How to be European – II
By Dr Akbar Ahmed
American University
Washington, DC
In addressing European identity, Dr Haris Silajdzic was quick to point out that Europe, in many ways, is simply an outgrowth of Asian culture and civilization. He in particular explains that Europe’s religious roots come entirely from outside Europe.
“We all came from somewhere, all of us. This European stock came from the big Iranian plateau so far as we know linguistics and archeology. Europe is an Asian peninsula, unique, influenced by the ideas from Asia – including Greek influence. Part of it, if not a bigger part of it, was in Asia – interacting with the Asian cultures, with the religious movements and so on. So that is why it is a strong component of the European identity and that identity is Christian. As you know, it also came from Asia where the idea of monotheistic culture was clearly formulated even though the idea of one god has been there for thousands of years, including Egypt.”
Silajdzic did point out, though, that for much of its history, Europe had been cut off from Asia, and as a result, developed its own unique cultural traditions. In fact, he points out that many non-Abrahamic traditions in European society today grew out of periods of isolation from Asia (and from the Abrahamic faiths).
“So today we can actually recognize the elements of the pre-Christian era – the pre-Christian cultures in Europe, some of which are very strong today.”
In reflecting on what he admired most about Europe, Silajdzic was most impressed with Europe’s universal humanists, particularly German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and British historian Arnold Toynbee, whom he called “the British Ibn Khaldun”. Silajdzic argued that their scholarship laid the foundation for universal thought in modern Europe:
“Goethe opened a big window to look outside Europe and to broaden the horizons of Europe. He is not alone, of course, but he is the beacon.”
“The boy in Gaza” – a poem by Dr Haris Silajdzic
The wall in front of you
The wall behind you
The wall is all
This world has for you….
Young boy in Palestine
Don’t turn away
From the world
That has turned
Away from you
Allow the world
To feel ashamed…
For the sake of children in Israel
Who bear no guilt
Turn around
Young boy in Palestine
Save this world
Help it be ashamed.”
He also discussed Toynbee’s thesis that, “Civilizations used to climb like a mountain and then found a resting place, where they rested for some time. He did not elaborate what it meant to rest but I may add that I think that civilization, like a man, needs a rest – meaning to adapt to the new, to look it in the eye, become one with it and then move on. Civilization, like a human being needs to digest the new.” He saw this scholarship as a reminder to Europe that civilizations by their nature are bound to rise and fall – something, he argued, many in Europe fail to recognize even today.
Silajdzic sees many of the right-wing movements as rooted in fear of change and of lost European dominance – a failure to account for Toynbee’s exoneration. He himself saw European hegemony on the global stage falling to Asia, but argued that the European right-wing has failed to recognize this, remarking, “This is the 21st century, it is the Asian century, there is no way to deny it, so all the corridors of power, of influence, of culture are now changing direction and I believe instead of embracing the change these right-wing parties are trying to stop time and stop the change, which is impossible.”
While the European right may fear globalization, Silajdzic fears their response to globalization. He remarked, “I’m not afraid of globalization. I certainly shall not live to see the world without frontiers but I think we are going there because this is the only way to survive. When you wall out something, you wall in something. Wall out, wall in, and this leads to wars which we shall not survive.”
Silajdzic argued that the European right-wing response to globalization is not surprising in the context of sociology though. Looking at human nature, he remarked, “The paradigm never changed. The dominant ones always think they are culturally superior – this did not escape any civilization… So we are still somewhere in the beginning, where might is right. The right-wing parties, to me, reveal a hidden fear. All living organisms, including societies, do step back when threatened, and what is threatened in Europe is the feeling of domination.” However, Silajdzic also argued that just because one fears globalization does not mean they should erect walls – rather, just the opposite. He stated, “What is the cure? The cure is opening up, not closing oneself within walls. This is the cure. […] Embrace cultures, learn from the cultures, but what you see in most of these right-wing movements is the desire for preservation of the status quo and the intolerance towards the Other.” Silajdzic also remarked that, universally, “Every organism goes back to the core when it is threatened.”
Silajdzic has been alarmed by the rate of change in the world though – another reason for the rise of the right-wing in his eyes. He went on to argue that the rate of change at which human societies are advancing is at the point of being harmful on its own.
“We are asked today to move with time and it’s accelerating to such an extent that I think it actually presents the biggest problem of this civilization. What’s wrong with today? What’s wrong with getting bored? That should be a human right too – the right to get bored – because that is the mother of invention, and now we don’t have that right anymore. It is entertainment 24/7. So entertainment rules? But where does it take us? Is it the speed, the quantity of happenings, or the quality of happenings, what is it that we want?”
