Epilogue

Abstract

The Muslim countries and their Western counterparts, on the whole, have never been so close as they are now, but at the turn of the century, their mutual attitudes are largely characterized by various ambiguities bordering on hostility and negation. Perhaps the West, having been so used to polarities for such a long time, feels more at ease with a conflictive relationship, without pausing to think about the commonalities with Islam in its religio-ethical heritage, historical evolution and inherent pluralism. They might have existed as two concurrent, distant and occasionally hostile forces but lateral developments like mobility, media, economic inter-dependence and a wider dialogue may gradually make it difficult to see them as two opposites. This proximity, in a powerful sense, repudiates the conflict-centred paradigm and necessitates a serious review of a visibly more challenging reality of ‘the West in Islam and Islam in the West’. Unfortunately, their mutual perceptions based on geographical, religious and ethnic specificities, exacerbated by more recent history, keep on feeding into the legacy of dissension and suspicions. Islam as the second major religion in Western societies due to migrations and conversions and the West within Islamic societies through permeating forces of modernity deserve a fresher and value-free perspective.