A prominent American Muslim scholar Mohammad Bashar Arafat lambasted the stereotyping of Islam and Arab culture by fear-mongering media and called for abstaining from judging all Muslims and Arabs on the acts of certain Muslims.
"Islam is a faith that stresses generous and peaceful co-existence, respect, kindness and love, and its teachings instruct living peacefully and generously with others," according to Mohammad Bashar Arafat, Founder and president of the Maryland-based Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (CECF) at an iftar banquet hosted by the American Embassy in Abu Dhabi. CECF is an organization that seeks to bring people together and facilitate cultural exchanges that further mutual respect and understanding. Arafat is also President of the Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland. He also was Muslim Chaplain for the Baltimore City Police Department. Suggesting that the media in the west, and in other parts of the world, was of little help in creating the conditions for the much-needed dialogue, the Syrian-American scholar said that the election of Barrak Obama, as a president of the USA has reverberated across national boundaries and in itself is proof that the media hype about Islam was just responsible for refueling misconceptions about Islam, and for that matter, about the Middle East and America. The fact according to Arafat is that Islam is about fostering cooperation rather than confrontation and that America was sterootyped as a dangerous place that is full of crime. At the heart of the Arab Islamic culture and American culture, both encompasses dialogue and openness to others>"I dont believe in the clash of civilizations," he said calling for counteracting these "mistaken theses" through dialogue and and openness to others which are at the heart of the Arab Islamic culture as well as the American culture. In this regard, the the United Arab Emirates, with its huge cultural diversity and dominant tolerance, would be a perfect coutry to lead the efforts to build bridges and better understanding between the East and the West."He said the "iconic Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi would also play a great role in playing this message of cooperation and better understanding.""The role of the mosque is not restricted to being a place for performing prayer. It is meant to be a torch of guidance in terms of putting down the world of ignorance and the misuse of religion and how people are taking the sacred texts out of its context," explained Arafat. For his part, Counselor for Press and Cultural Affairs at the U.S Embassy in Abu Dhabi Steven Pike reiterated his country's keen interest in furthering relations with the United Arab Emirates and all other Muslim-majority nations on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect. Pike also reiterated U.S President Barack Obama's commitment to a "new beginning" between America and around 1.5 Muslims around the world and underscored the role of Islam and American Muslims in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and thedignity for all human beings.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2009.