Going on to reflect on Islam’s place in Europe and the world, Silajdzic was able to soundly refute those who claim Islam to have no place in Europe, pointing out the sheer ignorance of history and social realities endemic to such an argument. Even just reflecting on his own history as a European Muslim, he sharply retorted:
“Well here I am, sitting here. I’m a Muslim and my ethnic characteristics – my DNA if you like although I don’t care about that – goes back at least to 2000 BC to the existence of the Illyric tribe. There is a lot of Illyric DNA here, and those are, by recognition of all people of science the oldest European stock. So what are they talking about? Who is that person to say: ‘You are not of this”? Does he own a monopoly of what is culture, what is religion?” He went on to argue that those who call out Muslims for having no place in society are clearly not “good Christians,” remarking, “And I am sure that is not a good Christian. Maybe a good fascist but not a good Christian. A believer knows that God is one and we are all God’s creatures. That is how it is.”
Silajdzic further retorted to those Europeans who believe Muslims have no place in Europe to look back at Europe’s own colonial history, and to take a more universal view of it.
“If you pay a visit, you should expect a return visit. So the Europeans went to the subcontinent, North Africa and so on – so these guys are now paying a return visit to them and some of them don’t seem to like it. But that’s life. Accept that these guys are coming to work in peace. They die while coming to Europe, as we know – thousands of them in their free tombs in the Mediterranean. Some of them are accepted in the true European spirit, from Malta to Italy, France and so on. Some people accept that. But some people don’t like the fact that they are coming. But they must come because history cannot stop.”
Silajdzic went on to comment that, particularly in comparison to the colonists who often violently arrived throughout the world to take over, migrants traveling to Europe are just seeking to work and make a better life for themselves peacefully, without even taking anything in return, unlike the colonists.
“I’m sure these guys coming from Africa or from Asia or from wherever, I’m sure they do not intend to take away illegally the history of Europe, to their museums in Africa and Asia. I’m sure they will not do that – they have enough of their own history. They don’t even ask for their artifacts to be given back to them, which were taken by the Europeans, as you know. So they are coming in peace, they want to work, they did not come to take anything, they want to live and this is their right. You cannot go to the Subcontinent, take what you want, come back and say ‘We have nothing to do with this’. That is not how it works.”
Yet, Silajdzic was not afraid to call out Muslim societies for their shortcomings either. He called on Muslims to not blame outside forces for all of their issues and to look within for new solutions, as this will be the only way for them to thrive in a fast-paced, globalizing world.
“Whatever is happening, the Muslims must turn to themselves. Not to look outside or blame racism or colonialism forever. Yes, they are there sometimes, they raise their ugly heads even today, but Muslims should look into themselves. And that which is around them will not change unless they change themselves and that is what their Holy Book, the Qur’an, says explicitly: that God will not change whatever is around you until you change what’s in you. So some of them are adapting, some of them are not but it’s a big crisis and again it’s happening very fast. Unprepared societies do not fare very well – traditional societies do not fare well in these fast-changing circumstances.”
Silajdzic also cautioned against those in the Muslim world who are becoming too nostalgic or relying too much on tradition, as history has taught that people must be willing to keep up with the times to maintain relevance in the world. He remarked, “Some fundamental traditional values are going to be the victim of this period. In some Muslim societies, so far as I know, there is obsession with tradition and doubtlessly we are all proud of our traditions. […] Tradition must be dynamic – it’s a platform for you to build on. Otherwise you sit on the foundation of the house that your grandfather made for you, forever, just because you respect tradition. Tradition must go with the times – that is a live tradition, a tradition of dynamics, adapting to changing times.”
Having steered his nation through a genocidal war which gave the world the term “ethnic cleansing”, you would think no horror could shock him further. But beneath the successful politician remains a passionate humanist. Take this example: It was the month of July in 2014 and the Gaza war was at its height. One day, Dr Silajdzic told me he had seen the image of a small boy staring at a wall and another of a wounded donkey with one of its legs in bandages, on CNN. It was in the early hours of the morning and he could not get those images out of his mind. He was not blaming one or the other side and avoided falling into the trap of seeing the suffering on one side only. He took a deeply humanistic position as a poet and intellectual would. He started writing a poem on those two images as a metaphor for our world. Over the next few days of our conversations, he worked on the poem.
I asked him to tell me about the poem.
“Hannah Arendt, the great writer, would say that not everything in history can be understood. It can be so bad that you really don’t want to understand or cannot – you do not have the previous experience. So this is that small boy, he does not turn, he looks at the wall because that’s is all he has been given, that’s all his father has been given, and his grandfather only talked about the fig trees, olives, grass. That was all taken from him. So what I ask in my poem from that boy is not to turn his back on the world that has turned its back on him but to turn his face towards us and allow us to be ashamed, looking him in the eye. That’s what I ask from that boy: if he does not allow us to be ashamed then we are finished. […] Where are we? I would like to be wrong very much, but what I see doesn’t give me hope. Ukraine, see what’s happening there – the plane coming down forcefully killing so many innocent people. Who did this? In the same time, we are achieving something that I am very proud of, and that is our insights that go far, deep into the nature of the universe and the nature of humankind. We are reaching toward the stars, but we forget them in our poems.”
(Dr Akbar Ahmed is Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University, Washington DC)
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