Dialogue Between Civilizations

By Dr. Mohiuddin Waseem

AbrahamicFaiths@hotmail.com

History was not my favorite subject during school days but now I realize the wisdom of the words, ‘If you don’t learn a lesson from history you are bound to repeat the same mistakes’. Friends! This is an exciting time to live in the history of the world. By chance we are witnessing the unfolding of events which might herald the Third World War and who knows if in fact this is the beginning of the end. No one asked our opinion before attacking the American monuments but by default it is assumed that every nation of the world has to provide evidence of its allegiance to the west otherwise anyone could be labeled as terrorists with the stroke of a pen. The world is clearly divided into two camps: if you support the actions of the USA against the Taliban or Osama you are a friend of anti-Muslims, and if you try to defend the Taliban you are a terrorist, and again it is not by our choice.

So far there are different theories proposed by politicians and intellectuals trying to explain the causes of this ongoing conflict. Some repeated verbatim the American claim that terrorist camps operating from Afghanistan are behind the terrorist acts. Others suggested that Americans are here to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities. Still others claimed they are here to gobble up the oil and gas reserves of Central Asia. None of these options are compelling enough for the westerners to interfere in this region and we have to understand the lesson of history that the great powers fight either for economic or ideological reasons. I see no immediate economic agenda in bombing the poor hunger-struck Afghans, nor is the ideological rift created by the former Soviet Union operating any more.

In the post-Cold War era of 1993, Samuel Huntington, a Harvard University professor, proposed his theory known as ‘Clash of Civilizations’ raising the argument that the future conflict in the world will be based on cultural grounds, and that the eastern civilizations, including Chinese and Islamic, pose a threat to the decaying western civilization. If this is the real reason of American and British presence in our region then the future response from China is inevitable as Mr. Huntington has gone an extra mile by suggesting a hypothetical invasion of China from its west.

I would like to remind my readers that conflicts between cultures and civilizations are not new. We all know Alexander of Macedonia who conquered all the known world of his time. His arrival in the East generated a dialogue between civilizations whereby the Greeks learned the Eastern wisdom and logic and the Easterners learned architectural skills to build metropolis. The Greeks on the whole were respectful to the culture and religious life of their subject people and allowed every ideology to prosper without any hindrance. Contrary to this, most of the subsequent Roman emperors were not so democratic and tried by force to change the norms of their occupied lands. For example, the Roman general Pompey after conquering Jerusalem in 60 B.C marched into the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple and mocked at the Jews of worshiping an imageless God. Such behavior led to a general dislike for the Roman rulers.

Having said that it should be clear that the current ongoing conflict could have very serious consequences in terms of social, cultural and religious implications and responses if we totally disregard the lessons from history. It also puts a great responsibility on the shoulders of our government and clerics to prepare themselves for the inevitable dialogue between civilizations.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published at PakistanLink.com You can access the article at http://www.pakistanlink.com/Letters/2001/Nov/02/03.html