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The differentiation between Arabs and Muslims and prominence of ethnic wars over religious wars were key topics in Kenyan native Ali Mazrui's speech titled, "Islam and the Black Experience" Thursday.
Mazrui, the kickoff speaker for the Grayson Kirk Lecture Series, is currently the director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies and Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities at Binghamton University, but he has also co-authored more than 30 books, and created the television series, "The Africans: A Triple Heritage," jointly produced by the Public Broadcasting Service and the BBC.
"He is highly regarded as a very illustrious scholar and an expert on this area," said Cyril Daddieh, director of Black World Studies Program and professor in the department of political science. "The lecture series is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence but because we are also sponsored by the ITS (department of international studies), the speech had to deal with more than Ghana."
According to Daddieh, Mazrui gave a speech just last week in Ghana in honor of their anniversary.
"Ghana's independence has many links to those who are politically aware here," Daddieh said. "Ghana led the way in African independence and also had close links to the civil rights movement in America."
He added that this lecture series is celebrating not only half a century of independence in Ghana but also the bicentennial of American civil rights.
"I hope the students learn something about Islam experiences and how in some places its been revived," Daddieh said.
According to Mazrui, though Islam is a minority religion in Ghana, it is still one of the major religions in Africa on the whole.
"Islam arrived in Africa in two ways," Mazrui said. "One was through Muslims seeking asylum and the other was through Muslims as conquerors."
According to Mazrui, there are two types of Islamic expansion in the post-colonial period and those are through radicalization, which is a result of pressure from an external force, and revivalism, an attempt to reactivate the Muslim laws in the face of competition from other religions.
He maintained throughout his speech that contrary to the media's portrayal, Africans rarely wage religious wars.
"In northern Africa, the conflict is real," Mazrui said. "There is a conflict between people who want secular states and those who want their states to be Muslim. In sub-Saharan Africa, ethnic conflict is more serious."
He explained that indigenous peoples are more tolerant when it comes to religion.
"(In America), we live in a secular society," Mazrui said. "Imagine if a presidential candidate said, 'Incidentally, my wife is Shi'ite Muslim.' That would be the end."
According to Mazrui, this type of society is harder on African and Arab immigrants than other races because of the fear or terrorism. Yet with more than 6 million Muslims within the American borders, he asked, why don't Americans experience the same violence other European countries face from radicals?
"One is the class structure," he said. "American Muslims often belong to a higher social class. Then there is the ideological factor. American Muslims often vote Republican whereas European Muslims often vote left."
He continued to say there is also the adversarial character of European Muslims and the long historical associations Muslims have with their European host countries.
Mazrui added that although many Muslims among the African American population have been mainstreamed, especially the children, Muslims in general still have trouble with accepting certain fault lines such as between sects (Sunni or Shi'ite), between genders, race and origins.
"Muslims study the Jews," he said. "We want to know how do they succeed so well in (American) society? They have been more successful than anyone else in business and universities; everything except capturing the presidency."
Mazrui said the Jews are the ultimate case to study if you want to be diverse but successful in America.
"In general, the proposition is that Jews are the supreme example of the American dream," he said. "Blacks are the supreme example of American achievement. Muslims fall right in between."
Mazrui ended his speech with a plea for the different races and religions to learn from each other.
"God intended these societies to learn from each other," he said. "The Qu'ran states 'We have created you for diversity.' Blacks have to learn from whites. Whites have to learn from Muslims, Muslims from Christians, Christians from Jews and so on. I hope in this room alone, there is an attempt to learn from diversity and that in this evening, an attempt has been made."
Ann Cox, a graduate student, said although she was required to attend the speech for a class, she still found it thought provoking.
"While listening to the speech I started really thinking about the relationship between the Muslim world and the United States," she said. "He put a lot of things into perspective for me."
