By Hassan Hanafi
People to the south and north of the Mediterranean attribute negative characteristics to one another. In this essay, Hassan Hanafi, professor of philosophy at the University of Cairo, contributes a few thought-provoking ideas
The north and south Mediterranean coasts are cradles of ancient civilizations. Tensions between these regions frequently rest on misperceptions.
The North thinks the South is a place of terrorism, violence and bloodshed, as well as the breeding ground of 11 September and the bomb attacks in London and Madrid.
Islam has allegedly produced a culture of violence that opposes Christianity, the religion of peace and love. This misperception is based on a reductionist fallacy that reduces the whole to a part. In reality, Islam has given rise to such jewels in history as Granada, Seville and Cordoba on the north coast of the Mediterranean.
The other is regarded as a part of one's self
The South is also commonly seen as an underdeveloped region or, at best, a developing region – not only with regard to the economy, social policy and culture, but also in relation to women, democracy and social justice.
This, too, is a fallacy, as the South, with the centres of Fes, Kairouan and Cairo, was once at the cutting-edge of science and culture, and the North learned from the South.
The North also believes the South rejects the other – non-Muslims at home and Westerners abroad – that it sacrifices dialogue to monologue, and has produced a culture based on exclusion instead of integration.
This is supposedly the reason for the ongoing tension between religions and ethnic groups. Yet Islam is a religion of peace that honours the diversity of Creation and mankind. The other is regarded as a part of one's self.
Furthermore, some believe that legal and illegal worker immigration from the South poses a threat to the North and that headscarves, Muslim male dress and mosques endanger Europe's identity.
It is also widely believed that every European city has Muslim districts that follow their own customs and laws. But this is true of all religious and ethnic minorities.
http://newageislam.com/the-west-and-islam--1,001-prejudices/islam-and-the-west/d/1591
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