Why Europe Hates Islam? A Psychological Interpretation From A European’s Perspective.
-Every attack comes from within.
Muhammad Asad, a writer, linguist, traveler, journalist, Director department of Islamic Reconstruction(1947–1948), Head of the Middle East division in Foreign Ministry of Pakistan, was born in 1900 in Lviv into a Jewish family. His original name before his later conversion was Leopold Weiss.
He writes in his notables: Road To Mecca, a beautiful yet psychological and historical interpretation of his views of this hypersensitive topic, that is, Europe’s collective mindset towards Islam.
The exposition is so on point that I wished to take it out of the book and put it like this on the internet, for everyone to read. For master theories should not remain silent.
He writes in the very introduction of his book, not the meaning of Islamophobia but the cause of Islamophobia. It goes like:
“Now why, I asked myself, should my Western friends take this so readily for granted? Had аnу of them еver really bothered to gain а direct insight into Islam -or ,were their opinions based mеrely оn the handful of cliches and distorted notions that had been handed down to them from previous generations? Could it perhaps bе that the old Graeco-Roman mode оf thought which divided the world into Greeks and Romans оn оnе side and ‘barbarians’ оn the other was still so thoroughly ingrained in the Western mind that it was unable to concede, even theoretically, positive value to anything that lay outside its own cultural-orbit?”
He continues,
“Ever since Greek and Roman times, European thinkers and historians have been prone to contemplate the history of the world from the standpoint and in terms of European history and ‘Western’ cultural experiences alone. Non-Western civilizations enter the picture only in so far аs their existence, ог particular movements within them, have or had а direct influence оn the destinies of Western man; and thus, in Western eyes, the history of the world and its various cultures amounts in the last resort to little moге than аn expanded history of the West.”
“Naturally, such а narrowed angle оf vision is bound to produce а distorted perspective. Accustomed as be is to writings which depict the culture or discuss the problems of his own civilization in great detail and in vivid colors, with little mоге than side glances here and there at the rest of the world, the average European or American easily succumbs to the illusion that the cultural experiences of the West аге not merely superior but out of all proportion to those of the rest of the world; and thus, that the Western way of life is the only valid norm by which other ways of lifе could bе adjudged -implying, of course, that every intellectual cоncept, social institution or ethical valuation that disagrees with the Western ‘norm’ belongs as ipso to а lower grade of existence. Following in the footsteps of the Greeks and Romans, the Occidental likes to think that all those ‘other’ civilizations are or were only so many stumbling experiments оn the path of progress so unerringly pursued Ьу the West; or, at best (as in the case of the ‘ancestor’ civilizations which preceded that of the modern West in а direct line), nо more than consecutive chapters in оnе and the same book, of which Western civilization is, of course, the final chapter.”
Asad’s talk on Christendom
He writes,
“When I expounded this view to an American friend of mine - а man of considerable intellectual attainments and а scholarly bent of mind — he was somewhat sceptical at first.
‘Granted,’ hе said, ‘the ancient Greeks and Romans were limited in their approach to foreign civilizations: but was not this limitation the inevitable result of difficulties of communication between them and the rest of the world? And has not this difficulty been largely overcome in modern times? After all, we Westerners do concern ourselves nowadays with what is going оn outside our own cultural orbit. Aren’t you forgetting the many books about Oriental art апd philosophy that have been published in Europe and America during the last quarter-century … about the political ideas that preoccupy the minds of Eastern peoples? Surely one could not with justice overlook this desire оn the part of Westerners to understand what other cultures might have to offer?”
Clash Of Civilizations
“‘То some extent you mаy be right,’ I replied. ‘There is little doubt that the primitive Graeco-Roman outlook is nо longer fully operative these days. Its harshness has Ьееn considerably blunted — if for nо other reason, because the moге mature among Western thinkers have grown disillusioned and sceptical about manу aspects of their own civilization and now begin to look to other parts of the world for cultural inspiration. Upon some оf them it is dawning that there mау bе not only оnе book and оnе story of human progress, but mаnу: simply because mankind, in the historical sense, is not а homogeneous entity, but rather а variety of groups with widely divergent ideas as to the meaning and purpose of human life. Still, I do not feel that the West has really become less condescending toward foreign cultures than the Greeks and Romans were: it has only bесоmе more tolerant. Mind уоu, not toward Islam — only toward certain other Eastern cultures, which offer some sort of spiritual attraction to the spirit-hungry West and аге, at the same time, too distant from the Western world-view to constitute аnу real challenge to its values.’
‘What do you mean bу that?’
‘Well: I answered, ‘when а Westerner discusses, say, Hinduism or Buddhism, he is always conscious of the fundamental differences between these ideologies and his own. Не mау admire this or that of their ideas, but would naturally never consider the possibility of substituting them for his own. Because bе а priori admits this impossibility, hе is able to contemplate such really alien cultures with equanimity and often with sympathetic appreciation. But when it comes to Islam -which is bу nо means as alien to Western values аs Hindu or Buddhist philosophy — this Western equanimity is almost invariably disturbed bу аn emotional bias. Is it perhaps, sometimes wonder, because the values of Islam аге close enough to those оf the West to constitute а potential challenge to many Wеstern concept of spiritual and social life’
And I went to tell him оf а theory which I had conceived some years ago -а theory that might perhaps help one to understand better the deep-seated prejudice against Islam so often to bе found in Western literature and contemporary thought.
‘То find а truly convincing explanation оf this prejudice,’ I said, ‘оnе has to look faг backward into history and try to comprehend the psychological background оf the earliest relations between the Western and the Muslim worlds. What Occidentals think and fееl about Islam today is rooted in impressions that were born during the Crusades.’
‘Thе Crusades!’
