Barak Obama’s Cairo speech, directed towards the Muslim world, is being hailed as indicative of a paradigm shift in American policies towards Muslim countries, which have been a source of much heartburn and souring of relations. The Muslims all over the world have generally welcomed the tone and content of the speech and do rightly expect that solid deeds would follow the sweet words.
Mr. Obama has assumed power at a difficult time and has his own limitations of coming from Afro-American background. He has no lobby of his own to counter the moves of neo-cons, Jews and corporate and military cartels. His sincere approach and candid talk indicate his courage and determination to build bridges of understanding and cooperation.
In his Cairo speech he was at his rhetorical best and succeeded in reaching out to Muslim hearts. He forcefully reiterated that America is not and never would be at war with Islam. He rejected the stereotyping of Islam and Muslims and at the same time asked others not to do this to his country. He denounced policies based on fear, hatred and mistrust and wanted a new world created on the basis of shared principles between America and Muslim world, of justice and progress, tolerance and dignity of all human beings. He promised a sincere approach on his part and said that he had come to Islamic world to speak out his mind prompted by Qur’ānic admonition to “be conscious of duty to God and speak always the truth”.
Mr. Obama honestly acknowledged the rich contribution Islam made to the development of human civilization and referred to tolerance and cooperation, which had been the hallmark of Muslim world when Islam was ascendant in it. He sincerely accepted the debt of Islamic learning, which paved the way for Europe’s Renaissance and Enlightenment. He was at the height of at his moral stature when he said that all of us share this world for but a brief moment of time. The question is whether we commit ourselves to an effort – a sustained effort, to find some common ground to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings. He finally stressed choosing of the right path, not just the easy path. Quoting from the Holy Qur’ān, Talmud and the Holy Bible, he said that people of the world can be together in piece which is the vision and plan of God for entire humanity.
The 20th century, especially its later half, is said to be the American century. It has been steeped in wrong doings of US administration. There has been a long history of interventions in other countries, regime changes, imposition of dictators, elimination of heads of states, bombings and wars and what not. One blatant atrocity is unethical support which is being given to Zionist Israel, which has become a constant source of friction and destruction in the Middle East. Mr. Obama is conscious of these things and thankfully has been bold enough to acknowledge some of these mistakes.
Indeed Mr. Obama has made a good beginning. He deserves a positive response from the Muslim world. Let us hope that America will shed colonial baggage of its recent past. Let America allow Obama to implement his plan for a peaceful and free world which ensures justice and dignity to all whether big or small.