Damascus Gate or, as it is known in Arabic, \u201cBab al-\u2018Amud\u201d (The Gate of the Column), is my favorite among the gates of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City. When I first lived here, coming from Sheikh Jarrah in the more modern East Jerusalem, it was the gate through which I always entered the Arab Quarter, which remains my favorite of the Old City\u2019s \u201cquarters.\u201d
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some time ago, I read\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think<\/em> (New York: Gallup Press, 2007).\u00a0 I\u2019m now organizing for my use in a writing project some of the passages that I marked during that reading, and I intend to share at least a portion of those here.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Very plainly, Muslims and Islam have a public relations problem. \u00a0That\u2019s obvious. \u00a0And it\u2019s obvious why<\/em>, too. \u00a0There is simply no denying that the Islamic world is profoundly dysfunctional in many ways and that its dysfunctions have done grave damage not only within it but well beyond it.\u00a0 However, it\u2019s important that we accurately understand what\u2019s going on among Muslims. \u00a0Gross distortions and misperceptions won\u2019t help.\u00a0 In this passage, Esposito and Mogahed describe the massive survey that undergirds their important book:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The religion of Islam and the mainstream Muslim majority have been conflated with the beliefs and actions of an extremist minority. \u00a0For example, a 2006 USA Today<\/em>\/Gallup poll . . . found 44% of Americans saying that Muslims are too extreme in their religious beliefs. \u00a0Nearly one-quarter of Americans, 22%, say they would not want a Muslim as a neighbor; less than half believe U.S. Muslims are loyal to the United States. . . .<\/span><\/p>\nThe vital missing piece among the many voices weighing in on this question is the actual views of everyday Muslims. \u00a0With all that is at stake for the West and Muslim societies \u2014 indeed for the world\u2019s future \u2014 it is time to democratize the debate.<\/span><\/p>\nWho speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think<\/em> is about this silenced<\/em> majority. \u00a0This book is the product of a mammoth, multiyear Gallup research study. \u00a0Between 2001 and 2007, Gallup conducted tens of thousands of hour-long, face-to-face interviews with residents of more than 35 nations that are predominantly Muslim or have substantial Muslim populations. \u00a0The sample represents residents young and old, educated and illiterate, female and male, and from urban and rural settings. \u00a0With the random sampling method that Gallup used, results are statistically valid with a plus or minus 3-point margin of error. \u00a0In totality, we surveyed a sample representing more than 90% of the world\u2019s 1.3 billion Muslims, making this the largest, most comprehensive study of contemporary Muslims ever done. \u00a0(x-xi)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
And here are some further passages that caught my attention in the book:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a December 2005 Gallup Poll of American households, when Americans were asked what they most admire about Muslim societies, the answer \u201cnothing\u201d was the most frequent response. \u00a0The second most frequent response? \u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d \u00a0Combined, these two responses represented the majority (57%) of Americans surveyed. \u00a0(1)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we asked respondents in 10 predominantly Muslim countries how they view a number of nations, the attributes they most associate with the United States are: ruthless (68%), scientifically and technologically advanced (68%), aggressive (66%), conceited (65%), and morally decadent (64%).\u00a0 (84)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Gallup asked the open-ended question:\u00a0 \u201cIn your own words, what do you resent most about the West?\u201d the most frequent response across all [predominantly Muslim] countries among moderates and radicals is \u201csexual and cultural promiscuity,\u201d followed by \u201cethical and moral corruption\u201d and \u201chatred of Muslims.\u201d\u00a0 (88)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reflecting the importance of Islam, the most frequent response given by both groups [radicals and moderates] to the questions about what the West can do to improve relations is: more respect, consideration, and understanding of Islam as a religion; not underestimating the status of Arab\/Muslim countries; being fair and less prejudiced.\u00a0 (91)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
