Challenging Stereotypes in Europe and the Islamic World
Recent controversies between Europe and the Islamic world have generated tensions between these two communities. This is despite the fact that there are many Muslims currently living in Europe and that both of these great civilizations have a shared history. In response to these tensions, the International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP) in cooperation with the Embassy of Finland, held an international conference on "Challenging Stereotypes in Europe and the Islamic World: Working Together for Constructive Policies and Partnerships". This conference was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta from November 22-23, 2006, and featured presentations from academics, government officials and public figures from both Indonesia and Europe.
The conference opened with welcoming addresses from Dr. M. Syafi'i Anwar (Director of ICIP), HE Mr. Markuu Niinioja (Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia) and a keynote speech from Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Wirajuda. All emphasized the importance of dialogue and increasing understanding between Europe and the Islamic world. All believed that it was misunderstanding and broad generalizations which were behind tensions between the two sides. In order to overcome this, Dr. Wirajuda suggested that “the antidote to ignorance is knowledge, which is achieved through dialogue”.
In the first session on Islamic Identity and Globalization, Prof. Din Syamsudin (Chairman of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah), Mr. Tuomas Martikainen (Finland), John Brownlee (US) and Mrs. Ulrike Knotz (Germany) discussed how identities are formed and why some identities (particularly Islamic ones) have come to the forefront of discussion today. Each person in fact has many identities and as a result it is difficult to completely place them in one category or another. Although stereotypes are not necessarily always negative, they are often used to generalize a group and unjustly lump a group of individuals together under a particular image. That ‘Islamic’ identity has been elevated to being a point of discussion in Europe is due to a complex combination of political, economic and social demographic factors.
Following this, the second session on Improving Dialogue Between Islam and the West: Political Dialogue featured presentations on the state of, and how to improve dialogue from Shaykh Muhammad Bilal Abdallah (UK), Mr. Ismail Yusanto (Spokesperson for Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia) and Mr. Goenawan Muhammad (Editor in Chief Tempo Magazine). It was agreed that dialogue is vital for efforts to foster understanding and better relations between the Islamic world and Europe, however this dialogue is not without its challenges. Dialogue must not merely focus on high level discourse, but also must seek to provide clear answers to problems facing the community. We must also strive to establish dialogue without hegemony of one side over another.
The first day of the conference closed with a session on Women in Islam, featuring presentations by Ms. Elisabeth Rehn (Finland), Ms. Salbiah Ahmad (Malaysia) and Dr. Sri Mulyati (Post-Graduate Studies, UIN Jakarta). These speakers discussed how women are often subjected to patriarchal, literalistic interpretations of the Qur’an which strip them of the rights granted to them by God. This is despite the fact that the true essence of Islam promotes equality to women, and that ‘literal’ readings of the text are merely one interpretation of the text, having no more authority than other interpretations. In order to show the true nature of equality between women and men in Islam, female and male scholars need to be trained to promote understandings of Islamic texts which uphold women’s rights. This will then be able to overcome the stereotypical image of Islam being oppressive towards women.
The second day of the conference opened with presentations by Mr. Michael Privot (Belgium), Prof. Dr. Martin van Bruinessen (Netherlands), Phil. Lic. Mr. Akar Ahmed (Finland) and Mr. Mouddar Khouja (Austria) on Islam in Europe: Problem and Prospect of Integration. Muslims and Europeans are faced with many challenges with regards to integration. It is not merely a case of one side submitting to the other, but a process of shared understanding and acceptance. The Muslim community must participate in the society they are a part of and in doing so acquire ‘context literacy’, or an understanding of the values and systems present in their adopted country. At the same time, Europeans must be careful not to lump all Muslims into the same category as an 'integration problem', and must not treat problems of integration as intrinsically linked to Islam, but rather part of wider social and economic issues.
In the fifth session on Joint Values of Western Society and the Islamic World, Dr. Fuad Jabali (Post Graduate Studies, UIN Jakarta), H.E. Baron Paul von Maltzahn (German Ambassador) and Dr. Richard Daulay (General Secretary of Indonesian Communion of Churches) discussed some of the positive values shared by Europe and the Islamic world. Ultimately, in order to identify shared values to promote dialogue values must be distanced from ownership by one particular group or another. Values such as ‘democracy’, ‘justice’ and ‘compassion’ must be ‘de-Islamized’ and ‘de-Westernized’ so that we can recognize them as truly human values. If parties in a dialogue can begin from this point, then they will be able to establish a much more effective and fruitful dialogue.
The final session of the conference, led by Dr. Fuad Jabali (Post Graduate Studies, UIN Jakarta) Dr. Syafi’i Anwar and Joonas Heiskanen (Embassy of Finland) discussed some of the points raised throughout the previous sessions and received comments and suggestions from participants, speakers and audience members. The final conclusions as well as suggestions for future policy directions or activities are currently being drawn up for release in the near future.
The papers featured in the conference will be published in the next edition of ICIP’s E-Journal due in December, 2006. In the meantime, if you or your organization would like to be sent copies of the papers, please email
