Page 349 - A Call for a Turkish-Islamic Union

Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar

vancements in communications technology, in particular the

Internet. Some Muslims view globalization as the carrier of
Western culture, and thus consider it to be a negative develop-
ment. In reality, however, this process enables the whole world
to enter into an intense cultural dialogue with itself in a common
language. Globalization also makes it easier for Muslims to ac-
cess information and increase their cooperation and dialogue
with each other to previously unseen levels. In effect, globaliza-
tion has been an important catalyst for the Islamic world's ongo-

ing enlightenment.
The Internet, an important gift to all of humanity, demon-
strates the vast growth in dialogue between Muslims. Thanks to
it, joint efforts expanded and the possibility of accessing infor-
mation increased and diversified. As a result, whole new gener-
ations that think, read, develop ideas, and produce solutions

were born across the world. Dr. Farish A. Noor, a Malaysian po-
litical scientist who teaches at Freie University of Berlin as visit-
ing professor, says the following about globalization's effect on
the Islamic world:
As a result of improving communications technology and facil-
itating the freeflow of information and knowledge, Muslims are
now free (or freer) to go directly to the core of Islamic learning
itself: The major texts, narratives and ideas of Islamic thought
are no longer confined to rare books stored in remote libraries…

One of the consequences of this breakdown of traditional hier-
archies and rigid educational structures is the creation of new
Islamically-conscious and educated constituencies. Access to
Islamic texts and knowledge has meant that Muslim women
and lay Muslims are also allowed to learn, discuss and com-
ment more about Islam. This is happening all over the Muslim
world thanks to the creation of global Islamist networks... 54

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