Muslims should rise to post 9/11 challenge, British scholar
Regional-UK, Religion, 10/31/2002

Muslims all over the world should rise to the "post 9/11" challenge thrown to them by the Westerners and not see it as the downfall of Islam, the Director of the Oxford Center For Islamic Studies, Farhan Ahmad Nizami, said Wednesday.

Nizam, whose statement was reported by Malaysian news agency Bernama, said although the image of Islam had somewhat been marred by the acts of several Muslim groups linked to terrorism, beginning with the World Trade Center attacks in New York last year, it should actually be seen as a blessing in disguise to revive the glory of Islam which had always been labeled as "extreme" by the Western world even before Sept 11, 2001.

"As they say about the eagle, when the wind blows against you, it blows only so that you can fly higher. I hope Muslims will rise to the challenge as it presents an opportunity for them to play their rightful part in making this world a better place for everyone," he told Bernama after visiting the Pilgrims Fund Board (Tabung Haji) here.

He added that Muslim scholars, especially those based in Western countries, should also play a pivotal role in correcting the misconstrued perception about Islam as a religion that promotes terrorism and extreme measures in achieving one's objectives. "The center in Oxford, for example, is doing exactly that, (and) more with the challenges to defend the image of Islam after Sept 11," he said. Farhan is in Kuala Lumpur for a three-day visit aimed at promoting better understanding among Malaysians about Islam in the United Kingdom and the role of Muslims in British society. The visit is arranged by the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

The highlight of his visit will be two public lectures by him, one at an event organized by the British High Commission entitled "The Necessity for Pluralism" Thursday, and the other organized by the Institute of Islamic Understanding (Ikim) entitled "Being Muslim, Feeling British" on Friday.

Farhan is the founder director of the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies, which was establish in 1985 as an associated institution of the University of Oxford to encourage scholarly study of Islam and the Islamic world. He is also the Prince of Wales Fellow in the Study of the Islamic World at Magdalen College of the same university.

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