World political changes shape Muslims' vision of the other

Participants to a colloquy on "Europe, America and Islam," part of the 18th "Al Mouatamid Ibn Abbad" summer university of Assilah (Northern Morocco) agreed that Muslims' vision of the other is shaped by political changes in the world, including American hegemony.

Lectures at the colloquy dealt with different matters, such as the impacts of 9/11 events, the politicization of Islam, the amalgam between Islam and terrorism and the necessity of bringing Muslims, Americans and Europeans' viewpoints closer.

According to Franco-Algerian thinker Mohammed Arkoun, "in the Islami world, we are used to wavering Islam as a political flag. Islam is completely hollowed and uprooted from its religious reality," he said.

For Pakistani former foreign minister, Sartaj Aziz, the world is condemned, since 9/11, to live a situation of anguish and suspicions. "We are beginning to wonder whether the international community is capable of understanding issues within their political and intellectual context, he said, calling for the settlement of divergences between Islamic countries themselves, as a first step.

On his part, under-secretary general and head of the UN secretary general office, Iqbal Reda, underlined the need to denounce unanimously extremism in all its forms, recalling that Muslims have always rejected anarchy and terrorism. Only knowledge can achieve development in the Islamic world, he added.

Moroccan writer and searcher Abbas El Jirari pointed to the existence of evidence that relations between America and the Islamic world are improving, citing as examples the signing of free trade agreements between the US and some Islamic countries and the efforts exerted to implement the roadmap.

The Moroccan intellectual called on Arabs and Muslims to come closer to each other, mainly through joint promotion of scientific research, technology and Islamic thought renewal.

The "Al Mouatamid Ibn Abbad" summer university which kicked off its works Monday evening is marked by the participation of several political figures, researchers, writers, anthropologists from all over the world.

The event features colloquia on "the immaterial cultural heritage: stakes problems and practices," "inter-Arab cooperation and Arab regional organizations," and "women and cinema in the Arab world."

Assilah is a former Portuguese fort, some 60 km south of Tangiers.