Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Islam and the West
17 Jan 2012, NewAgeIslam.Com
Islam: Identity or Faith?

By Saif Shahin, NewAgeIslam.com

15 Jan 2012

But a number of other Mohammads end up viewing everything in black and white, as Islamic and anti-Islamic. This grand narrative informs their understanding of all that happens in the world: from global events such as invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, to personal matters such as not getting a promotion in office. Growing Islamophobia makes such a view of the world appear all the more genuine. The narrative pushes them towards fundamentalism, and in extreme cases, towards terrorism.

Globalisation has posed questions of culture and identity to everyone. Europe is living in fear of turning into “Eurabia”, while Arabs are afraid their children, being brought up by housemaids from Kerala, will speak Malayalam as their mother tongue. In such a world, there is no running away from the question: who am I? And there is no harm in the answer being: I am a Muslim. But Islam need not be just an illusory identity, it can be a liberating faith that helps people not just find their place in the world but be at peace with it as well. -- Saif Shahin, NewAgeIslam.com

http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamAndWest_1.aspx?ArticleID=6396

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