Each year, some two million Muslims from around the world make a pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca. For some in the West, nothing could be scarier than two million Muslims, all dressed in white, touching their heads to the ground and shouting "Allahu Akbar." Reading the usual pundits, you get the idea that Mecca is a breeding ground of Islamic radicalism.
To figure out if this is true, a group of American researchers surveyed more than 1500 Pakistanis who went on the pilgrimage to Mecca in 2006. They discovered that these men had overcome great obstacles to make the trip. It costs arond $2500 to go to Mecca, and that's three times the annual salary of a typical Pakistani. Still, nearly 140,000 Pakistanis applied to go in 2006. Only 80,000 visas were granted by the Saudi government.
Since the Saudis granted their visas based on lottery, the researchers had the clever idea of comparing the attitudes of those who returned from Mecca to those who didn't get to go. They wanted to see if the pilgrimage to Mecca strengthened or undermined Islamic radicalism. Incredibly, the researchers found that the Pakistanis who went to Mecca returned with attitudes more moderate and less sympathetic to Islamic fanaticism and terrorism.
But isn't Mecca dominated by radical clerics who, when they aren't eating or sleeping, lead chants of "Death to America"? This is the propaganda you hear from groups like memri.org that selectively publish material intended to give an exaggerated picture of the influence of the Muslim radicals. In reality, the overriding theme of the visit to Mecca is the traditional theme of universal Muslim brotherhood.
No surprise: pilgrims returning fro Mecca were 25 percent less likely to hold that different tribes or ethnicities could not live in harmony. Remarkably, pilgrims were also more likely to believe that all religions can co-exist. Moreover, the Pakistanis who went to Mecca were less approving of suicide bombings and other such tactics as the Pakistanis who stayed back.
Call this the Mecca effect. I predicted it in my book The Enemy at Home, in which I argued that America can find common ground with traditional believers and not just anti-Muslim activists like Hirsi Ali. The results of the Mecca effet, and the study cited here, are beautifully outlined in a recent article in the online magazine Slate written by Professor Ray Fisman of Columbia University. You can read the article here.
Yes, I know that the Islamophobes will come back with their regularly-recyled quotations from the Koran about "killing all the infidels" and so on. But equally alarming quotations can also be found in the Old Testament. The important thing is to see how those texts have been interpreted and how people have acted upon them. Muslims have had many empires through the centuries: the Ummayad, the Abassid, the Mughal, the Ottoman, and so on. Tens of millions of Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians have lived under Muslim rule. In any Muslim empire was it either policy or practice to systematically kill all the non-Muslims? No.
So we have to learn to think afresh and to take into account real evidence. Prejudice against practicing Muslims and against religious believers in general is rife in certain segments of Western society. But such prejudices should not be the basis of making public policy.
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 19)
16. One apologist deserves another.
Mokele Mbembe at 9:25AM on May 30th 2008
17. Reaganite, you are displaying a gross ignorance of satire. I was being fascetious to make a point of how ignorant and short-sighted president bush is. Fine, put China in there instead of Korea. Or how about the Aleuts up north there. Hell, any Asian would do for bush and his cronies, as long as money was to be made from the invasion.
"Gross ignorance of history...." (....LMAO)
America's Most Gangsta at 9:31AM on May 30th 2008
18. fanmari,
"where are the masses of moderate Muslims chanting "we are not like them!""
They are out there, and they have done this, you just don't pat attention to it. The mainstream news was busy giving the latest update on Britney's antics that day.
Mokele Mbembe at 9:34AM on May 30th 2008
19. Thanks Moke; I wasn't watching Britney, but I've yet to see the "masses" that I was referring to. If I'm guilty of using too broad a brush, I'll pay closer attention.
fanmanaf1 at 9:39AM on May 30th 2008
20. THE DEVIL EFFECT
"CALGARY - Hard-working, devoted father Joshua Lall heard voices in his head and believed he was possessed by the devil before the mass killing that claimed his life and four others, sources told the Calgary Herald."
"About two weeks ago, Lall began acting strangely and work stresses seemed to be bothering him a great deal, police sources said."
"Others familiar with the case were more specific, saying Lall expressed fears he was possessed by the devil."
Lall made his pilgrimage to the insanity of belief that included the possibility of being possessed by a non-existent being known as the Devil.
Very sad.
Peter at 9:42AM on May 30th 2008
21. fanmanaf1 (I misspelled real bad before),
Ever heard of anti-defamation and anti-discrimination leagues? Muslims have several that I can list:
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Muslim Public Affairs Council
Arab American Institute
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Mokele Mbembe at 9:53AM on May 30th 2008
22. Even Britney has an anti-defamation following. We can only hope that extravagantly wealthy struggling pop stars with irresponsible lifestyles will someday be treated as equals. "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!"
Mokele Mbembe at 9:56AM on May 30th 2008
23. Maybe Dinesh D'Souza ought to travel to the Atheist Mecca, "The Amazing Meeting" and debate tens of Atheists and non-theists ALL at once and in round robin passion. Let's see if you can hold up against the full onslaught of intensely clear minds.
