The world football cup being held in Qatar has brought to the fore interesting “revelations” that may wake up the societies of the West. The functioning of a deeply and thoroughly “orthodox” Muslim society has shown things that many have been trying to explain to Western populations for years, but often in vain.
That is, how the innate conservatism that prevails in the social context of an Islamic community is not something that can be changed and corrected. Because primarily these behaviors come from religion, which is not separated from politics.
The Islamic law (sharia) that prevails there is not the product of parliamentary or even purely political initiatives. It comes from the holy texts of the Muslim religion (Quran and holy traditions – hadith) which are eternal, obligatory and unchanging. This applies to every Muslim, wherever he is. There is, of course, according to the teachings of the prophet, the so-called “deception”. The possibility of each believer to “show” for a while that he does not follow the holy rules in order not to endanger his life or to achieve the goal of penetrating a community of non-believers – e.g. Christians or Hindus.
Qatar insists that we all must respect the peculiarities and values of another foreign society. And of course he is absolutely right. The question is why shouldn’t the same be true of Muslims who are or are coming to the West? Why should Western societies respect the values and sensibilities of newly arrived Muslims by changing their own perceptions, principles and mindsets, adapting to the habits of their newly arrived visitors? Just as visitors to Qatar must behave in ways that do not disturb the local residents, should not Muslims who come to the West adapt to the habits, perceptions and values of its Christian residents? Why double standards? Why should Western societies accept kelebias and chadors, while Muslim societies may arrest someone for drinking beer in public or a woman walking around in a mini or revealing outfit?
The big issue is that in the long run it is almost impossible for a Muslim minority to adapt to the mentality and values of the Christian society it enters. Because “Islam” means “Submission”. It has nothing to do with democracy which is based on popular sovereignty and which conceptually includes within its existence the logic of questioning and constant changes and changes. In order for there to be changes in the Muslim religion new holy texts must be written.
But from whom? Those intellectuals who tried it in the Islamic world, even the revision of their interpretation, are no longer with us! So we are talking about a static social and political ideological formation that buries progress and anchors people in perceptions of the past. But these are not the values of Europe and the West in general. Nor are they, I hope, ever going to be…
