A Study on the Role of the Media and Its Effect on the Identity of Muslim (Part 34)
The Islamic World and the Media Approach
Neglect or lack of attention in fulfilling any responsibility can lead to long-term and even short-term adverse consequences and irreparable impacts. In situations of confrontation, whether healthy or unhealthy, profound thought and in-depth examination are required. Equipping one’s forces with the best and most advanced tools to fulfill religious and national duties in the best possible manner is essential for achieving success and victory.
One of the most significant tools of the modern era is the media, with its extraordinary reach. The Western world has mastered this tool far better than the Islamic world. As a result, the West actively engages in distorting public perceptions, falsifying established facts, and misleading young Muslim generations through media campaigns. These efforts have yielded relative successes in favor of the West, with one of the most notable achievements being the creation of an Islamic identity crisis.
The crisis of Muslim identity is influenced by two modern factors: advanced media and information technologies. On a national level, the media in most countries has often supported secular forces, reinforcing the concept of the modern nation-state along with its cultural, economic, and political implications. This has contributed to the creation of national identities. On an international level, particularly since World War II, global media has frequently portrayed Islam and Muslims in negative and misleading terms, weakening Islamic identity. The conflicting images of national, ethnic, racial, and sectarian identities promoted by the media have not only hindered the formation of a cohesive Islamic identity on both national and international levels but have also negatively impacted the mobilization and unity of people in advancing and expanding this identity globally.
The concept of the nation-state in the industrialized West primarily revolves around the growth of a specific type of government that emerged over the past 200 years in Western Europe, predominantly in Christian and capitalist countries. In contrast, the concept of statehood in Islamic countries has historically followed a completely different narrative, extending far beyond the mere relationship between a governing body and its society. Over the past fourteen centuries, the concept of governance in an Islamic context has signified a comprehensive and unified national identity in the contemporary world.
However, the division of geographic, linguistic, and national groups into the framework of the modern nation-state since the early 20th century has created the current identity crisis. This situation requires a precise and comprehensive examination to restore and reinforce the foundational essence of this identity.
Unlike the West, this transformation does not involve a change in the direction and role of the nation-state but rather the continuation of its existence in media representation. This is precisely why the crises of the modern nation-state in the Islamic world must be analyzed within this cultural context. The process of nation-building fundamentally clashes with the cultural realities of these societies, as the two are inherently incompatible.
Many writers and analysts have overlooked the identity crisis in the Islamic world and remain entangled in it. They focus on official political institutions such as governments, political parties, administrative systems, and modern parliamentary frameworks. Meanwhile, the consistent and targeted efforts of Western media have aimed at distorting Islam’s role in uplifting societies and portraying its balanced teachings as undesirable. Therefore, Islamic political and traditional systems must remain vigilant against such destructive campaigns and develop cautious and precise countermeasures. Failure to do so risks losing current and future generations to the toxic traps set by the West and adversaries of Islam.
How authorities and policymakers address this identity crisis is highly sensitive, crucial, and noteworthy. The political structure of the nation-state, which forms its foundation, is partly to blame for the collapse of its underlying structures. Why has this situation become so unstable and chaotic? Both the West and, to some extent, the national elites in power share responsibility. The West, during its colonial period, introduced a mix of imaginary concepts that have distressed the Islamic world.
These fabricated notions were brought into Muslim territories during colonialism and continued to spread Western ideology even after the end of direct occupation. This is where the role of media in the Islamic world must be evaluated. Before the modern era, communication centers in the Islamic world were primarily mosques, which were used during daily congregational prayers, Friday sermons, Islamic festivals, and organized gatherings in marketplaces, public squares, and religious schools. Mosques were not only places for prayer but also hubs for disseminating news, opinions, and political decisions. These types of communication, including sermons, were a blend of political and religious discourse according to Islamic tradition. For example, during Ramadan, scholars would hold sessions to discuss and explain ongoing issues, addressing many politically significant matters for society.
From this perspective, the Islamic world, from the 13th century to the modern era, has not significantly benefited from new communication technologies due to various internal and external political, economic, and social factors. In contrast, examining the West reveals that Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in the mid-15th century marked the birth of a new culture in printing and a qualitative leap in the production of human knowledge. However, in Islamic societies, one communication method did not eliminate another; instead, oral and written communication evolved simultaneously, eventually leading to the integration of technological advancements in communication in the modern era. This indicates that communication growth in the Islamic world experienced a qualitative rather than quantitative leap.
From the 16th to the early 19th century, when councils of ministers became somewhat formalized in some Islamic countries, such as Turkey, the writing of official government news gained prominence. These government reports, which eventually became known as akhbar (news), were occasionally read aloud from mosque pulpits to the general public. This official governmental reporting served as an effective communication medium until the advent of modern journalism. By the early 17th century, printing presses were introduced to Islamic countries such as Egypt, India, Iran, and Turkey. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the printing press facilitated the establishment of numerous newspapers across the Islamic world.
This early period of journalism not only paved the way for the introduction of nationalism and secularism from Europe but also played a significant role in spreading Islamic movements in the 19th century and combating European colonialism.
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