In reality history should have been written differently. As a nation that considers proselytization as one of its main purposes, Muslims should have led the way in the media revolution using mass communication as a way of delivering the message of Islam and a means of communicating with the wider world.
As Muslims we have been behind in using modern technology but fundamentally it is still never too late to invest in the media. And I don’t just mean financial investment. Money is essentially important for any business or project to succeed, but what we really need to invest is our time, effort and attention on understanding how we can use the media to help the Ummah rise up in finding a solution to the problems of today.
Yes, setting up Islamic websites on the Internet, that cater for the intellectual needs of ordinary Muslims costs money, but at the end of the day to make these websites appealing, stimulating and gratifying effort and hard work is needed more than money.
The nature of dawa (missionary work) on the Internet is easy and could be enriched by the participation of enthusiastic and energetic youngsters who have gained experience and training to conduct online dawa.
With money we can easily establish the media infrastructure, but creating a glamorous professional media-savvy person requires time and patience. In order to understand the environment of the media, to comprehend the opportunities and challenges, and to make a name in the media, requires practice, hard work, a sense of being able to negotiate obstacles, endurance and an ability to apply oneself into the essence of media work.
For quite some time, the Zionists and pro-Israel lobby have understood this and have been able to manipulate the media for their own propaganda. In fact, some Zionists say “whoever owns gold owns the world” and “whoever controls the media controls the world”. These quotes are very insightful. The media is easily able to influence people and manufacture a worldview no matter how inaccurate and untrue that may be. New ideas, ideologies, emotions, values, trends and interests in relation to marginal things such as sport, art, cooking and fashion can be conjured and manufactured through the media in simple but effective ways.
For example, Hollywood films have succeeded in convincing many Westerners that Buddhism is the world’s most spiritual and humane religion. Some may wonder what the reason behind this is. Hollywood’s love affair with Buddhism began when the Japanese began buying Hollywood stocks worth billions of dollars and thus gaining muscle to influence the film industry to serve their religion.
The power of the media is profound, the media is known to be able to cover up and sideline important issues in contemporary political discourse. In a scattered and confusing world, mixing facts and diverting attention is something very easy.
An example of this would be the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in the Jenin refugee in April 2002. Although the then Israeli foreign minister admitted that what happened in Jenin camp was a massacre, the wider world was left ignorant and absent-minded about the facts — proof of how the media can cover up the truth and ignore the facts. In fact, Red Cross employees described the situation in Jenin to be similar to what happened in Berlin in 1945 after World War II.
The sadness, pain and horror of the Muslim Ummah is known but where are the Muslim journalists to picture, write and cover our pain and tragedy? Who is there to counter the propaganda of the Zionist media and turn Western public opinion against blatant propagation of the supporters of Israel?
