Sacrilegious campaign waged in some Western countries against Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has created a gap between the two cultures. The international Islamic conference for dialogue this week aims to narrow the deep schism between the two civilizations. “We Muslims need to exert all efforts to portray the real teachings and image of Islam and negate the Western view of things. The conference in Makkah and some other planned seminars and meetings would go a long way in achieving this aim,” said Abdullah Naseef, former secretary general of the Muslim World League. The conference comes at a most opportune time when Islam's peaceful image is under threat in certain quarters, he said Ahmed Al-Banani, a professor in Makkah, said the conference is a good chance for Muslims to go back to their roots and learn how Muslims used to deal with people from other religions during the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). “What non-Muslims are holding against us is that we are not united in the first place. What we should explain to them is that we don't disagree in the basics of Islam. People have different opinions regarding small things in their religion,” said Al-Banani. Reports in Western media present Muslims as fanatics, irrational, primitive, belligerent, and dangerous. This hate campaign has led some countries to ban veils and establishment of Islamic centers and mosques. Statistics from ABC News claims that 46 percent Americans have a negative view of Islam, seven percentage points higher than in the tense months after the Sept. 11 attacks on the US. __
