Islamset - The nature of the relationship between the Arab-Islamic Culture and other cultures

The nature of the relationship between the Arab-Islamic Culture and other cultures

The age in which we live is one of cultural hegemony which is an integral part of economic hegemony, the control of capital and markets, and of the structure of international financial sources. In this atmosphere, international cultural relationships take on a particular significance proportional to the importance of the conflict around cultural communication. In his book, Communication and Cultural Domination, Herbert I. Schiller says that culturaimperialism thrives in a world order that has one single market. It is necessary that the sector of cultural communication develop in the world order in harmowith the goals and objectives of the general order and with the means that would ensure their realization. Therefore, the informational and cultural production is determined to a large extent, if not wholly, by market needs which control the products and services produced by the general order. The writer concludes: "Cultural imperialism is the set of operations used to usher a given society into the New World Order and to draw the dominant class in it, to pressure, force and sometimes even , bribe the social dominant class, so that it can set up social institutions that are in harmony with the values of the dominant center in the order and its structures, and sometimes the dominant class even promotes these socia1 institutions(26)".

Schiller's statement, which is an awakening of conscience, unequivocally confirms that the courses taken by the New World Order imposed on the international community in the field of culture have led to effacing cultural identities and obliterating the civilizational traits of nations and peoples. Needless to say that this is a clear violation of the principles of international law, because all charters, agreements and international declarations lay stress on the respect of the cultural identities of nations and peoples in all cases.

In the face of such a complex and intricate situation, the Arab-Islamic culture must take a stand and put its house in order. This means adopting clearly defined positions that most credibly reflect the realities of the Arab-Islamic world, on the one hand, and that truthfully translate the wishes, dreams, and aspirations of the Umma, on the other. This is a two-dimensional issue: a cultural dimension and a societal (political, economic, social) dimension, in the manner in which there is an overlap of responsibilities and urgent tasks that ought to be carried out to effect change and reconstruction.

Culture is the mirror of society; it reflects all aspects of public life, its state and circumstances. We owe it to ourselves to say truthfully and in all fairness that the Arab-Islamic culture, given the present circumstances of the Arab homeland and those of the Moslem world, derives its frailty from the weaknesses of the Arab-Islamic societies, and acquires its pallid traits -this is a truth that must be told -from the general state that prevails in the Arab and Moslem countries. This is why this culture is unable to compete on the international market of offer and demand at the level of creativity and innovation, and of inventiveness and industry -in fact, at all levels. All this is attributable to the weakness and negligence that prevail in public life in the Arab homeland and the Moslem world, and to the extreme carelessness in embracing real progress in all fields.

So long as many aspects of the culture that is now prevailing in the Arab-Islamic societies are not in harmony with the Umma's components and fundamental values, and so long as this culture does not express the realities of the civilizational message which it carries, this culture will not be able to engage in any competition that requires balance in the components of power. However, this does not mean that this Culture will remain frozen and static, and incapable of participating in the international cultural arena.

The great powers want the age in which we live to be the age of conflict in all fields of life. In spite of this, we do not believe in conflict; we believe in civilizational struggle. If faced with conflict, we oppose it from the basis of our own values and notions, motivated ,by the desire to safeguard our own interests. We are quite certain that the conflict which is being promoted nowadays by some Western spheres is illogical, and that it is a conflict between power and weakness, and wealth and poverty. The choice of the tools, the means and potentialities employed in this conflict is not subjected to any moral values, but to the law of the jungle if the jungle has laws. As such, it is a hysterical conflict that sweeps every barrier in front of it.

We firmly believe that the strength of the Arab-Islamic culture lies in its roots, origins, and basic components. At the same time, we believe that this spiritual strength is the essence of civilization; for civilization can only rise on the basis of spiritual strength latent in the human soul and represented by the creative mind that is capable of effecting change, construction, and development. The relationship between the, Arab-Islamic culture and other cultures must stand on this solid foundation.

One of the truths that we must always reveal, because it is concealed, obscured, and falsified, is the fact that the weakness of the Arab-Islamic culture in this day and age has not affected its roots. This is why this culture is still capable of giving and of standing in the face of other cultures, not only in the arena of conflict, contest and challenge, but also in that of dialogue, communication and struggle. This culture possesses the components of survival, influence, and infiltration to all positions, because it is a rich culture, not because of its own heritage, but because of its values, principles and message. Hence the need for the Arab-Islamic culture to establish relationships with other contemporary cultures on the basis of a reasonable degree of balance and parity if not at the level of form and appearance, then at the level of profundity and essence.

It is dialogue, not conflict, between cultures that is in keeping with the spirit of this age in which humanity has undergone tremendous progress in making general rules that govern the relationships between individuals, societies, and nations and peoples. Under international law, conflict between cultures and civilizations has no sense, unless if it is a deviation from all the things human disposition has agreed to during this period of history; that is the bases of international law and its provisions which is supposed to organize international relations on the basis of cooperation, coexistence and joint action for the purpose of establishing peace and security in the world.