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A leading scholar on Islam says dialogue, understanding and friendship can bridge gaps between the western and Muslim worlds.

"And this friendship is crucial in our world, where the divisions and chasms between us seem so large," Akbar S. Ahmed said. "If we are friends, we can't go and blow each other up."

Ahmed's keynote address Thursday, "A Failure of Imagination: Thinking About Culture, Tradition and Society After 9/11," opened a three-day conference at St. Vincent College in Unity Township titled, "the West at War."

Since Sept. 11, 2001, "Islam itself has become worthy of discussion and debate" in the West, said Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and professor of international relations at American University in Washington, D.C.

With 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, 7 million of whom live in the United States, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, "it is imperative that we understand Islam," he said. "Whether you like Islam or you don't, you must learn something about it."

Ahmed cited the Arabic word, "asabiyya," which means group loyalty, as the root of conflicts between the western and Muslim worlds. More aptly, "hyper-asabiyya," or extreme loyalties, "which easily translates into violence," he said.

"Victims of aggression in one part of the world become aggressors in another ... and no society is immune," Ahmed added. "They all fall back to perverted notions of honor and revenge in times of crisis."

Ahmed, the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain, has advised President George Bush and England's Prince Charles on Islam.

A distinguished anthropologist, writer and filmmaker, Ahmed has been engaged in public dialogues across the country and abroad with Dr. Judea Pearl, father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

"The events of Sept. 11 appeared to push the world toward a clash of civilizations," he said, listing some of the questions swirled in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

Most prevalent was, "why do they hate us?" Ahmed admitted.

"But we are not providing the right answers. We heard very simplistic media responses from the majority of commentators. This was a massive failure."

Ahmed noted that Osama bin Laden "is a household name in the West," while virtually all Arab scholars are not. "And the fact that all 19 of the highjackers were Muslim condemned by association every Muslim on the planet."

And, while western news reports ran under banners of "America Under Siege," he said, "Muslims have also felt under siege."

The failures "can be corrected," Ahmed concluded. "Not by academics or media, but through encouraging dialogue, reading about each other and talking to each other and through friendship."

Greater Latrobe High School student Aldo Prosperi asked Ahmed whether the forceful introduction of democracy will help or hurt the Muslim world.

"I feel that democracy has to come," Ahmed said. "But not as a favor that the West is doing. It's something that it must discover on its own."

There are slow signs that it is coming, he added. "And that gives me hope, but it's not a black-and-white issue. We have to move toward open, free elections with fixed, limited terms. If it takes root, it may be the greatest contribution of the western world, but at this stage, the jury's still out."

Ahmed was among 10 prominent speakers gathering at the college near Latrobe this week to discuss the broad cultural, philosophical, ethical, legal and military issues surrounding the war in Iraq.

The conference continues this morning with five speakers in the college's Science Center Amphitheater and concludes with four speakers Saturday afternoon in the Westmoreland Room in Placid Hall.

Ahmed complimented the college.

"Your reputation is spread far and wide," he said. "We, in Washington, hold you in high regard."

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