Islam, the faith and (presumably) way of life of over a billion Muslims all over the globe, is still misunderstood and mis-represented. This is hard to digest at a time when the media is so powerful in reaching almost any spot on this miserable planet. It is ironic to see starving kids (in the unfortunate world) wearing Micky Mouse T-shirts (which never relieve hunger), and to learn that a great faith and way of life which re-shaped history, is still unknown or ill-known by both its followers and outsiders (general spectators and critics alike). What's going on here? Conspiracy? Crusades? Other scapegoats?
These are the easy answers that we, muslims, barricade ourselves behind to justify our poor performance. I'm not overlooking the other factors, neither the fact that despite all of this, Islam still appeals to a large and rapidly growing crowd all over the globe. But it hutrs to learn that a single person turns away because of "bad muslim examples" - whether intentional or not - or due to poisonous lies in the guise of "Islamic facts" in the media (cyberspace included).
The problem arises mainly from an overlooked basic fact:That Muslims themselves studied very little about Islam. We sometimes mix Islam with tradition or take it for granted without thinking (a basic Islamic ingredient). This dilemma gets amplified when Muslims travel to other countries without a sizable Muslim population. Here, the law of "mass action " no longer applies, and we become responsible for 'teaching' others. There is nothing wrong in travelling abroad for studies or work. After all, Islam entered a number of countries when Muslim merchants set good examples there. The flux of knowledge-seeking people was the other way round before.
Upon facing a new challenging environment - where the locals know nothing about us (if not stereotypes), we are faced with a 9.5 culturequake with everlasting after shocks. Armed with very little (if only true!) to say about Islam, and due to the lack of presentation skills (language and environment-specific methodology), we end up saying something completely different from what we mean, or we imply it by the way we behave. The locals rarely appreciate the above limitations and both of us lose.
What is even worse, is when we end up classifying the local society as evil, enemies of God, or a bona fide real estate in Hell - only because neither of us understands the other. A consequence of this is either a state of complete seperation, isolation and apprehension leading to a ghetto-like "we" and "they", or even worse when a new comer dissolves and loses both his/her identity and the respect of others.
How about making a committment to dedicate a five-minute effort to add to our knowledge on a daily basis? Let's bear in mind that making the Islamic knowledge and awareness in everyone's reach is a duty, but forcing it down the throat of anyone (by whatever means) is a sin: "Let there be no compulsion in Diin, for truth is easily distinguished from falsehood." [the rough meaning of Qur'an 2:256].