Lecture by Ambassador Saleh Mohd. Al-Ghamdi, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the Republic of India at the Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi on 24^th October 2006.

Secretary Atish Sinha, Joint Secretaries, diplomat participants in the 41^st professional course, Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to be here to present my personal views on the subject of Islam and the West and to have an opportunity to interact with the young diplomats. I wish the young officers of the Foreign Service the very best in their careers. I am sure they have a bright future ahead of them and that all of them will make their countries proud in the years to come.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Islam is a divinely revealed religion. It has a specific vision for the individual, the society and indeed, for all of humankind. It represents a distinct and comprehensive way of life, a worldview and a historical tradition as well as a social movement for the change of human conditions. It has a universal message and a universal presence.

Despite the media stereotyping and a misinformed public, Islam is not an unknown entity in the West, nor is the West unknown to the Islamic world. In fact the first contact between the two civilizations occurred at the initiative of the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) through a letter that he sent in 628 A.D. to Emperor Heraclius, the then ruler of Eastern Roman Empire, sharing the message of Islam in the wider interest of humanity, and that letter received a gentle response from the Emperor. And despite the occasional skirmishes, the golden age of Islamic civilization spreading over many centuries is characterized by a friendly relationship and healthy exchanges between the two.

It is no secret that a new atmosphere of suspicion, hostility and misunderstanding has surrounded relationships between Islam and the west especially since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States when planes slammed into the twin towers.

A string of events from last year’s London bombings to the more recent row over cartoons lampooning the prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) and banning head scarves in France appear to have taken their toll on relations between Islam and the west. Deep mutual suspicions exist between Muslim world and the West, no doubt. The Pew Global survey published recently speaks of a great divide between the two, the World of Islam and the West. But the talk of this great divide and the arguments about Islam and the West being in conflict seem very simplistic and based on well stretched premises.

Islam is seen by many as a united force confronting the West and Western modernity. Amongst Muslims the unifying factor is the Quran, but there’s a tremendous diversity in practicing the faith from region to region .

Likewise, Western societies are also characterized by great diversity. There are divisions within the Church, the Protestantism and Catholicism and within that, between the Roman Catholics and the orthodox. The Protestant Church has its own divisions. There are also, of course, differences between Western countries based on history, on culture and national interests.

Now the question is who confronts whom and what for? The way this problem or this issue is formulated does not provide any help in getting some satisfactory answer to these questions. The term “West and Islam” and other similar formulations, for example, give the impression that the clash is between the so called militant, anti-West and intolerant Islamic ideology on the one hand and the West that is envisaged to represent the values of democracy, liberal moral code, human rights, freedom of expression, tolerance and free market economy on the other hand. The clash between the two ideologies is thus perceived to be global and eternal.

This view ignores some very significant facts of the recent history. One such fact is the undeniable existence of close cooperation between the Muslim countries and West during the so called Cold War. This fact alone should be good enough reason to reject the thesis that the Islamic ideology, is inherently hostile to the West.

The second flaw in the formulation ‘Islam and the West’ is that it implies that the conflict is with the West as a whole, not just with some western nations or governments. The world of Islam as a whole is supposed to be arrayed against whole of the Western Christian world. Facts do not corroborate this formulation. Excluding minor irritants, the major areas of conflict, ongoing or recently concluded, are Middle East, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya. Looking at these conflicts in the context of Islam and the West, we can safely conclude that the West as a whole has never been a target of the alleged Islamic wrath. In fact, in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Chechnya the West was supportive of the Muslim communities that were fighting for their right of self-determmination.

This brings to the fore the question of the Middle East. Let us take Israeli Palestinian conflict first. Here the Palestinians are fighting in their own way with the Israelis who have occupied their lands. This is the only issue, over

which Muslim countries are united vis a vis the West. Members of the Organisation of Islamic Conference have constantly supported the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Muslim countries are all very critical of the United States and some other Western countries for their unstinting and unqualified support for Israel, regardless of the human rights violations and atrocities being perpetrated by occupying forces towards the Palestinians. Muslim countries do regard some Western countries as practicing a double standard in relation to human rights, for they are quick to condemn the human rights abuses allegedly committed by the Palestinians against Israelis, but are unwilling to criticize the other side. However, looking at the issue in the context of Islam and the West conflict, I would argue that the criticism by Muslim countries and groups is directed against certain Western powers policies in the Middle East rather than the West as a whole.

Gradually Iraq has also become a flash point in the Middle East, due to unilateral actions and the ensuing civil war like situation, which defies any semblance of law and order. Now a word of caution! Terrorist attacks against the West should not be seen as a manifestation of a clash of civilizations, but rather an act of some overzealous deviants

to show anger over injustices in the Middle East in general. We do not condone their actions and we believe that they are tarnishing the image of Islam by those actions.

Although Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaida claim to speak for Islam, no Muslim country recognizes their claim. Almost all Muslim countries have, in fact, already condemned terrorism and pledged to work with the United States and the rest of the international community to combat international terrorism. The support for Al-Qaeda and its leader has considerably eroded in recent years.

