Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue

<strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>: <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on <strong>the</strong> State of Dialogue
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The Gallup Muslim-<strong>West</strong> Dialogue Index
may conflate negative opinion of <strong>the</strong> United
States common in <strong>the</strong> Muslim world with a
rejection of <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>and</strong> its values as a whole.
This perception is intensified by cultural firestorms
such as <strong>the</strong> Danish cartoon controversy, which
leave some <strong>West</strong>erners feeling that Muslims do
not respect “<strong>West</strong>ern values” of free speech,
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>refore do not respect <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>. For
example, nearly 1 in 2 Danes say <strong>the</strong>y consider
<strong>Islam</strong> to be incompatible with democracy 2 ,<strong>and</strong>
a slight majority said in 2006 that <strong>the</strong>y believed
<strong>the</strong> Danish newspaper Jyll<strong>and</strong>s-Posten was
right to print <strong>the</strong> controversial cartoon of <strong>the</strong>
Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban
as a demonstration of free speech 3 .While
most Americans (61%) said <strong>the</strong>y believed it
was irresponsible to print <strong>the</strong> cartoons, <strong>the</strong>
same percentage blamed Muslims’ intolerance
to o<strong>the</strong>r points of view ra<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>West</strong>ern
disrespect for <strong>Islam</strong> for <strong>the</strong> controversy 4 .
In o<strong>the</strong>r words, many <strong>West</strong>erners regarded <strong>the</strong>
reaction of some Muslims to <strong>the</strong> printing of <strong>the</strong>
cartoon as disrespectful to <strong>West</strong>ern values,
just as many Muslims saw <strong>the</strong> wide distribution
of <strong>the</strong> caricature as an assault on <strong>the</strong>ir tradition.
Data suggest, however, that Muslims’
unfavourable views of <strong>the</strong> United States are
more often driven by resentment of its perceived
policies than by rejection of its values. Data
also suggest that <strong>the</strong> diverse reactions to <strong>the</strong>
Danish cartoons observed across <strong>the</strong> Muslim
world were much more complex than simply a
rejection of free speech. Often incited by local
factors <strong>and</strong> aggravated by long st<strong>and</strong>ing
seemingly unrelated political grievances with
<strong>West</strong>ern powers, <strong>the</strong> actions of a violent <strong>and</strong>
vocal minority in response to <strong>the</strong> caricature do
not represent populations who oppose liberty.
In reality, <strong>the</strong> vast majority of Muslims support
<strong>the</strong> value of free speech in principle. For example,
94% of Egyptians <strong>and</strong> 92% of Iranians say
<strong>the</strong>y would guarantee <strong>the</strong> right of free speech
if <strong>the</strong>y were asked to draft a constitution for a
new country 5 .ManyMuslim-worldrespondents
also cite freedom of expression as among <strong>the</strong>
qualities of <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> that <strong>the</strong>y most admire.
Yet, <strong>the</strong> Danish cartoon was clearly offensive
to many Muslims who felt it violated <strong>the</strong>
boundaries of free speech. Some Europeans
agreed – 30% of <strong>the</strong> German public, 45%
French <strong>and</strong> a majority (57%) of <strong>the</strong> British
public said in 2007 that printing <strong>the</strong> cartoon
was not protected by freedom of speech.
Although Europeans were split about <strong>the</strong>
acceptability of printing <strong>the</strong> Danish cartoon,
<strong>the</strong>re was broad consensus rejecting o<strong>the</strong>r
expressions. Strong majorities said that
newspapers should not be allowed to print
racial slurs, child pornography or jokes about
<strong>the</strong> Holocaust. For example, more than 8 out
of 10 of <strong>the</strong> German public said that racial
slurs <strong>and</strong> jokes about <strong>the</strong> Holocaust were not
protected by free speech 6 .
These trends suggest that while <strong>West</strong>ern <strong>and</strong>
Muslim communities both claim free speech as
avalue,eachsocietycreateswhatitconsiders
are appropriate limits to this freedom, sometimes
differing even among societies that share a
common faith. Discriminating between a more
manageable difference in cultural definitions
<strong>and</strong> an insurmountable clash of basic values
is essential to moving <strong>the</strong> dialogue forward.
European Particularism
European populations surveyed are much
more likely to believe that greater interaction
between <strong>the</strong> Muslim <strong>and</strong> <strong>West</strong>ern worlds is a
2 AFP, 4 September 2006
3 Associated Press, 30 September 2006
4 Gallup Poll: Public Critical of European Newspapers Showing Muhammad Cartoon But says controversy reflects Muslims' intolerance,
14 February 2006 by David Moore
5 Gallup World Poll Special <strong>Report</strong>: <strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> Democracy by Dalia Mogahed
6 Gallup World Poll in UK, Germany <strong>and</strong> France, January 2007 referenced in Who Speaks for <strong>Islam</strong>? What a Billion Muslims Really Think,
by John L. Esposito <strong>and</strong> Dalia Mogahed