Critical Analysis: “BEYOND WESTERN-ORIENTED
COMMUNICATION THEORIES A NORMATIVE ARAB-ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE”
By Muhammad I. Ayish
Critical Analysis by Shahzaib
Ikram
For the past
50 years Muslims have been following dominant Western Researches to study Communication
Theories. Unfortunately, Western communication theories have been promoted
around the world as they possess a strong contextual and research background. Communication,
as a field of theoretical investigation, has generated a wide range of perspectives
around the world. Generally, the experience over the past few decades has shown
that communication field remains highly bold to Western (especially American
and Europeans) concepts and methodological orientations. In this article, the author presented an Arab-Islamic perspective as a base for future communication
theory building in the Arab-Islamic context in comparison with the western
oriented dominant communication theories.
It is clear that Mass-Communication theory was initially proposed by western scholars or
we should say, “communication research was fundamentally Western research”.
Despite huge cultural differences,
most of the Journalism schools and communication departments in third-world
countries use American-originated educational materials for their studies and
concepts. According to research by Dissanayake in 1988, he observed
that 71% of the material used to teach communication theories in Asia, were as, 78%
of materials used in South Asia were of American origin. On the other hand, if
we observe Arabs, Arabs study communication either by using translated Western
books or by using materials written by Arab scholars who seem to be under the
influence of Western-oriented research agenda. In this script, the writer
enlightened the fact of cultural difference between the Muslim-World and the
Western-World depicting the effect of social and cultural behavior on
theoretical perspective in developing a research-based communication theory.
Nowadays, the Western social-science-based communication perspectives have
been challenged on several issues, the most important of which is the confusing
behavior of the role of culture in shaping theories about communication. The
basic concept of this paper is that the living human experience may be more or
less reduced to a communication experience. It is argued here that the human
experience is shaped by various factors, the most important of which is the
worldview. This article seeks to elaborate a normative Arab-Islamic perspective
on communication by drawing on a secular-Islamic Arab worldview, that seems to
have guided Arab intellectual, social, and cultural development for more than
14 centuries.
The Arab-Islamic Worldview:
The
Arab-Islamic worldview is derived from two central sources,
1)
Secular socio-cultural
traditions and values
2)
Religious Islamic values
and attitudes
1)Secular socio-cultural traditions and
values:
These
traditions were adopted as a result of interactions between foreign cultures
and Arab Muslims. If we study Arabs culture before the arrival of Islam, we
will find out that Arabs use to worship more than one God. The role of religion
in Arabian life was limited to worshipping multiple gods and superstitious
beliefs and practices. The Concepts of social behavior of Arabs were well
defined by their tribal laws depicting the social life and actions. The main
element of these concepts of social behavior are as following:
·
Honour (Sharaf): Before
Islamic period the most important thing was the honor of people. Honor at
that time was more important than religion. Honour implied courage,
the capacity, and the will to defend the independence of the group and the
chastity and freedom of its women and dependents. It also flowed the central
concept of dignity
·
Genealogy (Nasab): The
Arab tribal system was based on Blood relations depending on male-line kinship.
Researchers have demonstrated a deep interest in investigating the centrality
of the family in blood-based Arab social structures. One of the most important concepts
is that Genealogy also implies a male-dominated society, which gives priority
treatment to male over female children for their permanence of family
blood-based relationships. This kinship feature suggests that an Arab is
submerged in the group and seems to find himself lost and powerless outside
tribal arrangements.
·
Paternalism
(Abawiyya): This feature was characteristic of Ancient social Arab
systems at both micro and macro levels. According to this social system, the
dominant people in the tribe obtained the power of making decisions for the
well-being of everyone in the tribe. Nobody could object to their decisions as they
were superior.
·
Eloquence (Fasaha): Throughout
Arabian history, language have been central to the definition of a collective
identity. Oral expression in poetry was a highly valued practice in pre-Islamic
Arab tribalism. This communicative potential was instrumental not only in emphasizing
the deep importance in society but also in solidifying the status of the tribe
to which the poet or speaker belonged. This social behavior was very important
not only in ancient times but also today.
2)Religious Islamic values and attitudes:
This is era is
known to be Islamic era, although it contains several social believes of
pre-Islamic era but under the influence of Islamic laws (Sharia). In this era,
we will discuss the social values and attitudes under the umbrella of ISLAM.
Following are its major components:
·
Tawhid: It is a belief
in the oneness of Allah (SWT). He is the only one worthy of worship. No one can
compare His might. There is nothing outside the power of Allah Al-Mighty and He
is the creator of every being.
·
Iman: Iman involves
belief in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and in the Day of
Judgment. This is the fundamental belief which reflects the nature of Islam.
·
Umma: Islam is the
religion of unity. All its teachings are based on unity and equality. During
pre-Islamic times, Arabs were under the influence of the caste and creed system.
Islam brought a social evolution by giving Arabs the status of the ummah(community), eliminating the division in society.
·
Ibadah: Worshiping
the only God who is Great and Merciful, is the basic concept of Islam. Before
Islam Arabs use to worship many gods. Islam brought a social change that
eliminated Shirk (belief in more than one God) from society.
·
Item: Education can
bring revolution in the social behavior of a society. Islam is the religion of
Light (Education). Education was given its true status after the arrival of
Islam.
A Normative Arab-Islamic Communication
Perspective:
The Normative Arab
Islamic Communication Perspective is a mixture of both Secular socio-cultural
traditions and Religious Islamic values and attitudes. Both these conditions
collectively depict the Social-cultural behavior of the Arab community. The writer introduced more points to understand the Arabs communication perspective in
depth.
Ø Individualism-conformity: In Arab society,
unlike western society unifying concept that may set a limit to group
involvement, individualism in Arab-Islamic cultures are composed of both,
individual and group identification.
Ø Transcendentalism-existentialism: Reality in the
Arab-Islamic culture is conceived of as comprising two domains, one belonging
to the world of idealist imagination and divine sacredness of a Power
Transcendental, the other to mundane matters and the profanity of sensible existence.
The first world is perfect and absolute, the second Imperfect and relative.
Ø Rationality-intuition: Revelation is the most
primary source of knowledge for Muslims because an individual attains a belief
in God through the intuition of the heart. Revelation induced belief requires
that a Muslim submit to the message of God by trusting in a Power
Transcendental through Whom everything would become possible. To relate to God
All Mighty, a believer would have to invoke a complete set of intuitive assumptions
and values that conjure up images of hope and fear, reward and punishment,
Paradise and Hell, good and evil, or this life and the life thereafter.
Ø Egalitarianism-hierarchy: The egalitarian message
of Islam is noted in that all Muslims are equal before God, and the most
favorite to God is the most pious. Sovereignty belongs exclusively to God,
while social power is bestowed on institutions through a process of popular
delegation.
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