Currently, Tufts - a university long renowned for its influence on government policy - does not have a program in Islamic Studies. But if Tufts is going to maintain its competitive edge, it needs such a program within its curriculum. This program could be located under the umbrella of the Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literatures, where the Judaic Studies program is currently found.
If students who leave Tufts hope to be diplomats, business people, journalists and practitioners of other professions that interact with the international world, they will need a cosmopolitan background. They desperately require knowledge of different cultures. Earlier this year, an event occurred on campus known as "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week," which was another propaganda effort which masqueraded as academic, but sought to equate Islam and Muslims with fascism.
Tufts is furthermore in need of this program because American people must learn about Islam if they are to deal with the Muslim world in times to come. It is imperative to give current students - our future decision-makers - information about Islamic culture and civilization. Interactions with the overseas Islamic world are increasing, whether this world speaks Turkish, Arabic, Malay or Persian. In the Middle East region, we have the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, the oil crisis and the Iraqi situation; in Iran, we have the mullahs and their coming "youthquake."
In Turkey, we have a country with its identity in crisis (secular? religious?) trying to join the European Union, thinking about legalizing the headscarf and even having a senior prosecutor filing a legal case to dissolve the ruling AK party in the Constitutional Court. This summation does not even consider the rapidly expanding number of Muslims in the United States, whether they be immigrants, converts or native-born.
Throughout the Muslim world, the population is overwhelmingly young, and frequently ambitious and unemployed. In these circumstances, our current state of ignorance is very dangerous. To combat propaganda being produced in the name of education, Tufts should start a serious Islamic Studies program, offering courses on film, civilization, culture, literature, music and society.
Religion itself is too narrow a focus. We can start with religion but need to expand so students understand the context. What does Islam mean to the Muslims? Why didn't Europe foresee the reaction of Muslims to the Danish cartoons? I was in Egypt at the time, and stores were dumping Danish butter and putting signs that read, "No Danish Products Sold Here" in front of their stores. Anger against both Europe and the United States was palpable. When I asked my Arabic tutor if Egyptians still wanted to move to the United States, she said, "No. It's like you find out a friend is not who you thought they were. You're disappointed."
Before the cartoons, there was a non-stop flight from Cairo to Denmark. Afterward, Danes returning home had to connect in Europe for flights to Copenhagen. Where does freedom of expression end and cultural sensitivity begin?
Without it, we are otherwise left with information from the propagandists, such as Geert Wilder's new video, "Fitna" (2008). "Fitna" projects images from recent news reports of repugnant violence, bombings, beheadings and slaughter along with verses from the Quran that are not considered historical and allegedly call for killing. The video opens with footage of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, then moves on to the Madrid train bombings, the London bus bombings and other distressing images.
But there is no connection between one and the other; there is no story, only vicious images. Wilders cites the verse which reads, "Therefore hold them not as friends until they go out of their homes in the way of God. If they do not, seize them wherever they are and do away with them," but he does not cite the verse above it: "So fight on in the way of God. You cannot compel anyone except your own self." Like other sacred books, the Quran has some verses calling for bloodshed, but also many calling on humans to love God and respect each other. This film thus does not advance an argument - it lobs picture-grenades at the viewer.
The scariest thing about Wilders' video is that he blends fear of Islamic extremism with fear of immigrants, showing pictures of minarets in Dutch cities and the number of Muslims in the Netherlands as causes for concern. In the video, no distinction is made between a covered woman pushing a baby carriage up a Dutch street and a man wielding a bloody sword. The images make it clear that immigrants are feared for their difference alone, because they are not Christian, don't speak Dutch and don't look like Dutch people.
How can there not be an Islamic Studies program at Tufts? Islamic Studies is an up-and-coming field. What students need is not so much to learn the Five Pillars or events in the life of the Prophet as to develop a cultural understanding of what is important to Muslims and why.
Kiki Kennedy-Day is a lecturer in the Department of Religion.
