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Rising to the Global Challenge:
The challenge posed by the global media is tremendous and quite serious. Nothing can be more devastating to the image of a religion distinguished by its tolerant and liberating spirit than being reduced to the categories of "terrorism" and "fanaticism." But this is exactly what the detractors of Islam hope to achieve through their global campaign against Islam. Rising to the global challenge requires a well-thought and well-implemented strategy.
While developing an appropriate strategy requires extensive discussion and debate among concerned Muslims and the contribution of various Muslim scholars and leaders, I would like to present the following four strategic points for responding to the global challenge:
a. The stumbling block in the face of developing an effective Muslim mass media comes from certain influential quarters who insist on excluding arts and technology from da`wah activities. The rigid views advanced by these individuals and groups not only stem from static understanding of certain Islamic injunctions, understood out of their context and without regard to essential Qur'anic principles and purposes, but also from the failure to distinguish between expectations of persons pursuing a life of high devotion, and expectations of ordinary people who are content with doing the firmly required and avoiding the strongly prohibited.
And, while reducing leisure time to the minimum possible is befitting to individuals who have committed their lives to serving noble causes, this should not be expected from the great majority who lack such motivation and aspiration. For most people, entertainment is something required and sought, and hence entertainment programs should be used to convey the noble message of Islam.
b. For this reason, professional mass-media organizations should be established to promote the values of Islam and to present more equitable views of Muslim aspirations and practices. In order for such media to meet the global challenge, they have to speak with a global "language" and to target a global audience. This requires that Muslim media agencies employ all sorts of arts and technology available to reach out to the widest audience possible and to carry the concerns of humanity at large, rather than parochial and narrow concerns. They should also try to report on a wide range of issues and discuss, in a structured manner, a wide range of questions, not only those of specific interest to Islamic groups and movements. For this reason, professional media organizations should be autonomous from any social and political movement. This condition is important for maintaining their professionalism, since coming under the direct influence of any political and social group would inevitably lead media organizations to become the mouth-piece of these groups.
c. But, for media organizations to operate in the manner proposed above, they would require highly trained personnel who have acquired technical skills and artistic talents. For this purpose, the contribution of technical schools and the institutions of higher learning is very crucial. Islamic universities, in particular, carry the burden of developing programs and curricula which can allow the integration of Islamic knowledge and technical skills, so as to ultimately become capable of producing journalists, playwrites, script writers, actors, singers, documentary producers, and communicators who combine technical skills and artistic talents with Islamic commitment and aspirations.
d. Finally, in order for Muslim media to take a global dimension, Muslim resources should be combined throughout the globe. Combining resources needs not aim at consolidation of capital or management, although a limited degree of this can be useful. Rather, the combination of resources should concentrate on exchanging experiences, facilitating distribution, and similar forms of cooperation which may take the form of networking.
Conclusion:
Distortions of the image of Islam, as I have tried to show, stem from the fact that Islam is seen by powerful interests as a challenger to the now established global order. To check the expansion of Islamic appeal and to mobilize public opinion against its symbols, Islam has to be presented as a negative force, leading to oppression and violence. It is the duty of all Muslims to see to it that the true nature of Islam as the religion of reason, tolerance, and justice reaches out to people all over the world.
Combating distortion and restoring the true image of Islam is by no means an easy task. It requires full cooperation among Muslim organizations and higher learning institutions so as to allow the combination of resources. It also requires the development of artistic and technological skills and capabilities necessary for the utilization of the wide spectrum of mass media tools for the communication of the message of Islam. More important than all, it requires a profound change in prevailing attitudes and practices concerning the use of arts and technology for the promotion of Islam, and the development of an appropriate strategy to confront its detractors.
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