MEDIA DETERMINES WESTERNERS IMAGE TO ISLAM

Munchen, 23 Jumadil Akhir 1434/2 May 2013 (MINA) – A media has an important role in effecting the society on their image to Islam. It can also urge their community to engage more with the image of Islam.

In  European countries, such as France, Britain, and the Netherlands, the survey people saw Islam in a more positive light than does Germany.

German Muslims agree that media has an important effect on their image, urging their community to engage more with the society to correct their image.

 “In the media we often see a very distorted picture of Islam,” Aiman Mazyek, chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, said.

He added that the negative perception could be due to the lack of personal contact between Christians and Muslims. On Islam quoted as monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

To overcome this negative perception, Mazyek urged Muslims to engage more with the society by doing a social activities.

 “The Muslims have to roll up their shelves, get more involved in society and make it clear that they are committed to this country,” he said.

Germany has between 3.8 and 4.3 million Muslims, making up some 5 percent of the total 82 million population, according to government-commissioned studies.

Fear of Islam in Germany is not new. An earlier study in 2010 by the University of Munster found that 66 percent of western Germans and 74 percent of eastern Germans had a negative attitude towards Muslims.

A more recent study from the Allensbach Institute suggested that this had not changed over the past two years.

Asking Germans about Islam, only 22 percent said they agreed with Germany’s former president Christian Wulff’s statement that Islam, like Christianity, was part of Germany.

Reflecting a distorted image of Islam in the media, a new study has found that half of Germans see Islam as a threat to their country and does not fit into the Western world.

The study looked into the views on the social significance of religion and values in 13 European countries.

This opinion was shared in many western states.This applies to 60 percent of Spaniards, 50 percent of the Swiss and 42 percent of US citizens. In contrast, in India, only 30 percent see Islam as a threat, while in South Korea it was only 16 percent.

These results, Pollack said, were related to the educational level of Muslims in each country.

“In Germany we have very few highly educated people among immigrants,” he said.

“That influences people’s attitudes, especially towards the Muslim immigrants.”(T/P05/P04)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)