It is not for the first time that they have done so. Europeans, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, have to open books of history to understand that they both can share this Europe.
Muslims’ presence in Europe dates back to the very beginnings of Islam. States, however powerful, cannot manage easily internal diversity of their societies, especially if a new worldview that is considered alien enters such a space. Europe is boiling with all these versions of worldviews, which makes it insecure with such a richness. Radical secularism or narrow-minded liberalism that defends only one version of the good can be as dangerous as imitative and regressive religion. The globalized world through the means of communication has made so much information a means of fear for the narrow-minded, be they religious, or not. Ignorance of the other breeds ignorance of the infinite capacities of the human Self to grasp the diversity of this world, and thus its internal humane richness. It is high time – and how long shall we keep repeating that it is really high time! – ignorance is met with the light of ethical spirits from the concerned, and non-concerned, antagonizing traditions.Īt the age of ethical malaise, economic crises, and political predicaments only more understanding becomes the solution. Even in the darkest situations of human reasoning and rational systematization of human relations, one has to remember the Gramscian cry of “optimism of the will” against “pessimism of the intellect.” This piece reflects on the “clashes of ignorance” that still characterizes the question of Islam and Muslims in Europe, and the “West” in general, and the way to overcome it. “Thus, it is our duty, not to prophesy evil but, rather, to fight for a better world,” writes Karl Popper in Open Society (1994). Open societies require open minds, and the latter require committed optimism in the future.
This does not mean to enforce this into scientific/academic work, if that is not part of the work itself, but to do that alongside the “neutrality” or “objectivity” of the profession. This trust necessitates serious state institutions, groups and communities’ initiatives, and individual homework.Īs to “engaged scholars”, their task is to optimistically bring different communities to dialogue, and afterwards to hospitality, beyond mere tolerance discourse. This historical moment of tensions and fears in Europe, and all around the Mediterranean, requires multicultural education and a high level of trust among all peoples, irrespective of their religion, philosophy, or ideology, for the common good.
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