One of the greatest movies ever to hit American cinemas was called the Godfather. It is the story of a young man, Michael Corleone’s reluctant rise to control his family’s criminal empire. If you look past the crime aspect, many important pieces of wisdom can be taken from this brilliant series. As Michael stated in Godfather 2, “One thing that I learned from Pop was to try to think as people around you think. Now on that basis, anything’s possible.” Brilliant.
We at Muslim Academy deeply agree with this quote. Many of life’s problems are caused by a lack of communication, and a lack of understanding. And unless you’ve been completely ignoring the news for the last 10 years, there have been deep issues between the Muslim world and the Western world. September 11th is the event in mot people’s minds but problems existed before this event, and the problems go beyond al-Qaeda.
We believe our two civilizations stand at a fork in the road. Down one path lies continued distrust and discord between these great societies. This is certainly the aim of terrorist groups, who use fear and intimidation as their weapons of choice. Unfortunately, this is also the choice of many in the West. There are those in the West who espouse the idea that Islam is the world’s most intolerant religion, that the only solution is war, and that it is their solemn duty to ‘free’ billions of Muslims from their religion and bring them to light. Apparently in this world, leprechauns and unicorns dance around rainbows and moonbeams. Because trying to get rid of a religion that boasts nearly 1/4 of the world’s population is just as difficult as trying to understand the ending of “Inception.”
Muslim Academy prefers to take the path less traveled. We choose to talk to each other. To explore our differences, as well as our similarities. We have started this by creating articles aimed towards bringing forth different points of view, to some success. We now wish to expand upon this success by introducing a series of podcasts, in English, that are aimed towards showing people in both the Western world and the Muslim world that people are basically the same, no matter where you go in the world. We have the same hopes, fears, desires, and ambitions. There are things that separate us, but many more things that bring us together. We’re all people.
At Muslim Academy, we practice what we preach. We have Canadians, Americans, Europeans, Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis, Indonesians, Bangladeshis, Indians, Algerians. We are working together for a common goal. We have started our podcasts with a series of interviews with Egyptians and people in Pakistan, with interviews conducted by Americans. We explore common Arab stereotypes, Arab Spring, government corruption, and women’s rights in Muslim societies. We hope our readers and now, our listeners, will join us by commenting, suggesting ideas, or even participating in podcasts with us. It is our hope that with improved communication, there will be improved understanding, and less fear and anger.
As it turns out, maybe Michael Corleone was on to something.
Muslim Academy is your online portal to understanding Modern Muslim World. We offer live and recorded instruction in Arabic, Islam, and Culture. We offer forums to discuss Arabic language (including finding study partners), Islam, Muslim Culture, Intercultural Relations and Global Politics. Our podcasts can be downloaded from Apple itunes for Free by using the following link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/muslim-academys-podcast/id533036379
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