Just some food for thought from Indonesia: Obama speaks to the Arabs, not the Muslim world

In raising the spectre of nuclear Iran, Obama committed the very sin which Americans have so jealously guarded against in public life: The infusion of religion into the body politic.

What does the issue of Iran’s nuclear program have to do with Islam?

Obama did the right thing in raising the plight of Palestinians, and his remarks will receive a heartfelt welcome. But the prism of pain by which Indonesia and others perceive the issue is not of Islamic solidarity but of decolonialization and injustice.

It is the same sympathy felt for people subjected around the world.

Obama did the right thing in raising the plight of Palestinians, and his remarks will receive a heartfelt welcome. But the prism of pain by which Indonesia and others perceive the issue is not of Islamic solidarity but of decolonialization and injustice.

Other scholars have noted that it is a bit offensive that people didn’t consider Obama’s speech in Turkey as an address to the Muslim world. That is ironic since modern day Turkey rose from the ashes of 5 centuries of the Ottoman empire, the world’s last Caliphate. So, just for a friendly reminder that the face of global Islam is far more divorce than people imagine it to be, I thought I’d share some stats from the Largest Muslim population centers:

1 Indonesia 182,570,000
2 Pakistan 134,480,000
3 India 121,000,000
4 Bangladesh 114,080,000
5 Turkey 65,510,000
6 Iran 62,430,000
7 Egypt 58,630,000
8 Nigeria 53,000,000
9 Algeria 30,530,000
10 Morocco 28,780,000

Indonesia alone represents 15% of the entire Muslim population. And this short list indicates that the face of global Islam has a lot of Asian features. Yet we do not look to Indonesia and Malaysia, as major Muslim centers, to understand the successes and challenges Muslims face in social and political life. Sadly, the reality is that Obama was addressing the imagination of many Muslims. Like this article indicates, many see Arab issues as Muslim issues, as opposed to the political struggles as largely secular issues. Our solutions to today’s problems, however, should be informed by and imbued with our religious ethics. At the same time, we often see Arab practices as normative Islamic practices. By doing so, we undermine our own agency in applying universal Islamic beliefs and practices in ways that address the cultural and social conditions in our own communities and societies. Insha’Allah more on that later.