The US President Barack Obama's breathtaking new vision of dialogue with the Islamic world is indeed a challenge to the West and the world's 1.3 billion Muslims.
His moral timbre and courageous administration have more to say to today's politicians than perhaps any other leader in American history.
There are but a handful of men who seem to stand above history. Obama is pre-eminent among them. His character and courage are a beacon of light in a distinctly dark age.
Islam and the West share cultural roots, including a shared commitment to peace. Unfortunately, they are out of touch.
The clash between the two, however, is one of symbols rather than civilisations. Contrary to popular slogans, Islam and the West are not inherently incompatible.
There is a deep resonance between Islam and Western civilisation. Like all other religions, Muslims share a common calling to work for peace, as enjoined by the Quran.
However, there are three dangers, against which all peace loving people must be on guard. Any conflict must not be allowed to become a clash of civilisations between Islam and the West.
Hawks and extremists must not be allowed to hijack and dominate discourses and the search for security and revenge should not be allowed to undermine the moral fabric of our societies.
The Muslim world finds itself engaged in a profound struggle in this crucial moment of history, effectively cut out from the past, faced with a present that is characterised by tyranny, poverty and humiliation.
To understand the nature of Islam and the truth about the assertion often made of Islam's espousal of violence, it is important to remember that the word Islam itself means peace and that the history of Islam has certainly not been witness to any more violence than one finds in other civilisations, particularly that of the West.
The goal of Islam is to establish equilibrium amidst this field of tension in various forces. The Islamic world remains today a vast land stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with an important presence in America and Europe. It seeks to create better understanding with the West and to be understood.
Before the West can effectively convey its intentions, it has to understand what is going on in the Muslim world today. This involves actively listening to the voices from the region and engaging them in sustained dialogue.
New discourse will emerge if the moderates, from both worlds, seriously begin collective exercises in self-reflection and self-criticism to bridge the chasm between values and actions, deeds and words, ideas and realities.
- The writer is a Gulf News reader based in Johannesburg, South Africa
