“America’s
Youth are Best Ambassadors in Engaging with Muslim World”
By Craig Considine
Washington, DC
Frankie
Martin meets with Muslim students in Deoband |
This year’s DC Daughters
and Sons Event sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations
in Washington, DC invited Ambassador Akbar Ahmed and his team
of young Americans to discuss his recent journey to the Muslim
world along with his new book Journey Into Islam.
The evening was attended by some of Washington’s most
prominent figures from the most important institutions, including
representatives from the US Department of State, the Department
of Commerce, the Aspen Institute, the World Bank, and Georgetown
University along with representatives from Harvard and Princeton
Universities.
The event can best be summarized as an in-depth analysis of
Islam in the age of Globalization through the experiences
of the team’s anthropological journey into the Muslim
world. The young Americans that followed Ahmed contributed
significantly in building potential bridges for America’s
youth and Muslims around the world. The key to a peaceful
and tolerant future between the West and Islam lies in the
hands of our children, for it is our children who will inherit
the problems that have arisen today.
Journey Into Islam is a book published by the Brookings
Institution Press, based on a research project sponsored by
The Brookings Institution, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public
Life, and the American University. The project’s goal
was to travel throughout the Muslim world, interviewing people
from all walks of life and listening to their views on culture,
religion, attitudes about the West and globalization. On the
journey, the team found that the American media is a destructive
force with their focus on Muslim extremists as the individuals
representing Islam. This biased stereotype has greatly tarnished
the image of Islam in America and has also greatly frustrated
Muslims around the world. The Muslims that they encountered
felt that the American media has focused their reports and
coverage on terrorism and extremism and have never tried to
shed light on the beauty and true essence of Islam.
Ambassador Ahmed believes that the greatest challenge arising
from the journey into nine Muslim countries is the necessity
to build bridges and to seek understanding. The time is riper
now than ever before for Americans to engage in understanding
Islamic culture. The experiences of the Ambassador’s
young team of Americans encouraged the American youth in the
audience to take action and build bridges with their Muslim
contemporaries and to also have a sense of hope. Young Americans
must use their innate ability to use freedom of speech and
press to branch out and make their voice heard to the Muslim
world so that Muslims can understand that we are their friend,
not their enemy. In essence, the youth are the greatest ambassadors
in the relationship between America and the Islamic world
and vice versa.
Today more so than ever, America is joined at the hip with
the Islamic world. The global war on terror is an ever growing
concern for the future of America, along with the fact that
one-fourth of the planet will be Muslim by the middle of this
century. The American youth cannot afford to be ignorant of
Islam. Trends like calling Muslim “Satan worshipers”
must end today because lies only lead to confusion and hostility.
As the Ambassador pointed out, Jesus is mentioned more in
the Qur’an than the Prophet Muhammad is. Facts like
these must be the norm, not the exception for young Americans
and the American media when portraying and coming to better
understand Islam.
What Ambassador Ahmed and his team found on the journey was
that the likes of Osama bin Laden and Hezbollah are gaining
popularity and interest around the Muslim world. Individuals
like Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and a great contributor
to democracy worldwide, are not in the minds of Muslims when
dealing with the question of “who speaks for Islam?”
Bin Laden and Hizzbollah were not the most popular role models
in any particular place, but they are rising on the radar
screen, especially among the youth. The rage of bin Laden
and Hezbollah towards America should not be responded with
American violence and anger. Tranquility is perhaps the greatest
counter-move towards anger and violence. This idea was profound
and is something that all of the young Americans went home
with to hopefully share with their peers.
Alongside Ahmed through this journey was his team of young
Americans. Among them were Jonathan Hayden – the project
coordinator, Hadia Mubarak – Data Researcher, and Hailey
Woldt and Frankie Martin – both research assistants.
Ms. Woldt in particular saw extreme cultural differences but
at the same point in time found much respect for America.
This is a bright sign of hope for the American youth and an
unlikely fact that many Americans may not believe. On the
other hand, Mr. Martin distinctly noted that the one desire
that Muslims around the world seek is justice. Many of the
Muslims that he came into contact with felt confused, dishonored
and humiliated. In regards to justice, Muslims are confused
as to how to go about gaining justice within the Muslim world
and from America. In turn, confusion has reduced Muslims to
using means such as violence and terrorism. Violence, as some
Muslims see it, is the only way to catch the attention of
the Americans as to the great injustices of the world. Perhaps
most importantly, the journey showed Mr. Martin that the desire
for understanding within the Muslim world is vibrant and it
is the role of people like the American youth to spark the
dialogue.
One of the most important contributors to the project was
coordinator Mr. Hayden. One of the most influential aspects
of the event was his statement surrounding his two distinct
realizations. The first was the clear disconnect between American
and Islamic culture and the failure of understanding one another.
The second, and more important, was the great sense of hope
that Mr. Hayden felt at the end of the journey. This was an
enlightening and extremely optimistic comment to the audience,
in particular the young Americans. At the conclusion of the
journey, the team believed that the solution to these discrepancies
is dialogue and understanding to help rid the Muslim world
of their worry that Islam is under attack by the Americans.
In concluding the discussion, Ambassador Ahmed noted that
the world today is in a difficult scenario because of the
so-called “clash of civilizations.” The controversy
is not recognizing the problems that Muslims and Americans
face because most of them are evident – the media, extremism,
the war on terror, prisoner scandals. The controversy is the
challenge that is currently facing all of us, mainly the American
youth. This challenge is how do we find the solutions to these
problems and how do we go forth and build a peaceful and coexistent
future between the West and the Islamic world. In examining
the Islamic civilization by going out in the field, America
can rid itself of stereotypes and base its policy and attitudes
on real world feelings from Muslims worldwide.
The essence of the evening was that the real hope for a peaceful
future between the West and Islam is to teach our children
and youth now that Islam is not inherently violent and extreme.
We must teach the youth in both civilizations that understanding
and learning about one another is the most crucial initiative
in strengthening humanity as a whole. As Ambassador Ahmed
noted, the West and Islam are tied to the hip, so the only
way to make sure the bond is strengthened rather than broken
is to engage the youth in dialogue, for it is they who will
inherit the problems of today.
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