Introduction
The statement ‘enemy is ignorance’ by Greg Mortenson means that education is the realization that allows people to view the world from the same perspective in order to create an understanding. Greg Mortenson was mostly talking about the girl education and the ignorance that the people in the United States and the United Kingdom have, about the Islamic religion. The ignorance that the societies have exhibited about Islam is what has brought hatred towards Islam.
Main body
The modern world requires people to be educated and get in the world of business by creating relationships with people especially those from the Muslim society. Otherwise, they will never discover what it is like to live in a society that is not characterized by violence and deaths. Also, ignoring the victims of war is wrong because when they are ignored they are not remembered to have existed. The Muslims view this as an offense to their religion. About Osama Bin Laden, the Pakistan people say that he is an American product because he had a good education but still decided to be involved in terrorism. Osama Bin Laden cannot be compared to the young men in Pakistan and Afghanistan who do not have an education and are used to violence. The fight against terrorism cannot be done with bombs but with education and the sooner people realize this they will support Greg Mortensons’ work in educating the Muslim kids.
My perception of Islam before reading this book is that Islam is one of the most popular religions found in the Middle East. It has gained popularity not because of its religious practices but because of the unending political wrangles and oil well wars. Political rivalry is very common in the religion causing war between nations. The Islamist believes in solving their wrangles through revenge which is often characterized by wars. The religion is often associated with terrorism due the large number of the reformist groups like the Al Qaeda and the Taliban. This perception is due to the cases of terrorism and hostilities that are associated with the religion. To evidence this, it harbors the most wanted terrorists on Earth who have committed the most grievous acts of terrorism1.
I perceived the Muslim religion to be a poor religion in terms of national wealth. The Middle East region has turned out to a battlefield, which means that the nationals have no time for economic activities. The religion is also associated with the dictatorial type of leadership. A good example is the leadership of Saddam Hussein of Iraq who turned the country into a war zone.
The nationals are extremists who stop at nothing but what they believe is justice. The leadership is faced by massive corruption and extra judicial murders. This portrays Islam, as one of the most dangerous and difficult religion to change. I thought that the Muslim men are very hostile to strangers in their territory who are not Muslim, compared to the women. I also had the perception that Islam is a male dominated religion and the women do not have a role in the decisions that are made concerning issues in the society because they are not educated and hence they cannot make informed decisions.
My perception about Islam after reading this book changed in a big way because I discovered that Muslims are compassionate and very accommodating people even to strangers. They do this by offering three cups of tea to a stranger; the first cup of tea symbolizes that one is stranger while the other one shows that one is a guest who is honored. The third cup of tea shows that one is family. This shows that Muslims love to build relationships with people.
When Greg Mortenson got lost on his way down to the bottom of K2 he collapsed in a village called Korphe after having made a mistake by taking a turn that was wrong. He describes the Muslim people as kind because when they found him, they took him to their shelters and took care of him until he got better. It is out of gratitude that he promised to go back in Korphe to build schools for their children2.
All Muslims are not terrorists, in fact majority of them are good. The Muslims love developments and are ready to welcome education so that they can reduce the poverty levels in their societies. The Muslims like people to respect their religion because it is just like any other religion. Islam is a dynamic religion because as much as the Muslims thought that education is bad for their girls they have come to see that educating a woman is educating the society.
Female education is a very important aspect in the developing world. This is because it helps women realize their rights and know how to deal with legal issues. This helps the women fight and demand for social and political change in the growing countries. Women are very good at changing the social ways and educating them facilitates change. In the Islamic religion for instance, the educated women were the founders of many learning institutions that helped to empower the women in the society.
Educating women also helps the developing society in poverty eradication. Educated women help in the major decision making and also contribute to the growth of the nations. The failure to educate the females is as a result of the gender inequality which is caused by male chauvinism. The women’s rights are violated and have no word in the society. This reduces their social esteem and hinders the growth that would arise from their creativity3.
Therefore, it is important to educate women so that they can be part of the societal growth and the cultural change in the society. Female education also helps in the improvement of the health of the society. This is because it enables women to adopt better nutrition habits and sanitation methods. This enables them to become wise decision makers in terms of the family health. They are able to avoid diseases such as HIV and Aids which hinder economic development.
Greg Mortenson is right by saying that terrorism in the world can be fought by provision of educational opportunities that are equal. Women need to be educated so that they can stop giving their sons permission to join the jihad where they are converted into suicide bombers. The jihad also makes then to get involved in events that involve violence. With education this women will pass this to the generation to come and change will be witnessed in Pakistan and other Muslim countries which are faced by terrorism crisis.
However, not all Muslims support education of women, for example the mullahs dread education because they thought that education would interfere with the religious faith and hence they were involved in the bombing of the schools that were for girls. Education helps the country to control the population because they get knowledge on how to control births. Also education helps in the reduction of mortality rates for infants.
Conclusion
Terrorism does not take place because the Muslims hate the other religions but it is because the Muslim children without education fail to get a future that secludes them from the society that they live in. With education they can make informed decision on whether to choose what they want to do with their lives regarding life and death. That is why Greg Mortenson said that he is not concerned about the terrorism, but about the little children who thirst for education to a point that they would rather walk so many kilometers to school and learn outside schools that are just makeshifts and do not have teachers to tutor them or the materials to be taught with.
By offering the Muslim girls and boys a chance to get an education instead of them attending the madrassa classes the whole time which are extreme, Greg Mortenson was staging a war but he was so lucky because some of the Muslim leaders in the village supported his work because they could see the trouble that he had gone through in order to get them schools.
Bibliography
Daughter, Laborer’s. Female Education: Its Importance, Designs, and Nature Considered (Charleston, SC: BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008), 155.
Hossein Seyyed. Islam: religion, history, and civilization (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003), 122.
Mortenson Greg and Oliver David. Three Cups of Tea (London. Penguin books.2008), 200.
Footnotes
- Seyyed Hossein.Islam: religion, history, and civilization (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003), 122.
- Greg Mortenson and David Oliver. Three Cups of Tea (London. Penguin books.2008), 200.
- Laborer’s Daughter. Female Education: Its Importance, Designs, and Nature Considered (Charleston, SC: BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008), 155.