I am grateful to Eman Fahad Al Nafjan for bringing "The Future of Islam in the Age of New Media" to my attention. This amazing 60-minute audio program of 1-minute segments by 60 speakers compiled by Amir Ahmad is a significant contribution to international discourse, especially among Muslims! It highlights the fact that young Muslims are changing Islam itself at a breakneck pace, which has only begun to emerge to the rest of us in the Arab Spring.
Eman's one-minute is the second contribution in the program, immediately after Reza Aslan, the author of No God But God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. This placing is highly significant because Eman has been outspoken for Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia on her Saudiwoman's Weblog. Here she starts by stating pointedly, "I think future of Islam in the age of new media will involve taking Islam out of the hands of misogynist sectarian tribal sheikhs, who have closed us off from the rest of the world, into the hands of educated global Muslims, who will utilize these new tools to spread a moderate peaceful Islam, as it was in its Golden Age, when it was famous for its architecture, sciences, and arts. This new generation of Muslims will also activate the currently paralyzed role women play in Muslim society…."
I'll limit my quote to that to tantalize you to hear more. It is worth your time! Other speakers see social media as a destabilizing influence in the Muslim world. A few speakers point out that extremist Islamists have been using social media for recruiting for over a decade, but moderate Muslims have only begun to be heard since the advent of Facebook and Twitter. It is a beginning that will ultimately overwhelm and drown out the extremists, but the needed changes will take time.
It is highly significant that many of the participants highlight the need to be able to speak freely, without fear of reprisal, by circumventing censorship. Some point out that the "future of Islam is bright … because women will be able to shape Islam with men." No longer are Muslims limited in understanding their faith by going to the Mosque. "Islam will be by us but for everyone."
My reaction to this conference is that it is simply terrific! I shows the power of the changes that are coming in Islam, and the positive impacts this will bring to the world at large. Whether or not you agree with the changes, it is surely worth your time to listen to this presentation.
My one reservation is that this information gets out very rarely to the rest of us. It is a wonderful thing that Muslims, especially young Muslims, are seeing the need to discuss and reform their faith from within, but that news comes very sparsely to 99% of my countrymen, many of whom rely for their news on CNN and Fox News, or fundamentalist Christian preachers, who have little knowledge of Islam.
CNN is the channel of "Wars Are Us," while Fox News simply wants to vilify anything that has a Muslim label. The rest of the media seems to meekly follow in their wake on the topic of Islam, afraid of offending our bigoted masters. Until the good news of the many developments in Islam permeate the barrier of the mainstream media, we will be faced with continuing unjustified conflict and death.
You can obtain a free copy of "The Future of Islam in the Age of New Media" by going to http://www.islamintheageofnewmedia.com/ (#islamnewmedia).
Skip Conover is an International Executive, Author, and Artist. Learn how politicians, artists, and marketers use the collective unconscious to sell their story at http://archetypeinaction.org