"http://www.randi.org/joom/component/option,com_registrationpro/Itemid,33/func,details/did,1/"
Peter at 9:59AM on May 30th 2008
24. I'm so confused... did someone hack Dinesh's blog?
I kid, I kid, actually, this is a good post, and for the first time almost a year, I agree with DD.
PS: However, because I don't trust him, I'm assuming that he's laying the ground work for a thesis that says that if the cashier at Lowes says "happy holidays" then Christians will become radicalized and blow stuff up, all of which will be the the liberal atheists fault.
Ryan Anderson at 10:01AM on May 30th 2008
25. Your crisis of faith has been seen by others Dinesh D'Souza. At some point it may well fracture. Which is why you want to surround yourself with clear thinking individuals who can help save you by assisting with your deprogramming back to sanity.
Peter at 10:03AM on May 30th 2008
26. Look there is nothing unusual about the results of that study, if it's accurate that is.
When large groups of people get together "group bonding" can take effect especially when a "common purpose" is shared by the people.
It's this "common purpose", going to mecca in this case, that provides the common ground. This experience can provide people insights into others they didn't know of before. They get to meet others and see for themselves how others that they might have feared before aren't that much different from themselves even if there are substantial cultural differences.
This applies to all kinds of other group situations around the world that have nothing to do with religion or belief in super natural monsters and demons (god).
Naturally the opposite can hold for the mecca situation as the people there are tightly focused and they can be manipulated by the propaganda of a few leaders. So it could be used for great evil as well. It's an excellent place for a few to meet and plan their evil acts under the cover of one's duty to their religion.
It just takes a few rotten apples to spoil the basket. As we are learning the other fresh apples (aka clear thinkers without delusional beliefs) to fight back against the influence of those rotten delusional ones such as Dinesh D'Souza.
Sorry, but yes, belief in god excludes one from being a clear thinker by definition.
The scientific method is about discovering the world and drawing conclusions that fit the facts.
Religion is about projecting conclusions onto the world and distorting what one sees to fit those conclusions.
Clear thinking is about clearing the mind from all beliefs and any leaps of faith one might have. Clear thinking is about separating what is really real from what is fantasy. Clear thinking is about living in the real world as much as humanly possible. Clear thinking is freedom from the thought control of beliefs and faith. Clear thinking is freedom from the thought control of others. Clear thinking leads to sanity for those infected with the zombie rising from the dead belief syndrome. In a metaphoric way clear thinking leads to a euphoric rising from the living death of belief and faith that so many human beings walk around with.
Come and talk with atheists in your neighborhood and come to learn how to think clearly and rid yourself of belief and faith.
Come to the amazing meeting and begin your new life by taking the first steps into clear thinking. A new world of objective reality awaits you in the here and now rather than that nihilistic utopia of the afterlife. Live your life NOW as there'll be plenty of time to not exist later.
http://www.randi.org/joom/component/option,com_registrationpro/Itemid,33/func,details/did,1/
Peter at 10:19AM on May 30th 2008
27. Finally a double D post I don't have a beef with.
I know he didn't say anything about non-believers, but hey - if this is as close as he can get, maybe one day if he takes a pilgrimage he might just come back with a little less prejudices in his pocket.
TJ at 10:22AM on May 30th 2008
28. The content of DD's article doesn't offend me, but the context I dare not to trust. He has exhibited before a pattern of defending Islam to support his thesis that "religion is better than no-religion...", and then attack it the next day to steer the thesis to "...but my religion is best, so everyone should convert to it or else they are evil".
Mokele Mbembe at 10:32AM on May 30th 2008
29. Hah. I can always find some beef with DD, because he rarely shows depth in his articles.
For example, if it costs around $2500 to go to Mecca, where do these Hadjists stand in Pakistani society? Did the researchers note their relative financial class, and were the non-Hadjists in the same class as those who went to Mecca?
It is well known that many of the radical extremists are recruited from the dismally poor and underserved population, and who would NEVER have a chance to go to Mecca.
Without those data, the study is suspect because of the above.
It's never as simple as DD makes it out to be.
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And HERE'S the DD typical agenda:
"So we have to learn to think afresh and to take into account real evidence. Prejudice against practicing Muslims AND AGAINST RELIGIOUS BELIEVERS IN GENERAL (emphasis mine) is rife in certain segments of Western society. But such prejudices should not be the basis of making public policy"
Therein lies the bullshit. He has some nerve, writing about "prejudices". He's the most anti-atheist bigot around, next to the Rev and Observant.
Linda at 10:42AM on May 30th 2008
30. Going on a pilgramage and coming back less likely to hate or kill someone isnt a new phenomenon. Think about the weeks leading up to vacation for an overworked man in the US. The week after vacation is peaceful and then soon, you are back in the grind or rut, whichever you prefer.
I would like to see them study groups of people for a two year time period, one year before and one year after the pilgrimage to document how the persons attitudes changed; whether or not the people went back to their old ways or if the pilgrimage really changed their overall perspective.
CaptainCack at 10:47AM on May 30th 2008