Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 123
Social Peace 123 The essence of racialism is class prejudice. Perhaps this is the best definition of racialism. Whenever people begin to act prejudicially against another class of people on the pretext of their own class interests, racialism uncoils and raises its ugly and venomous head. No discretion is exercised in the expression of such hatred; no individual merit is taken into account; and, generality becomes the law. Not many centuries ago, the Western hemisphere was divided mainly along the plane of Christianity versus Islam. Whatever role the Jews played during that age of strong religious prejudices towards the Muslim East is relatively obscure. What is known, however, is the fact that the Jews were a part of Christian Europe, which hated and mistrusted Muslim nations around the Mediterranean and were apprehensive of Muslim expansion westwards. During that period of intense hostilities between Christians and Muslims, there was an added element of racialism based on a difference in colour. At that time, the Muslims of Indonesia, Malaysia, China and India remained totally aloof and unconcerned. The conflict looked more like that of a Turko-Arab axis versus Christian Europe in general. Although this history seems to be buried and forgotten, I can see it raising its head again. Human problems never seem to die permanently howsoever deeply buried they may appear. Returning to the present age, as long as the world was polarised by the two superpowers and their allies, it was vital for the interest of the West not to stir such issues or permit them to be stirred. But ever since the dawn of the new era of the East-West relationship, a dark night from the medieval ages is also about to cast its sinister shadow. There is a real danger of revival of the historic Christian-Muslim religio-political rivalries in the new climate created by the momentous