I have been doing more research for my blog and this week watched a copy of an old Compass episode titled "The Peacemaker". The program interviewed a man by the name of Imam Faizal Abdual Rauf, a muslim leader who practices in America in New York, not too far from where the terrorist attacks of September 11 took place. The Imam had a lot of interesting points to make and has become known as a 'bridge figure' between the west and Islam as he promotes interfaith dialogue and holds an annual event known as Cordoba in where people from different faiths (Muslims, Jews and Christians) come together and celebrate.
When watching the show i began to think of how in many ways he defys all the stereotypes that many people would have about what a muslim leader would be like. He speaks out about terrorism, encourages this union between faiths and says that Australia can show the world a lot in this area when looking at our diverse multicultural society.
The Imam goes on to talk about how in many cases the media only reports the negative events giving an example of the International Islam Conference in which muslim leaders from over the world condemed terrorism and extremists. I thought about this for a while and thought just how true this is, we are continually reminded of negatives and shown stories of tragedy but do we hear the whole story? Watching the news of an evening you dont hear of the positives that are going on within the muslim community, there definitely appears to be a strong focus on the negative events that such a small minority are involved in.
The Imam goes on to talk about how in many cases the media only reports the negative events giving an example of the International Islam Conference in which muslim leaders from over the world condemed terrorism and extremists. I thought about this for a while and thought just how true this is, we are continually reminded of negatives and shown stories of tragedy but do we hear the whole story? Watching the news of an evening you dont hear of the positives that are going on within the muslim community, there definitely appears to be a strong focus on the negative events that such a small minority are involved in.
I encourage you to read the transcript available at http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s1535210.htm or borrow the copy of the program from the Uni Library ( I will post the details) . It shows another side of the story and I think breaks a lot of the stereotypes associated with this religion.
Any thoughts ??
Image from: http://www.thedohadebates.com/files/images/bios_pic_02_Faisal.gif
4 comments:
You know the saying there's two sides to every story! I think that every religion has a shady history, look at the catholic religion and the preists and nuns that have commited horrible crimes against children. The media only shows what they want us to see, or the image that they want depicted. Its quite depressing really, something that is suppose to bring us so much hope fills us with fear. I feel saddened for the muslim community and the light that the media has shown them and their community, and its great to see that the leaders are showing that it is only a select few who are extremeists.
Hi Beck,
Your blog is starting to really show development and exploration of your ideas in relation to social psychology - :) I thought you might be interested in this wikipedia article about the role of religion in the Rwandan genocide. It suggests an interesting swing from Christianity to Islam following the genocide.
BTW - Well done on adding the source for your image.
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