Introduction
The clash of ignorance by Edward Said is a response to Samuel Huntington's article The Clash of Civilizations that was published in 1993. The latter sparked tremendous controversy and diverse reactions from scholars and the civilizations discussed in the article. Said in his article that appeared in the Nation in October 2001, vehemently refutes Huntington’s perception of civilizations and identities claiming the latter had no right to do.
Article Summary
The article by Said rejects the Huntington’s belief that the current conflict in the world relies heavily on two major entities; Islam and the West. Said further dismisses Huntington's validation of his ideologies based on the occurrences of the 911 terror attack. He argues that such actions cannot be used to judge the entire Muslim population, which extends to more than one billion. Said refutes the claims of western superiority and Islam inferiority by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi which only serve to aggravates the conflict of the West versus the rest. Such perspectives, according to Said create a further rift between the civilization identities created by Huntington.
Critical Discussion
Throughout the entire article, Said holds to the fact that the society today has failed to revisit the past and highlight the similarities in ideologies shared by both the western and Islam cultures. Instead, the West continues to focus on the differences that exist between these two diverse cultures. The West has adopted a culture of ‘us' against ‘them’, which has further intensified the enmity which already exists. Said believes that if the west begins to see the ‘others’ as a part of them, then the conflicts that exist in the world today will reduce tremendously.
It is without a shred of doubt that Said strives to create a new perception of Islam, which has been regarded as a religion, which has no respect for humanity. Islam has become synonymous with terrorism and violent acts of war (Bakke 87). It is commonly quoted that in as much as ‘not all terrorists are Muslims; all Muslims happen to be terrorists', a fact that is undisputable. An example is the recent Paris attacks, which left 132 people dead. The perpetrators and the mastermind behind the attack were Muslims. This unfortunate fact makes it difficult for Said to effectively protect Muslims from the discrimination that they face in the western countries. Members of other religions are not lenient enough to distinguish real Islam from the actions by other Muslims claiming to act within the confines of their religion. Said attempts to bring onto the table certain facts about Islam, which can make the religion less repelling than it already is. Said aims at the world where there is no division created by an ‘us' against ‘them', but an inclusive society where Muslims are treated without suspicion (The clash of ignorance, 03).
Said's argument that Islam is no longer on the fringes of the west, but at its center holds much weight in the world of today. With an increasing rate of immigrations from Muslim countries such as war-torn Syria, the Muslim population has tripled over the last few years within the Western countries. The West is at this point dealing with Muslims within its environs instead of from a distance as it used to be in the past. This phenomenon requires that the western countries create a culture of acceptance instead of the constant division amongst cultures that the West has created over the years. Discriminating Muslims will only fuel incidences of violence perpetrated by the same.
Said, in the clash of ignorance, emphasizes on the lack of evidence to confirm the distinctions between the West and Islam. He backs his point by identifying the pluralities that exist in the places where people from both sides live. He, for example, cites an example of Muslims dressed up in suits and ties, something is drawn from the West. Through this example, Said aims at making the reader understand that even though Islam and the west hold different perspectives towards life, several factors unite them.
Nevertheless, Said weakens his argument by attempting to settle a rather personal score with people who have, in the past, spoken against Islam in the cruelest manner possible. In his response to Huntington's 1996 book The Roots of Muslim Rage, Said criticizes the latter at a personal level stating ‘what a clumsy writer and inelegant thinker he was'. Through this statement, Said minimizes his seriousness to a personal vendetta that he was more than eager to achieve in this article. He would have been more careful in his use of words, which were more abusive than informative.
Said does not give any firm reason why Muslims should be included into the western societies rather than discriminated upon. He is subjective and bases his argument on an Islamic perspective rather than a global point of view. Being a Muslim, Said’s opinion is rather biased and in support of the Muslims. He aims at protecting Muslims from further cases of discrimination but does not explore the reasons behind Islam discrimination. The western world did not just wake up and begin to discriminate Muslims, rather, it is the Muslims who have forced the western societies to live in fear of them (Bakke 89). He fails to empathize with those countries that have suffered greatly from violent terrorist attacks making them live in fear of Muslims and Islam in general. Perhaps Said would have given a deeper insight of Islam, and explained why Islam extremists terrorize the west. Maintaining an impartial perception of the conflicts in the world today, and blaming neither the Muslims nor the western cultures would have escalated a positive response and support to his ideas.
Huntington’s article appears to hold more ground as compared to Said’s. Huntington appears to have tangible reasons behind his ideologies and does not settle any personal scores throughout the article. His aim is to address the causes of conflict and to give a deeper perspective into the ongoing cases of violence around the world, something Said fails to deliver. Said emphasizes more on addressing the plight of Muslims rather than addressing the cause of conflict. Ignorance does not hold any ground as far as conflict is concerned. It’s rather, the knowledge that people have been forced to gather about Islam over the years.
Conclusion
Finally, Said acts as a voice for the Muslim world, trying as much as possible to detach the whole of Islam from terrorism. His perception clashes severely with Huntington’s perception about the world and what it means to be a Muslim today. Said manages to get the attention of the reader through his boldness, but fails to convince the reader fully. Through the article, however, the voice of Muslims around the world is made audible to all groups of readers.
Works Cited
Bakke, Kristin M. "Clash Of Civilizations Or Clash Of Religions?". Int Studies Review 7.1 (2005): 87-89. Web.
"The Clash Of Ignorance". The Nation. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Aug. 2016.
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