal
issues. The remedy will not be easy but I believe it is within our power to
make the changes that will save who we are, and can be, in this world. On that
basis, I offer to you a number of recommendations:
5. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE MUSLIM WORLD
- Families throughout the Muslim world should avoid using foreign “baby-
talk” with their infants and raise them from their earliest moments hearing
their mother tongue, or Arabic.
- Children should be taught simultaneously in their mother tongue and in
classical Arabic throughout the first six grades of school when their minds and
hearts are most receptive and impressionable; the use of colloquial or slang
Arabic should be minimized.
- Parents and teachers should instill into young children the habit of reading;
if acquired at an early age, it will be their resource and strength for a
lifetime.
- Young children can be encouraged to express themselves correctly and
creatively in their mother tongue, as well as in Arabic, through school
competitions in poetry, prose and public speaking.
- Students should take courses in two mandatory languages up to and including
their graduating year of university.
- English as a second or third language should be introduced only during the
last three years of secondary school, and then only as a tool to communicate
with others internationally or professionally.
- The first three years of a child’s school life should be spent in a reformed
or updated version of the traditional Koottab, in which students not only learn
to read and write, but also memorize the Qur’an and are taught how to practice
Islamic etiquette.
- Educational curricula should place higher importance on teaching a
comprehensive survey of Islamic history, Islamic civilization, and the varied
Islamic arts such as story-telling, etc.
- The length of time Muslim students remain in school, college or university
programs should be extended by one year more than the international average,
thereby allowing them to experience and absorb a more holistic Islamic
education. This approach will produce a person who can Islamically think,
reflect, investigate, discuss, debate, research, etc. whether at age seven, 14,
or 21. The time to reform the education system in Muslim countries and develop
the human resources to decolonialize our language, religion and tradition is
now.
