PLO fixture Edward Said on NPR Wednesday slammed much of the post-9/11 discussion about Islam. In conversation with All Things Considered host Robert Siegel, Said said that we have "oversimplified a complex religion"
Said cautions that talking about the problems of Islam when we discuss the September 11 hijackers is
just as appropriate to talk about the problems of Christianity when we discuss Fascism or anti-Semitism or any of the other major depradations that have emerged from the Christian or for that matter from the Jewish world. What I prefer, since I'm a secular person myself, is a wide lens that treats them all with the same suspicionHis equal suspicion policy is apparently the same one that is used to justify treating all passengers at airports as potential terrorists.
Said also tells us that "Islam has historically been the most tolerant of the three monotheistic religions" and that "the diversity of opinion [on Arab satellite television] is much greater than it is in America. There's debate about women's rights."
I would suggest (and humbly, because he's a professor and I'm not) that the Arab world has to debate women's rights and we don't, because for example, in our country women are allowed to learn how to read and already have the rights that Arab women are still debating in order to get.
Said also points to the recent UNDP report about the abysmal state of affairs in the Arab world, as an example of Arab self-criticism. The report broke new ground by condemning, among other things, the absence of self-criticism in the Arab world.
Siegel refers to a brochure he received from the Saudi embassy called "All About Islam", which contained the priceless quote "Like Jews and Christians, Moslems regard this life merely as preparation for the next"
Said proceeds to laugh at this quote and also dismisses the Saudi embassy as not being a credible source of information about Islam.
Said recommends a number of books to help us understand Islam, including a tome by a Viennese Jew who converted to Islam in the 1920s.
Yes, it is wrong to oversimplify a complex religion. There is more to Islam than martyrdom, jihad and the mistreatment of women. Similarly there was much more to Nazism than Auschwitz, and more to the Soviet Union than economic retardation and the KGB.
The complete audio file of Said's interview is here
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 01, 2002 07:16 AMSaid is full of crap as usual. Besides that fact of his fabricated refugee past, he does not support any peace process that leaves a Jewish state in teh area. While he sits at Columbia, it is easy to fight to the last child of other people.
Said might have a case that Islam was 'historically' more tollerant thatn Christianity but certianly not than Judaism since the Jews did not oppress people over their religion over the alst 2000 years (maybe because of a lack of oppurtunity, but it did not happen). Also, historically Islam may have been nicer to other religions than Christianity is not to say that either was tolerant - neither was.
Historically - how about the last fifty years. Islam is now clearly the most intolerant of the three monotheistic religions .
Posted by: zion blogster on August 1, 2002 08:55 AMEdward Said has made a career of slamming westerners for their prejudice against Islam. Indeed, anyone who criticizes Arab or Islamic society is always guilty of oversimplification. Said on the other hand is free to blame the Israeli "Occupation" and Western "Orientalism" for all of the ills suffered by the Palestinians. Anyone who looks at his writings can see that he harps on these themes over and over again. It's a puzzle of how he ever gained a reputation as a serious scholar of Middle Eastern affairs. In fact, his academic specialty is in English literature.
Posted by: Lapsed Liberal on August 1, 2002 11:02 AMTolerance for other religions and peoples is built into Judaism: "Righteous gentiles have a share in the world to come," the Noahide Laws, etc. Judaism has always been a tribal people who just want to be left alone to walk our path. Anyone who wants to walk on our path is welcome to join us and many do. Those who don't are respected.
Islam and Christianity are both universal religions which believe that anyone who isn't a member isn't quite as holy or realized or good as someone who is, and the world will not be perfect until all are converted. Islam and Christianity have both spawned large empires spanning continents, in which forced conversion featured prominently. Judaism at its most imperial, 3000 years ago, was about the size of Maryland, and there may have been some forced conversion but evidence is spotty.
Because if their imperialist past, there are over 1 billion Muslims and over 2 billion Christians. There are at most 14 million Jews. Israel is the size of New Jersey.
Said is some scholar if he can't even get historical and geographic facts straight. Oh that's right, he's a humanities professor.
There is no need to feel less sure of yourself because you are discussing the position taken by a professor. After all, what is he a professor of? He is a tenured member of th English Dept at Columbia...
Isn't Said a Christian, aside from being a stone tosser as caught on camera, at which charge he stated that he was teaching his son how to throw stones. Sure, and perhaps the Arab kids, who later moved on to automatic weapons.
you slam I slam we all slam for i-slam!
LMAO
What are some of the sources that you can list about the imperial history of Islam. In fact, Muslims ruled India for 1000 years and the majority of India is still Muslim. Europe was also under Muslim rule for a while, but Europe mostly consists of Jews and Christians.
Also remember that Turkey is home to more Jews than there are in Israel- and Turkey is a predominatly Muslim country. Jews have almost never been persecuted in Muslim countries. But oops- Europe has been, and still is, anti-semitic.
Furthremore,there was never a massive attempt to convert people in the entire history of Islam, which is not true of Christianity (Crusades..) Sure, there are 1 billion Muslims, but that doesn't necessarily constitute that they are impersialists.
Honestly people, get your facts straight.
Posted by: Karen on April 3, 2003 12:15 AMNice blog. Keep it up ...
Hi there
Apologies for posting an off topic question here.
I am invitation your views on ABORTION in order to present a case to help those in the developing world.
I personally see abortion as a NECESSARY EVIL and that unwanted pregnancy is not only a personal problem and it is also a very real problem for the society at large.
Do you think it is right to burden say a 15 years old school-going girl with a new life when she is yet to have any economic mean to sustain herself and obviously, most girls of her age are not mentally ready for a family life. Furthermore, is it fair to rob her of her career, aspiration, dream etc., in the name of preserving a life that is yet to be fully developed?
If you have an opinion, please email it to me at divinetalk@gmail.com or if you wish, you may post your comment here: Your Onion Counts!
Also, what do you think of the recent “Pharmacists Refused Contraceptive Prescriptions”.
Do you think Pharmacists have the rights to Play God?
Posted by: la bona on June 24, 2005 10:39 AM