At the start of his course, Prof. Lee Hee-su of Hanyang University¡¯s Dept. of Cultural Anthropology, one of the best known Islam specialists in Korea, asks his students to write down what comes to mind when they hear the words ¡°Islam¡± and ¡°Iran.¡± About 70 percent of the Iran associations are negatively charged, including ¡°axis of evil,¡± terrorists, revolution, Khomeini and oppression of women. Prof. Lee says he does not understand his students¡¯ and many Koreans¡¯ bias given that Iran has never done Korea any harm and has if anything been on an ¡°axis of good¡± where Korea is concerned.
 |
|
A woman in Dubai, on the bridge of al-Maktoum, talks over a mobile phone made by Samsung Electronics.
|
 |
|
Islam is also largely associated with negatives in students¡¯ minds, with concepts like violence, terrorism, anti-Americanism, pre-modern and male-oriented crowding the page. The phrase ¡°Koran in one hand and sword in the other¡± is what occurs to most people when they hear the word ¡°Islam.¡± Sympathetic experts say this is partly due to propaganda by Western Orientalists, and point out that the Koran says there should be no compulsion in religion.
They also agree that polygamy and the oppression of women in Islamic countries have been exaggerated, while terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. The so-called ¡°honor killings¡± where male relatives kill women and girls they believe guilty of sexual transgression are a chronic problem in the Middle East and far beyond and have no basis in Islam.
The Korea Association of the Middle East Studies points out that the phrase ¡°Muslims believe in Allah¡± in Korean middle and high school social studies and history textbooks should be corrected to ¡°Muslims believe in God¡± ? which is what al-lah means: the God -- while referring to Islam as Mohammedanism is in fact blasphemous for Muslims since it suggests idolatrous worship of the prophet.
Some 100,000 Muslims live in Korea -- 40,000 Korean nationals and 60,000 foreign workers and others -- and they often find themselves in awkward situations because of Korean ignorance and prejudice toward Islam. A member of the Korea Muslim Federation says, ¡°Many Muslims usually just stay quiet and put up with occasions when they are insulted, but prejudice toward their religion and a biased view of them as terrorists is one of the most painful things they experience living in Korea.¡±
Several years ago, a government institute invited ambassadors from the Middle East and threw them a samgyeopsal barbecue party ? practically an act of violence to Muslims who are forbidden to eat pork. Nor are they supposed to drink alcohol. As for meat, they only eat properly slaughtered or ¡°halal¡± meat. Not a single hotel in Korea offers halal food, whereas most large hotels around the world now usually indicate whether the food they serve contains pork or alcohol. Ironically, it was the 9/11 attacks that made for greater awareness of Islamic culture in Korea. Prof. Han Duk-gyu of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies says, ¡°After 9/11, I don¡¯t think I saw anyone offer a Muslim bossam," a traditional Korean dish made with pork.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
