Civilizations clashing? (conclusion)

With the actors of the hypothetical clash set out, the question remains: is there an actual clash of civilizations? Is Islam in its totality fighting the Western process of globalization?

No.

But how can one say no? After all, if the likes of al-Qaeda are tacitedly approved by so many Muslims around the world, how can there not be a clash?

Just as there are different levels of warfare, so too there are different levels of this conflict. The final example will be Iraq, which is the present flashpoint of the alleged clash. On the one hand, there are the foreign fighters who are supported in-country by Ba'athists and others who are against the US involvement in their country. On the other hand, there are those who support US from both the Sunni and Shi'ite sides. (It is also important to note that it is never mentioned that the Kurds who for the most part support the US also happen to be Muslims.)

With all these different factions vying for control both peacefully and through violence, they are all Muslims of different stripes. To say that 'Islam' is the source of one side and not the other would be factually incorrect. The Sunnis who simply want a stable government and peace to return are as much Muslims as the foreign fighters (who knows what the Ba'athists are, being socialistic secularists).

In the wider context of global Islam, is Islam the first cause of all the violence against the proponents of globalization? Again, no. Look back at what was said about Shariah law. So much of Shariah law refers more to fourteenth century custom than to what Muhammad was actually preaching to his followers in Mecca back in the seventh century. Veils, the subjugation of women and so many other customs that are seen as forms of Islamic repression are simply sediment that has accrued over time and taken as holy writ when it fact the provenance of such concepts is simply nonexistent.

In the end, there are those Muslims who are fully integrated into the Western world. There are those who are disgruntled, but do nothing. And there are those who actively resist the West with guns and bombs. Those who advocate violence and those who tacitly consent to violence are fighting for an Islam that is more their own construction than the authentic Islam that they claim it to be.