Between the idealism of the principles of the Way and the difficulties of daily life in the West, Muslims owe it to themselves to awaken their faith and their intellect in order to put forward rational and reasonable solutions to the challenges they face. It is also necessary that the injunctions of Islam, with its universality as well as its flexibility and its ability to adapt to times and places, be understood by the majority of Muslims. There is no doubt that this should be the first objective of Western Muslim communities: to disseminate a serious understanding of the Islamic universe of reference, with priority given to teaching ulama, intellectuals, and leaders of organizations. The enthusiasm we have already referred to and consider to be one of the basic assets of the Muslim presence in the West would make it possible for this work to be done effectively. A number of increasingly significant Muslim organizations and institutions are setting to work, but it will be necessary to organize work this more effectively. Eventually, a university-style program should emerge in all the Western countries that would be authentically anchored in the Islamic tradition while being in step both with the communities living in Europe and North America and with the realities of their respective environments.
At the present time, it is already possible within the various communities to set up an Islamic educational program that is both demanding and open, respectful of traditions and progressive—in short, a “reformist Islam” that follows the guidance of the Prophetic tradition that we have already referred to and that told us to renew our reading of it in history. Intercommunal dialogue must be established quickly and in depth with all the partners who have a desire for it, and they are many. On the local level, it is already possible to engage in fruitful internal dialogue by avoiding three areas that are unavoidable sources of division: the historical preeminence of one or another train of thought over others, and, above all, leadership and money. The wisest way to begin a dialogue is by concentrating on teaching and on limited shared projects, by collaborating and by achieving at least mutual recognition of the other’s right to exist. In some cases, collaboration has even led to a change of direction in the involvement of the parties in order to encourage a healthy complementarity rather than insidious competition.
This endogenous dynamic needs time and patience because it naturally follows the slow rhythm of mentality change. The program therefore requires the development of a calm and confident self-image; this is why it is necessary to construct the future by building on the assets we have spoken of and their inherent dynamics, spreading an adapted program of education while articulating clearly and very audibly a discourse on the necessity of entering fully into citizenship. The emergence of a new Islamic consciousness, Islamically educated and rooted in an assured and active citizenship, embracing women as well as men, will by its nature lead to the development of an increasingly detailed and articulated Islamic discourse, whose objective is to speak out and be understood, not to please and simply be tolerated. In the meantime, Muslims should demand more than toleration. An individual may be tolerated while being ignored. The basic purpose is to achieve respect: one truly respects others only by seeing them and by having an exchange with them through the development of better mutual understanding. Our differences, known and admitted, should call us, which is why Western Muslims must normalize their presence without trivializing it. In every area of life, when they try to find solutions that will make it possible for them to live true to their principles, they can show their fellow-citizens that there are perhaps other ways, and that in any case one must search and never give up but always press on and try with all one’s being to build what is to be, to strive for the ideal. At the heart of this interaction, Muslims will inevitably find the universal dimensions of their message and try to bear witness to them. Priority must be given to achieving this opening up of minds and hearts: to be oneself not in opposition to the Other but alongside him, with him, dealing with our differences in active proximity, not in the isolated corners of our intellectual and social ghettos.
With an assured faith, firm teaching, and active dialogue both within and outside their communities, Muslims will acquire a self-awareness that is anything but shriveled and nervous. The critical, and sometimes selfcritical, spirit that will be born of this multidimensional process will allow them to become assured as people who knows what they hold (a universal message), have a sense of the purpose of life (to travel toward and be faithful to the Source), are aware of their responsibility (to be faithful to the original covenant), and, finally, seek to make their lives a sign, a gift, an enrichment (the meaning of bearing witness).
