By Prof. Dr. Mohammed Kareem Al-Saadi
The process of shaping the form and nature of the Other’s new culture is fundamentally based on erasing all their cultural and intellectual output that does not align—according to their understanding—with the Western cultural reference. In fact, hegemony as a cultural concept runs much deeper, seeking to eliminate the culture of the Other or merge it into the global (Western) cultural framework. This is because the process takes on a predatory nature of acquisition and control in order to alter the features of the local cultural identity.
Consequently, we see that the image of the Arab Muslim takes on different features within this global culture. Whenever a Muslim with Arab and Eastern features is mentioned, a ready-made, pre-packaged image of them immediately surfaces. This image perfectly aligns with an identity pre-drawn for him as being backward and far removed from culture, under the pretext that his local culture is built on killing and terrorism, and that this culture is deeply rooted, tracing back to his nature, moral values, and intellectual framework. Thus, this discourse and its lingering image in the mind of the Western public—which is excellently manufactured by dominant institutions—has become saturated with these derogatory descriptions, contrasted with the superior, civilized traits attributed to the Western citizen. Hence, the Western citizen must surrender to, embrace, and believe in these descriptions. This did not happen overnight, nor was it manufactured in the current century; rather, it is the result of what the Western mind and its condescending thought have long harbored against the Arab, Eastern, Muslim Other.
Therefore, if we, as Muslims and Easterners, want to verify this for ourselves, we only need to read what was written about us after the events of September 11. If we want to know the extent to which Western culture is applied to us as a reference for imitation, let us closely examine several aspects. For instance, the European and Western languages taught in our schools do not feature our stories, heritage, morals, or values; instead, what is present are Western values, Western morals, and Western customs and traditions. Even an Arab student studying European or American languages will notice that the change extends to their attire and food. Whenever Arab culture is mentioned in their presence, they dismiss it with disdain and constantly cite Western culture as the ideal.
On the other hand, if we want to test the image of the Arab in Western culture, we only need to read Shakespeare’s play Othello. There, we can observe the discrimination leveled against the Eastern, dark-skinned Othello by the surrounding European cultural environment. We see how his jealousy—which is viewed as a flaw in the West—ultimately destroyed him, and how his intellect was compromised, turning him into the murderer of Western innocence represented by Desdemona. Similarly, if we want to see and imagine the form of the Western hero, the “Superman” and savior, we can read Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, or the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. These works—particularly Shakespeare’s—have become top priorities of study in our schools and universities to reinforce the concept of Western superiority even within educational curricula, embedding this image of supremacy in the minds of our children and future generations, just as it was entrenched in us and those before us. Why haven’t schools and other institutions included stories from our Arab history in the study of English literature? Why aren’t the sound values carried by the Arab Muslim taught in Western educational curricula? Or are we expected to simply execute what is demanded of us and culturally and civilizationally guided toward us without questioning its inner contents and underlying motives? Is our literature deficient, or is it simply not good enough?
It is our right to direct these questions and others to the Western Other, demanding a change in the negative image of us and our symbols, including the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who has become an object of ridicule in Western newspapers under the guise of freedom of expression—even at the expense of others’ sacred beliefs. This occurs despite the fact that they taught us that freedom of expression ends where the freedoms, as well as the intellectual, religious, moral, and social boundaries, of others begin. If the West were serious about constructing a new image of Islam, its Prophet, and the Middle Eastern Arab—without hidden agendas behind excluding changes in Western curricula (specifically curricula that rectify the negative image of the East, its civilization, its religion, and its symbols, foremost among them the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH))—the forms of coexistence would have been far better than what we witness today.
However, it is virtually impossible to change the images of abuse and distortion upon which the Western mind, its institutions, and its power structures were built, given that they are founded on a system of hegemony designed to steer world policies toward a specific goal: ensuring that images of condescension and superiority endure, while images of disparagement, abuse, and distortion against the Other remain. The dominance of Western discourse culturally and epistemologically is merely a continuation of this hegemony. Consequently, it creates a negative image or what is known—according to Gramscian terminology—as “common sense” (senso comune). This is an entirely negative term according to Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, which has enabled the Western institution to manufacture myths to control the Other, empowering its authority to extend its influence and establish its hegemony and rule across all fields, including the cultural sphere. Through this, it succeeded in creating a “common sense” among its citizens, working to reinforce it by painting the image of the Other as contradictory and incapable of building themselves intellectually and culturally. Furthermore, it worked to cement this very image within the culture of the Other themselves, making them actually believe it.
Therefore, the example of the second case manifested in reactions that did not rise to the actual level of the crisis regarding the offensive cartoons. The Eastern, Arab, Muslim masses content themselves with denunciation and condemnation, failing to respond to this distortion with tangible actions, such as economic and cultural boycotts that would force the Western institution to seriously hold accountable those who commit such acts. Even at the political level, the reactions were unworthy of this moral and humanitarian catastrophe leveled against the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (PBUH). This is neither the first instance throughout history, nor do I believe it will be the last, as long as cultural hegemony dominates us, remains entrenched in our culture, and remains unchangeable within the Western self and its institutions. These institutions continue to market offensive and distorted images of the Eastern human, his morals, and his values, thereby targeting his Islamic religion and specifically Arabs—who have settled for denunciation and condemnation without developing appropriate means of response to these offenses, and without even activating laws against the defamation of religions, as is globally established for those who target Semitism/Jews.
