INTRODUCTION

Mahatma Gandhi was reputedly asked what he thought about the impact of the French Revolution. With characteristic modesty he replied, “It's too soon to tell.” Certainly it is far too soon to tell what will be the impact on Southeast Asian Islam of the September 11 attack on New York and Washington. Indeed it may be many years, or even decades before a deep analysis is possible. I thus share these reflections with the awareness that they are tentative and incomplete.

Islam in Southeast Asia is extremely diverse. Therefore the impact of September 11 is quite different for different segments of Islam. Islam, as it is practised in the real world,1 is not a single, monolithic entity. The Muslim community is neither the “greatest threat to democracy and freedom”, nor the “greatest hope for human civilization against the decadence of the West”. There is both danger and hope in this community, but it should neither be demonized nor idealized.

In spite of the diversity of Islam, it is useful to compare “Southeast Asian Islamic” perceptions with “Western perceptions” of the events associated with September 11. Of course these are ideal types that should not be reified. In reality, many Muslims are closer to the “Western” perception, just as many Non-Muslim Westerners are closer to a “Muslim” interpretation of September 11. There is no unified “Muslim” or “Western” perception, but many perceptions grounded in different interests, values and assumptions. Nevertheless, ideal type analysis is useful for exposing basic assumptions that lead to very different perceptions of the same events.

THE SYMBOLIC CONTEXT OF SEPTEMBER 11 AND THE WAR ON TERRORISM

The horrific events of September 11 are linked to a whole complex of other events, both prior and subsequent to that fateful day. Neither Muslims nor non-Muslims can evaluate the attacks on U.S. targets on September 11 in isolation from the “war on terrorism” that has dominated the Western controlled media ever since. The war on terrorism first targetted the Taliban in Afghanistan. Even though a majority of Asian Muslims did not approve of Taliban interpretations of Islam, the attack on Afghanistan was seen by many as an attack on an Islamic nation, and by extension as an attack on Islam. Repeated assurances by Western leaders that Islam was not the target did not seem convincing to most Muslims in Southeast Asia.