Who are the smartest muslims on the globe

Great Debates
1

Lets examine this from a purely psychological stand point here. Like most Americans I am glued to the various news organizations lately, I want to keep up with what exactly is going on and what we as a nation may be facing in the future, and what our kids will face in the comming decades.

I was watching today and I saw correspondant ‘A’ who is Arab interviewing some people ‘protesting’ in the streets of Islamabad. I have to say he, and his crew must have been pretty brave to do this…Anyway, whilst he was interviewing one man, there were teenagers and young adults making faces and acting absurdly in the back round. Correspondant ‘A’ asked the man he was interviewing [who looked to be in his mid thirties] “…what is your take on the whole situation unfolding here in Pakistan?..”

The man replied, “…this is turning into the exact thing Bin Laden wants, people are looking for a cause to support because the infrastructure here has been dwindling for many many years…If the US kills Bin Laden hundreds of other Bin Ladens will rise and fight…It was a tragety for all the ‘innocent’ Americans to be killed by a terrorist act…but why respond with terrorism?..People are VERY suceptable to propaganda, and this anti-American propaganda has been around Pakistan for years…Most of these children do not know who bin laden is or what he stands for…They simply hear and see the bombing of Afghanistan on the radio and news…”

When asked by correspondant ‘A’ why he was there…reply…“because I stand for Islam and there needs to be a voice here for peace, not for murder…”

I thought this very very intersting. On the one hand there are militant islamics who are watching all this on TV who are, for the most part, following a lead, not knowing exactly what is true and what isn’t. Then on the other hand there there are intelligent, intellectual Muslims who are watching with fear as this unfolds, thinking, most of these young peoples do not even know why they are out here, or more importantly why they hate all Americans.

This is a scary thought, that the minds of some, in a ‘religion that promots peace’ are getting so scewed.

Is it simply something/someone to follow?
Is it a genuine hatred?
Do people think that of the Billion Muslims they are all harboring hatred, or are most just waiting for this to end, and a better system be put in place?
If let alone…post bombing…how will they react, how will most sharp minded Muslims want to live? In poverty? Under a sadistic dictator?

If another attack happens on American soil, or to American interests, when will enough be enough? Will the majority of Muslims, and heads of Muslim states say “…OK enough is enough, lets initiate reform, lets come up with a system that fosters spiritual growth, and lets respect human life for what it is, a creation of GOD…” Will this be said, could this be said…?

Most of the heads of state for Muslim countries ‘on a whole’ agree that what happened to the Americans, to the innocent is a travesty, and the fight for terrorism to end should be fought…as long as the US does not show too much muscle…

When do we think this will happen?
Will Americans continue to live in fear? Doubt it.
Will more attacks happen? most likely…
Lets discuss the rationale…

appologies for any spelling errors, I wrote this as a thought, not as an exactity

2

Huh? How does hatred have anything intrinsically to do with being Muslim? (any more than hatred is intrinsically linked to being Christian)

People’s beliefs aren’t formed solely by their faith, but by the information they receive that confirms or rejects their faith. If people of any religion are given enough biased information they could be capable of any thought.

3

Huh? Where did I say hatred had anything to do intrinsically with being Muslim? Thats not at all what I said Crusoe.

4

The ones who don’t actively try to piss off the most powerful country on Earth.

See, there’s a lot of smart Muslims… it’s just the stupid ones that we want to take care of.

5

‘Smart’ and ‘Muslim’ is an oxymoron.

6

UniversalAss: Your comment is absolute bullshit.

7

Sorry, Phlosphr. I misread this part:

8

No prob. Crusoe! :slight_smile: I understand.

9

Phlosphr, I can’t speak of all Muslims, but in my experience from having lived in several Muslim countries, I believe that it is mostly the uneducated lower classes who are prone to this sort of fundamentalist thinking. This is not surprising as uneducated lower classes of any religion are prone to fundamentalist thinking. There are several reasons for this - for example, they are consoled with the idea that an afterlife awaits them in which they will enjoy all the luxuries which they are denied in this life. They are also not accustomed to thinking for themselves and tend to believe what they hear. What they hear usually filters down to them from unscrupulous sources as they often don’t have access to CNN or BBC. Their local media is usually government-funded and completely useless. During Pakistan’s democratic days, Pakistan Television served mostly as a forum on which to praise whichever political party was in power and badmouth the opposition.

The uneducated lower classes can easily be roused into an angry mob by a small number of people working towards their own political ends, or trying to cause trouble for trouble’s sake. These people take advantage of the mob mentality common among uneducated peasants. There are rarely intellectual, upper-class Muslims in their number. When you watch the riots on television, you see men dressed in shalwar kameez and gaping stupidly at the camera. Most Pakistani professionals dress in suits and ties and speak English - you’ll notice they rarely participate in these riots. They may sit at home discussing America and the Middle East but they are not anti-America. The mob is anti-America, anti-India, anti-Israel, anti-Christianity or anti-Ahmadi depending on the mood at the time. They are just as easily roused into an anti-America fervour as they can be riled up against a certain political party or a certain sect of Islam. There have been many more riots surrounding these latter two causes than regarding the U.S.

Why don’t the educated, thinking Muslims do anything about this? There are several reasons. First of all, they are afraid. Even the kindest figures put the literacy rate in Pakistan at 40%. This means that the educated, thinking Muslims are outnumbered. Secondly, they have more to lose. They don’t want their cars torched or their homes looted so they try not to openly offend the more extreme elements. Thirdly, they have a way out. Many of them own property abroad or at least have skills which could get them a work visa abroad. At the time of the military coup last year, an estimated 100,000 Pakistanis applied for Canadian visas. They know that if things get too bad, they can leave.

Fundamentalist behaviour exists in non-Muslim societies as well. In America, for example, the Salem witch-hunts and Waco lynching are examples of mob mentality getting the upper hand. Three decades ago a group called the Night Riders, whose initiation for new members involved a blood oath sworn on the Bible, went around torching and fire-bombing African-American churches. Luckily today most Americans have, at the very least, a high school diploma, they own a television, they have Internet access. They are not as susceptible to mass hysteria. But unfortunately, many other countries around the world, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have not achieved this degree of progress. Many African, Asian, and South American countries are still riddled with both internal and external conflicts.

The danger, of course, is that they could find a common cause. And unfortunately America, being in the spotlight as the world’s unchallenged superpower, is the perfect enemy. Everyone resents the U.S. - people here in Europe resent the U.S. Only they have other things to do with their lives other than to take to the streets en masse to burn American flags.

Someone said on this message board once that “this is a P.R. war”. I believe that all America can really do in this situation is to attempt to improve its image in the eyes of the rest of the world. I don’t believe in giving in to the demands of the terrorists, but perhaps in creating an environment in which there is less sympathy for them. Unfortunately many of the heightened security measures may be here to stay, as it seems unlikely that the threat of future attacks can be ever be completely removed.

10

pennylane,

Good point. The problem is that the uneducated and ignorant people are the majority. I do not mean this is an insult but at least 80% of most Mid-East countries are, unfortunately, deprived of education, extremely poor, and ignorant of news outside what the government or their clerics allow. This is the feeding ground for someone like Bin Laden.

As you said the educated class must assist us in this struggle but they are clearly outnumbered.