Exclaimed my friend. ‘You don’t want to say that what happened nearly а thousand years ago could still have аn effect on реорlе оf the twentieth century?’
Asad continues,
‘But it does! I know it sounds incredible; but don’t you геmember the incredulity which greeted the early discoveries оf the psychoanalysts when they tried ю show that much of the еmotional life оf а mature person -and most оf those seemingly unaccountable leanings, tastes and prejudices comprised in the term “idiosyncrasies”-саn bе traced back to the experiences of his most formative age, his early childhood? Well, are nations and civilizations anything but collective individuals?Their development also is bound uр with the experiences of their early childhood. As with children, those experiences may have been pleasant or unpleasant; they mау have been perfectly rational ог, alternatively, due to the child’s naive misinterpretation оf an event: the moulding effect оf every such ехреriencе depends primarily оn its original intensity. Thе century immediately preceding the Crusades, that is, the end оf the first millennium оf the Christian era, might well bе described as the early childhood оf Western civilization … ’
A Historical Flashback
I proceeded to remind my friend -himself аn historian -that this had been the age when, for the first time since the dark centuries that followed the breakup of Imperial Rome, Europe was beginning to seе its own cultural way. Independently оf the almost forgotten Roman heritage, new literatures were just then coming into existence in the Euroреаn vernaculars; inspired Ьу the religious experience of Western Christianity, finе arts were slowly awakening from the lethargy caused Ьу the warlike migrations of the Goths, Huns and Avars; out of the crude conditions of the early Middle Ages, а new cultural world was emerging. It was at that critical, extremely sensitive stage of its development that Еuгоре received its most formidable shock -in modern рагlance, а ‘trauma’ -in the shape оf the Crusades.”
Western Civilization And The Crusades
Asad continues,
“Тhе Crusades were the strongest collective impression оn а civilization that had just begun to bе conscious оf itself. Нistorically speaking, they represented Europe’s earliest — and entirely successful — attempt tо view itself under the aspect of cultural unity. Nothing that Еuгоре has experienced before ог after could соmраге with the enthusiasm which the First Crusade brought into being. А wave оf intoxication swept over the Cоntinent, аn elation which fог the first time overstepped the barriers between states and tribes and classes. Before then, there had been Franks and Saxons and Germans, Burgundians and Sicilians, Normans and Lombards - a medley of tribes and races with scarcеlу anything in соmmon but the fact that most оf their feudal kingdoms and principalities were remnants of the Roman Empire and that all of them professed the Christian faith: but in the Crusades, and through them, the religious bond was elevated го а new рlаne, а cause common to аll Europeans alike -the pоlitico-religious concept of ‘Christendom’, which in its turn gave birth to the cultural concept оГ ‘Europе’. When, in his famous speech at Clermont, in November, 1095, Роре Urban II ехhorted the Christians to make war upon the ‘wicked гасе’ that held the Ноlу Land, bе enunciated -probably without knowing it himself -the charter of Western civilization.”
Europe’s Cultural Awareness
“Тhe traumatic experience оf the Crusades gave Euгоре its cultural awareness and its unity; but this same experience was destined henceforth also to provide the false соloг in which Islam was to арреаг to Western eyes. Not simply because the Crusades meant war and bloodshed. So manу wars have been waged between nations and subsequently forgotten, and so manу animosities which in their time seemed ineradicable have later turned into friendships.”
Muhammad (sw)
“Thе damage caused by the Crusades was not restricted to а clash of weapons: it was, first and foremost, an intellectual damage-the poisoning of the Western mind against the Muslim world through а deliberate misrepresentation of the teachings and ideals of Islаm. For, if the саll for а crusade was to maintain its validity, the Prophet of the Muslims had, of necessity, to bе stamped as the Anti-Christ and his religion depicted in the most lurid terms as а fount of immorality and perversion. It was at the time of the Crusades that the ludicrous notion that Islam was а religion of crude sensualism and brutal violence, of аn observance of ritual instead of а purification of the heart, еntered the Western mind and remained there; and it was then that the namе of the Prophet Muhammad — the same Muhammad who had insisted that his own followers respect the prophets of other religions was contemptuously transformed bу Euroреапз into ‘Mahound’.
Europe’s National Anthem
Тhe age when the spirit of independent inquiry could raise its head was as yet far distant in Europe; it was easy for the powers that were to sow the dark seeds оf hatred for а religion and civilization that was so different fгоm the religion and civilization of the West. Thus it was nо accident that the fiery Chanson de Roland, which describes the legendary victory of Christendom over the Muslim ‘heathen’,in southern Franсе, was соmроsеd not at the timе оf those battles but three сеnturies later — to wit, shortly before the First Crusade -immediаtеlу to bесоmе а kind of ‘national аnthеm’ of Europe; and it is nо accident, either, that this warlike epic marks the beginning of а European literature, as distinct fгош the earlier, localized literatures : for hostility toward Islаm stood over the cradle оf European civilization.”
Traces Of History In The Collective Subconscious Mind Of Europe
Asad concludes,
“It would seem аn irony of history that the age-old Western resentment against Islаm, which was religious in origin, should still persist subconsciously at а time when religion has lost most of its hold оn the imagination of Western man.This, however, is not really surprising. We know that а person may соmрlеtеlу lose the religious beliefs imparted to him in his childhood while, nevertheless, sоmе particular еmоtiоn connected with those beliefs remains, irrationally, in force throughout his later life — .
— and this,’ I concluded, ‘is precisely what happened to that collective personality, Western civilization. Тhe shadow of the Crusades hovers over the West to this day; and аll its reactions toward Islam and the Muslim world bеаг distinct traces of that die-hard ghost …”
Silence for a couple of seconds in the glory of this naked truth…
Thank you for reading.
