Religion and International Relation - West and Islam Research Paper

Religion and International Relation - West and Islam - Research Paper Example This approach made the Muslim world hate the West to an extent that they disregarded all the successful ways of government of the West also and refused to modernize as they saw modernization as copying the West. This hatred became strong because of the continuous attack of the West for their interests. Be it Iran, Iraq, Palestine or Afghanistan; the decisions of the West were always seen as undemocratic and hostile. West always chose to meet their personal interests and not considering the interest of the people of the country it attacked. This selfish approach of the West made the Muslim world hate the West and these anti-West sentiments developed into religious extremism and made the non-state actors in these Muslim countries to spoil the image of Islam in the global world. The West should understand that it is largely responsible for this treatment of the people in the Muslim world; therefore, it should try to sincerely make efforts to help the Muslim countries develop and regain their past glory. TABLE OF CONTENTS ISLAM AND THE WEST – AN INTRODUCTION 3 ISLAM AND WEST- AN IDEOLOGICAL CLASH 5 INCIDENTS THAT EXACERBATED THE CONFLICT 5 The 9/11 attacks 5 The Arab spring 7 Post Arab Spring, West and the US 8 Palestine-Israel Issue 8 RELIGION AND POLITICS – A BACKGROUND 10 MARX AND FREUD ON RELIGION 11 ISLAM AND CHRISTINIATY – SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES 13 ROOT OF THE CLASH 14 HOW TO RESOLVE THIS CLASH? 17 FORMING A MODERN SOCIETY – A CONCLUSION 18 ISLAM AND THE WEST – AN INTRODUCTION Islam and the West are different entities in many ways, but because of the globalization in the world; we see that there is an increasing interaction between these two entities, which becomes a reason for conflict in many situations. Islam, being one of the oldest religions in the world, and being the second most followed religion in the world after Christianity is seen as a threat to the West. There are many things similar between Christianity a nd Islam including monotheism; however, there is a clear ideological clash between the two due to their very believes and ideas. Islam believes in oneness of God, finality of the prophet-hood and the Qur’an. Muslims can be categorized as very religious and not very religious and they belong to every part of the world, and belong to varying ethnic backgrounds and social classes. They believe in traditions and family and try to keep themselves as aloof from the worldly pleasures as possible. They are proud of their rich culture and their glorious past and want that past to come back. On the other hand, West means the Europe, North America and Australia which is predominantly Christian. The term is more of a geographical classification based on their concept of valuing modernization and technology. They highly regard material pleasures and are secular in their attitudes and beliefs. There is a clear difference in the belief system of the two entities; however, it will be wrong t o say that they are completely two different entities. These days, the Muslim minority of the West is increasing which is making the West to make effort to integrate this minority. These Muslims living in the West are Muslims belonging to different parts of the world, sharing different backgrounds but united because of the concept of monotheism, prophet hood and the holy Qur’an. These Muslims are increasingly taking part in every field of life in the West and are playing an important role in the economic development of the West. Similarly, there are many people living in the Muslim countries that belong to the West and