The clash of the civilizations will never stop as long as the communities in the East, particularly the Muslims, remain to be the target of the outrageous Western calumny and deceptive concept that the people at the North Western corner of the globe are considered to be their enemies. The first three centuries of the last millennium saw this clash at its height. And at the start of the current millennium, just after the Cold War, Muslim culture and religion have again become a discomfort for the West. By the nature of the two civilizations, their cultural traits and traditions are in clash. What is good in the West is not necessary so for the Muslims. Both have different values and ways of thinking. Sensitivity in the case of the veneration of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is no doubt much higher to the Muslims than anyone can imagine in the Western world. They have the jinni of individual freedom, almost impossible now to get bottled again, and a deity-worship in the name of human rights. We, the Muslims, have serious reservations about unlimited freedoms. The concept of freedom which has made Western societies largely devoid of the value of respect, including respect for elders, and their irreverence toward the Prophets and heavenly revealed books is totally unacceptable to the Muslims. Freedom of expression has made insulting any of the Prophets a simple matter for them, but immensely difficult for the Muslims to swallow. The severe reactions toward the blasphemous film produced in America and the sacrilegious cartoons in the magazines of other Western countries are enough to make the Western people know the whys and wherefores of the rising flames of rage in Muslims countries. But the Westerners arrogant concept of the pre-eminence of their civilization makes them insensitive to other people's feelings. In the post-colonial period, America has taken hold of the steering wheel of Western civilization. America crushed Germany and Japan which challenged its supremacy while the Soviet Union collapsed after almost half century of hostilities with the West during the Cold War. The crusading Americans needed a new enemy. Their academics and think tanks mischievously chose Islam for this purpose. Former American president Richard Nixon stayed not behind in suggesting Islam as the next target of American power. Thus it did not come strange when, after the tragic 9/11 incident, Gorge W. Bush attacked Iraq and Afghanistan in its “war on terror”. Desecration of the Holy Qur'an by Terry Jones, a Florida church pastor, and the roguish film insulting Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by Sam Bacile were part of the crusade on the intellectual front and a continuation of the Medieval European literature heavily littered with this kind of filth. The more Islam gets acceptance in America and Europe, the more offensive are the attacks against Muslims in the media. The United Nation General Assembly is currently in session, having the heads of the Muslim states or governments to address. Some, if not all, are sure to raise their voices against the mischievous acts in the name of freedom of expression in the Western countries. The UN forum must address the issue and define the extent of freedom of expression. If the act of denying the holocausts is a punishable crime in many Western countries, why should the show of disrespect toward the honored symbols of Islam regarded not as a crime but a vendetta? If these issues are not addressed by the US and European political leaders, the Muslims will be justified to consider such acts as attacks against their religion and culture in an effort to establish a hegemony and crush the social and moral fibers of other religions and cultures, particularly those of the Muslims. The recent violence that caused the death of the American ambassador to Libya and damages to US embassies in various Muslim countries has sent a clear message that the Muslims are not ready to accept the domination of Western civilization. They are fed up with wars waged by the Americans in Muslim countries. This will give rise to more militancy in many Muslim countries, particularly in Pakistan which has suffered much from the US war on terror. If the situation is not controlled, the clash may heighten to a level that perhaps America may pay beyond its calculations.
