AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): International journalist Jonathan Power has criticized what he calls the West’s biased and selective view of Islam, arguing that such perspectives reinforce fear and misunderstanding. Writing in a recent analysis, he points to Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations” theory as a framework that has deepened Islamophobia and distorted perceptions of Muslim societies.
Power stresses that Islam has never been the source of ideologies such as Nazism, fascism, or communism. Compared to Christianity and even some Eastern traditions, he argues, Islamic history shows a more constructive response to extremist or violent movements. He notes that the Ottoman Empire provided refuge to Jews expelled from Spain and to persecuted Protestant communities in Europe, a fact often overlooked in Western narratives that highlight only negative episodes of Islamic history.
Today, he adds, many Muslim-majority societies demonstrate stronger social safety than Western counterparts, with cities such as Cairo, Jakarta, and Tunis reporting lower rates of murder and sexual violence.
Power also criticizes U.S. domestic policy, claiming that post-9/11 fears of terrorism primarily benefited the arms industry, despite the statistically minimal risk of Americans being killed in terrorist attacks.
He concludes that Western discourse on Islam remains largely superficial and misinformed, and warns that persisting in this approach could ultimately undermine the very foundations of Western civilization.
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