Islam is not the enemy of the West. A section of media has often tended to portray the Islamic world through the prism of extremism and terrorism without looking seriously at Western attitudes towards the real issues at hand. This small and confused minority starts from the wrong premises and ends up in suggesting equally wrong and fallacious formulations hence deserves to be ignored and rejected.

A war of symbols waged on different levels is also being paraded as one of the manifestations of Islam verses the West conflict. Some Western countries are finding head

scarves, turbans, half veils and some other symbols of Islamic religious expression repellent while a section of Muslims regards some dress code and other manifestations of Western culture explicitly anti Islamic statements. This situation requires that we move beyond confrontational and reactionary attitudes over symbols.

Side by side the clash of symbols, we are facing another simplistic polarization also, with the inalienable right to freedom of expression on one side and the inviolable sacred sphere on the other. The controversy over cartoons lampooning the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) and Pope Benedict’s choice of an obscure quote attributed to a Byzentine Emperor critical of the Prophet (Pbh) is its glaring example. Muslims are offended. They want apologies. Some Western governments, intellectuals and journalists refuse to bent. They invoke the inalienable right to freedom of expression, which they claim as absolute. But it is not. The countries have laws that define the framework for exercising this right. The world needs to cultivate democracies that promote freedom and tolerance, not the democracies of freedom bereft of tolerance.

As far as the confrontation regarding symbols is concerned, Islam encourages its practitioners to abide by the laws of the country they live in. Muslims are always encouraged to adopt the path of moderation. They are commanded not to dwell upon insignificant matters and hence make religion burdensome.

There are people who try to locate the seeds of clash between Islam and the West in the past history. Their approach is partially correct. It is true that shifting thrusts of military power between the two regions known as world of Islam and the West over fourteen centuries created layer upon layer of negative imagery that became deeply imbedded in the language, literature and folk traditions of both civilizations.

But it is also true that the cultural exchanges between them had been going on for centuries, each creatively borrowing from the other, with the directional movement of knowledge depending on who was politically dominant. Thus in the Medieval period, Western Europe was the recipient of Arab discoveries in science, and mathematics. The mathematical vocabulary such as “algebra” and

“algorithm” are actually borrowings from Arabic words that were later translated into Latin. Europeans are still using Arabic numbers in their daily life activities. Many of the traits on which Modern Europe prides itself came to it from Muslim Spain. Diplomacy, free trade, open borders, the techniques of academic research, of anthropology, etiquette, fashion, alternative medicine, hospitals, all came from Cardoba and other great cities of Muslim Spain. Medieval Islam was a religion of remarkable tolerance for its time, allowing Jews and Christians the right to practice their inherited beliefs, and setting an example which was not, unfortunately, followed for many centuries in the West.

As for the cultural contributions of Islam in the fields of philosophy, architecture, agriculture and the crafts are concerned, one can easily retrace them. Galen’s writings via Arabic translation found their way to Italy. Aristotle was rediscovered in Paris thanks to Ibn Rushd’s commentaries. Ibn Khaldun’s “Muqadma” was discovered by the West as the foundation of modern historiography and sociology. The Gothic arch in Western cathedrals is of oriental origin as well.

It has been realized by September 11, that the West and Islam have reached a crossroad in their relationship that is posed to be hijacked by the radicals. To avoid a global confrontation with devastating impact on both sides, reconciliation based on understanding and dialogue among the moderates is urgently needed.

I think the time for all-embracing, all-pervasive and sincere dialogue has come and this dialogue must give priority to political issues instead of the culture. If one is to believe that the problems are rooted in religion and culture then the inevitable outcome is conflict and permanent distance. But if greater attention is paid to investigating the political and socio-economic causes that give rise to particular problems then, it becomes possible to overcome them and resolve them.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I conclude, I would like to say a few words about my country and its point of view on the relationship between Islam and the West.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Arab country, with Islam as its religion. Saudi Arabia is a staunch advocate of

moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence. We adopt and preach moderation because Islam requires us to do so. We believe that moderation is the best way to fight extremism and that it is also the sharpest weapon against fanaticism.

Saudi Arabia is against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It was a victim of terror even before the events of 11 September in the United States. There has been a campaign by some vested interests and dubious agencies in recent years to link Saudi Arabia with terrorism by fabricating reports and concocting stories. Such allegations have been proved to be false and groundless. Numerous Saudi personalities and institutions have won the cases they filed before Western courts against different newspapers and magazines which carried stories accusing them of supporting or financing terror. How can a victim of terror support or finance terrorism! It is just ridiculous.

Saudi Arabia does not approve of the terms like “conflict of civilizations” and “clash of civilizations” or of the gloomy forecasts by prophets of doom. We cannot divide the world along ideological or religious lines. The consequences of such

a division are very dangerous. Terrorism cannot and must not be linked to any particular religion or community.

We believe that the need of the hour is to build bridges of understanding between the Muslim and the Western worlds through meaningful dialogues and healthy exchange of ideas. Their relationship should be based on mutual understanding and respect and not on conflict scenarios. The long history of peaceful relationship and coexistence of the Muslims and the West serves as a worthy example. The need is to look into the real causes of frictions and sincerely work to eliminate the existing irritants, thus making this world a safer and happier abode for all of mankind.

Thank you