A recent study shows that only 46% of Americans think that \u201cbombing and other attacks intentionally aimed at civilians\u201d are \u201cnever justified,\u201d while 24% believe these attacks are \u201coften or sometimes justified.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nContrast this with data taken the same year from some of the largest majority Muslim nations, in which 74% of respondents in Indonesia agree that terrorist acts are \u201cnever justified\u201d; in Pakistan, that figure is 86%; in Bangladesh, 81%; and in Iran, 80%.<\/span><\/p>\nSimilarly, 6% of the American public thinks that attacks in which civilians are targets are \u201ccompletely justified.\u201d\u00a0 As points of comparison, in both Lebanon and Iran, this figure is 2%, and in Saudi Arabia, it\u2019s 4%.\u00a0 In Europe, Muslims in Paris and London are no more likely than their counterparts in the general public to believe attacks on civilians are justified and are as likely to reject violence, even for a \u201cnoble cause.\u201d\u00a0 (95)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diagnosing terrorism as a symptom and Islam as the problem, though popular in some circles, is flawed and has serious risks with dangerous repercussions. \u00a0It confirms radical beliefs and fears, alienates the moderate Muslim majority, and reinforces a belief that the war against global terrorism is really war against Islam. \u00a0Whether one is radical or moderate, this negative attitude is a widespread perception.<\/span><\/p>\nIn an International Herald Tribune<\/em> op-ed piece, Fawaz Gerges recounted an interview he had with an Islamic leader in Egypt, Abed al-Rahim Barakat, who echoed the pervasive perception among Muslims that the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are wars against Islam. \u00a0\u201cPresident Bush himself used the word \u2018crusade\u2019 to describe his war on terror,\u201d Barakat told Gerges. \u00a0When Gerges responded, \u201cIt was a slip of tongue,\u201d Barakat insisted, \u201cNo, it was a Freudian slip. \u00a0He revealed what he feels deep inside.\u201d \u00a0(96)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
a full third of professional and technical workers in Egypt are women, on par with Turkey and South Korea (102)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The valedictorians of Cairo\u2019s elite medical school are famously known to almost always be female.<\/span><\/p>\nThese cases are hardly unique. \u00a0Nationally representative self-reported data show percentages of women in Iran (52%), Egypt (34%), Saudi Arabia (32%), and Lebanon (37%) with postsecondary educations. \u00a0In the United Arab Emirates and Iran, women make up the majority of university students. \u00a0However, in Muslim countries \u2014 as well as in non-Muslim countries \u2014 Gallup finds a wide range of female education with percentages of women pursuing postsecondary educations dipping as low as 8% and 13% in Morocco and Pakistan, respectively, which is comparable with 4% in Brazil, or 11% in the Czech Republic. \u00a0(103)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the UNESCO 2005 Gender and Development report, the ratio of women to men enrolled in secondary education in 2001-2002 was 100% or higher in Jordan, Algeria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. \u00a0This compares with only 77% in Turkey, a staunchly secular nation [at the time of writing] often assumed in the West to be ahead of its neighbors in the arena of gender development, or 74% in India. \u00a0The gender gap in these nations is higher than in Saudi Arabia, which boasts an 89% ratio of women to men enrolled in secondary education, according to the U.N. report.<\/span><\/p>\nDespite these hopeful statistics, women\u2019s basic education is still lagging in some countries. \u00a0For example, in Yemen, women\u2019s literacy is only 28% versus 70% among men; in Pakistan, it is 28% versus 53% for men. \u00a0These sad findings, however, are not unique to Islamic nations nor do they represent the entire Muslim world; women\u2019s literacy rates in Iran and Saudi Arabia are 70% and as high as 85% in Jordan and Malaysia. \u00a0(104-105)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Jerusalem, Israel<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Some time ago, I read\u00a0John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed,\u00a0Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (New York: Gallup Press, 2007).\u00a0 I\u2019m now organizing for my use in a writing project some of the passages that I marked during that reading, and I intend to share at least a portion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Damascus](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/03\/1600px-Jerusalem_Damaskustor_BW_1-1.jpg\")
<\/a>