UAE | Heritage and Culture

Overcoming misunderstanding

Cultural engagement is essential to contest the notion of a "clash of civilisations" and address the absence of understanding between cultures, according to a member of the British House of Lords.

  • By Samir Salama, Bureau Chief
  • Published: 00:00 April 14, 2007
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Ravindranath/Gulf News
  • Lord Elder speaks at a symposium in Abu Dhabi on 'Multiculturalism'.

Abu Dhabi: Cultural engagement is essential to contest the notion of a "clash of civilisations" and address the absence of understanding between cultures, according to a member of the British House of Lords.

Lord Thomas Murray Elder said that the legacy of misunderstanding from the previous colonial era is no longer relevant to today's world. "Overcoming the mutual misunderstandings from the past may be one of the most difficult challenges of cultural engagement in the contemporary situation."

He was in Abu Dhabi to speak at a symposium on 'Multiculturalism', organised by the Zayed House for Islamic Culture in Al Ain in cooperation with the Al Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Scotland.

In an interview with Gulf News, Lord Elder, who is also chancellor of the Scotland-based Al Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, talked about the dialogue between Islam and the West, challenges and opportunities of globalisation and the remedy of Islamophobia in the West, among other issues.

Gulf News: Although we are one humanity, our world seems to be out of balance - economically, socially and spiritually. How is dialogue possible between Islam and the West?

Lord Elder: I am not sure I entirely accept your premise. I think there is a perception in some quarters of greater balance. I think between Muslim people and people in the West there is much less divide than what you think. I think what is absolutely essential is to find a way of communicating in each country and between countries within cultures and between cultures.

We now accept that within the experiences of globalisation we have real issues about different cultures in the same country and we've got to find ways of cooperation and cultural engagement between communities and individuals at all level of society.

I think in many countries we are finding ways of enabling people to keep their own cultural identity.

The globalisation of consumer culture and commercial values is rapidly displacing traditional spiritual values... How can we cope with this challenge?

Well, I think the issue is how do societies defend cultures that they believe to be important. I think there will be commercialisation whatever happens. But I think it is wrong to just stand on the sidelines and say that is terrible.

What ought to be done is to work very hard to defend their own culture, their own identity. And I think certain countries are doing that. There are impressive signs here in the [United Arab] Emirates that they are working very seriously to defend their own identity. That is parallel to what is happening in many other countries.

So I do not think it is a question of commercialisation or preservation of identities. I think cultures and communities have got to work very hard to defend what they believe to be important to their own life, their own religion and their own culture ... And make sure that succeeds in the face of commercialisation.

Do you think the governments of this world operate at a high level of justice. It seems that the average human being has more of a sense of justice and morality than their government?

I would not like to generalise about governments. There are a huge range of governments. I am not sure it is wise to generalise about individuals either.

It is very diverse. I think the interest in justice is more enshrined in some countries and some political or cultural systems than others. But I think it is wrong to dismiss too many countries as unjust.

What do you think is the remedy for Islamophobia?

I think there is mutual incomprehension sometimes and the case is that there are a lot of people in the West that do not understand the fundamentals of Islam. I would argue that there is an equal case in which a lot of people in Islamic countries quite often do not understand fundamentals about values and beliefs in the West.

And what we've got to try to do is launch a dialogue between the two and educate both sides... because we are all living together in a globalised world, which was not true even 50 years ago.

In my country, the United Kingdom there is a big Muslim community. It is incumbent on us and on them to work together to make sure we all work harmoniously. I am not saying that the Muslim community should lose their identity or their culture ... certainly not.

But we've got to find common ways, to find a common space and I define that as a common understanding about law - at least a common language, and that is not to say of course that people will not have their own language in their own communities but a common language of communication.

Do you think Muslims have failed to present Islam in its humane and universal dimension?

I would not want to agree with that because I think that is pretty harsh. I would go back to the fact that there is a degree of mutual incomprehension between the two cultures.

And we have to use education to overcome ignorance of different cultures and beliefs and build bridges across different communities at the local, national and global levels.

This is hard and tiring work and there is a long way to go in that process. It needs practical models for global cross-cultural understanding, cooperation and cultural engagement.

Do you think the Crusades affected the way the West perceives the Islamic world? Can you take the Western perception that far back?

I do not think we can [take the Western perception that far back]. The Crusades were really very old events ... some of them were highly principled and some of them were highly unprincipled ... but I really do not believe that is a fundamental issue.

I think there have been very successful times when the West and Islam had met and there was a long period when much of Western Europe was occupied by Islamic powers and the communities worked very well together for a long time. And I am sure that can happen again.

What are the key points that have led to the misunderstanding of Islam in the West?

I am really not going to be tempted into arguing only one side of this. I believe it is equally true that there is a misunderstanding in the West of Islam. It is a mutual problem and it can only be solved through dialogue between the two communities.

Indeed cultural engagement is essential if we are to contest the notion of a clash of civilisations and address the absence of understanding between cultures - which often amounts to mutual incomprehension - and the associated climate of suspicion.

What impact has globalisation had on the Islamic world?

The effect of globalisation is multiple and there is really no country in Europe that does not have a large Muslim population.

Muslims have established themselves in significant numbers in the West, where they have become citizens of European countries. Accordingly, for the West, the Muslims are no longer the 'others' but are part of European society. Therefore conceptualisations of the West 'versus' Islam are no longer viable.

The common experience of the 21st century is one of rapid technological change ... that transcends national boundaries and cultures.

These experiences of globalisation open up all individuals, cultures and countries in unprecedented ways and lead to unique challenges and opportunities, which are unlike any that have been in the past.

Within these experiences of globalisation, and in the face of global forces that cannot be ignored, the response of isolation is no longer available.

Some people think there is a Western world view versus an Islamic world view, what do you see as being the differences between those two different ways of seeing the world?

I think as long as people want to characterise the West and Islam as having different world views and not to get the West and Islam to talk to each other to establish one world view, then I think we will be in trouble. But again I do not want to be on one side or the other. It is a common problem and we all have to sort it out.

How serious is the West in its interest in dialogue with Islam?

Well, I think this symposium is aimed at involving more people and academics in discussions about having a dialogue between cultures and providing a constructive model for cultural engagement that works to build bridges and if we are going to make any real progress that is what we aspire for.

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