14 July 2004

Leach Urges U.S. to "Tune In Sensitively" to Islam in Asia

Congressman says ruptured relations would be a historic mistake

"It would be a mistake of historical proportions if respectful relations between America and the Muslim world were to rupture," says Representative James Leach, Republican of Iowa.

Leach, chairman of the House International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, held a hearing July 14 on the topic of "Islam in Asia." He called upon several regional experts to help members of Congress become more familiar with and sensitive to the importance of Islam across the Asia-Pacific region.

In his opening statement, Leach said the importance of religion in Asia has been under- appreciated. He noted that the vast majority of Muslims live in Asia and not the Middle East.

"Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any single nation in the world," he noted, "and over half the Muslims in the world live in four Asian countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh."

Islam in Asia, Leach said, "has not only generally been of a moderate character, but integral to national development and -- and as impressively demonstrated in recent elections throughout the region -- democratization in Muslim majority countries as diverse as Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh."

Leach noted that the September 11, 2001, attacks "raised troubling questions about the relationship between Islam and terrorism," but he stressed that "from a U.S. perspective terrorism -- not Islam -- is the enemy."

"[A]s one writer has noted, it is incumbent on the United States to 'tune in sensitively to Islam in Asia,' " he said.

"We need to understand better how [Islam] does, and does not, matter to so many millions in the vast reaches of Asia and the Pacific," Leach added. "Firm efforts to combat violent terrorists must also be accompanied by effective efforts to assist in the Muslim majority's aspirations for social and economic advancement."

Among the witnesses Leach called to explore Islam in Asia were: Meredith Weiss, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of the graduate program at the Department of International Studies of DePaul University; Douglas E. Ramage, Ph.D., who represents The Asia Foundation in Indonesia and Malaysia; Pakistani diplomat Husain Haqqani, currently a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and former U.S. Ambassador Thomas W. Simons Jr., a consulting professor at the Center for International Security and Cooperation of Stanford University.

Following is the text of Congressman Leach's opening statement, as prepared for delivery:

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Opening Statement
Representative James A. Leach
Chairman, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Hearing on Islam in Asia
July 14, 2004

On behalf of the Subcommittee, I would like to welcome our panel of distinguished witnesses. I should note that one of our witnesses traveled from as far away as Jakarta, the political capital of Indonesia, and another from Chicago, the economic and cultural capital of the American Midwest. We are most appreciative of your participation as well as your contributions to our understanding of this critically important subject.

Our hearing today is designed to help Members of Congress become more familiar with, and sensitive to, the importance of Islam across the Asia-Pacific region.

As we all understand, the end of the Cold War, the onset of globalization, and the events of September 11 have led to new thinking about the forces that shape world affairs. One of the dynamics that has received greater attention is religion. While religion has always played a large role in community affairs, its importance in Asia and elsewhere has, until quite recently, generally been under-appreciated. Clearly, however, religion is a major and perhaps growing force in contemporary international politics.

Most Americans associate Islam with the Middle East. Yet the vast majority of Muslims actually live in Asia. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any single nation in the world, and over half the Muslims in the world live in four Asian countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Ironically, while many people consider Islam to be mainly an Arab religion, less than 20% of the Muslims in the world live in Arabic-speaking countries.

In further contrast to the Arab world, Islam in Asia has not only generally been of a moderate character, but integral to national development and -- and as impressively demonstrated in recent elections throughout the region -- democratization in Muslim majority countries as diverse as Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Sadly, the September 11 attacks raised troubling questions about the relationship between Islam and terrorism. Here, it must be stressed that from a U.S. perspective terrorism - not Islam - is the enemy. We respect Islam and Islamic nations. The only brief we hold is against parties that manipulate hatred and employ tactics of terror. Civilized values whether of the East or West are rooted in just behavior and fundamentals of faith.

The distinction that matters is not between the Old and New Testaments and the Koran, but between committed individuals of faith and fanatics. The former are concerned principally with improving their own lives; the latter with imposing their beliefs on others. Yet it is impressive how closely St. Paul's admonition about modesty of judgment -- that we all see through a glass darkly -- parallels Mohammed's directive: "follow not that of which you have not the knowledge . . . do not go about in the land exaltingly, for you cannot cut through the earth nor reach the mountains in height."

When speaking to constituents of the rationale for and against the Iraq War, I have over the past couple of years referenced a set of books that held particular currency in the 1960īs: the Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell. Each of the four books describes the same set of events in inter-war Egypt from the perspective of a different character. While the events are the same, the stories that unfold are profoundly different, causing the reader to recognize that one person's perspective is at best a snap shot of reality. A clear picture cannot be pieced together without looking through the lens of a multiplicity of eyes and experiences.

For example, the Muslim experience gives substantially less weight than the Western experience to the two cataclysmic wars of the 20th century. Not only do Muslims see the 20th century differently from Westerners, but we must also understand that they have also drawn vastly different interpretations of current challenges in the Middle East -- with profound implications for America's standing in Islamic communities around the world.

In this period of enormous trial it is vital for policymakers and citizens to take stock of circumstance -- individually and collectively. The challenge of all of us in our individual and national odysseys is to express the demands of faith, which are ultimately absolutist, in terms of our social interrelationships, which are inevitably relativist.

Such an effort requires tolerance and humility: tolerance, from an appreciation of the pluralistic nature of history; humility, from an awareness of personal fallibility.

Human communities are structured by religious values. History has shown how the individual spirit can be uplifted by religious faith and the sense of community it engenders. History has also shown how individuals of faith who lack respect for individuals of other faiths can precipitate catastrophic events that subvert these values.

In this context, as one writer has noted, it is incumbent on the United States to "tune in sensitively to Islam in Asia." We need to better understand how it does, and does not, matter to so many millions in the vast reaches of Asia and the Pacific. Firm efforts to combat violent terrorists must also be accompanied by effective efforts to assist in the Muslim majority's aspirations for social and economic advancement.

It would be a mistake of historical proportions if respectful relations between America and the Muslim world were to rupture. We are all obligated to see that they don't.

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