, The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 09/20/2006 9:08 AM
Senior researcher Franck Fregosi from the National Center for Scientific Research in Strasbourg, France, gave a lecture on Islam at Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University on Monday. Specializing in contemporary Islam in France and Europe, Franck discussed the fundamentals of the faith on the continent. After the lecture, he talked to The Jakarta Post's Avian E. Tumengkol.
Question: How would you define Islam in Europe?
Answer: The uniqueness of the situation is that Islam is a minority in Europe, where societies are mostly pluralistic and secularist in nature.
Traditionally, Islamic theology is usually built on the idea of Islam as a majority faith. It is a new issue for Muslims in Europe to try to rethink Islam in a specific way, they are asked to adapt the old vision of Islam and the old practices of the faith.
So one can no longer think about Islam in Europe as an imported religion, now Islam in Europe is becoming a settled religion, which concerns more Europeans, who are adapting Islam to a new context with its own history linked to Christianity and with secularization.
We must not forget that Islam has been (in Europe) for centuries, and the situation here is different (from other regions) because most Muslims are citizens in European states, and not regarded only as members of a minority.
How is it different from the situation in other parts of the world, like the U.S.?
France (for example) is a very secular society, where this is not the case in the U.S.
In the U.S., the president swears on the Bible. We (the French) have a different idea of secularization. We consider that the French state has to be neutral in order to guarantee freedom of religion for everybody.
Western societies have to make an effort to better understand what Islam is, and not to associate it only with radical Islam. European societies also must understand that nowadays there are more and more Muslims living in Europe who are Europeans.
The image of Islam among Westerners is not as positive as it deserves to be. What should we do under this situation?
First we should listen to all the Muslim voices in the world who denounce and condemn radicalism, and we also must not confuse what Islam is as a religion and the political use of Islamic symbols; concepts like jihad or sharia.
The problem is the use of Islam for political reasons, and we have to demonstrate (to Europeans) that Muslims can live peacefully in democratic societies even if these societies are non-Muslim and secular.
What do you think of the radicalization of Islam in Indonesia?
I am really interested in this, and it should even be more interesting to all Muslims all around the world, because what I discovered is that Indonesia has a pluralistic form of Islam, and there are great debates inside the Muslim community in Indonesia.
Important issues here are the interfaith relationships and the debates inside Islam. It is important to understand them, and to show that radicalism in Indonesia is a small part of the Muslim community and not the majority.
What is your view of Pope Benedict's controversial comments on Islam?
I'm not sure they were a mistake, but I think they are what some Christians think about Islam. But the main question is the problem of communication. The pope is not used to the media, let alone dealing with it. He is different from his predecessor (pope John Paul II). I think this pope must learn a lot from other Catholic clerics who are deeply involved in dialog with Muslims.
He is not used to dialog, he is more focused on doctrine inside the church, and I don't think the question of relations with Islam is a main priority today; but he has to recognize and apologize for his mistake. And we have to move on, and further look at what is ahead of us, what can be discussed with Muslim communities and work with these communities for the betterment of all the world's people.
No comments:
Post a Comment