Judging all by the acts of few is a serious mistake
...“Our common attitude to Islam suffers because the
way we understand it has been hijacked by the extreme and the superficial. To
many of us in the West, Islam is seen in terms of the tragic civil war in
Lebanon, the killings and bombings perpetrated by extremist groups in the
Middle East, and by what is commonly referred to as 'Islamic fundamentalism'.
Our judgement of Islam has been grossly distorted by taking the extremes to be
the norm. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a serious mistake. It is like judging
the quality of life in Britain by the existence of murder and rape, child abuse
and drug addiction. The extremes exist, and they must be dealt with. But when
used as a basis to judge a society, they lead to distortion and unfairness.
... We need to be careful of that emotive label,
'fundamentalism', and distinguish, as Muslims do, between revivalists, who
choose to take the practice of their religion most devoutly, and fanatics or
extremists who use this devotion for their political ends. Among the many
religious, social and political causes of what we might more accurately call
the Islamic revival is a powerful feeling of disenchantment, of the realization
that Western technology and material things are insufficient, and that a deeper
meaning to life lies elsewhere in the essence of Islamic belief.
Prince Charles, Islam and the West
A Visit to the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, October 27, 1993
© Copyright St James's Palace and the Press Association Ltd 1998.