Mecca-n it worse

Ayu, who used to be based in the Aceh office and has transferred to Jakarta, appeared today after returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca. She brought delicious raisins and chocolate-covered dates. God bless the Middle East and its perfect dried fruit-producing climate.

The Masjid Raya in the centre of Banda Aceh was an important shelter for both prayer and practicalities during the tsunami, and is arresting in its size and grandeur. It's been under development for a while and with huge sun awnings and towers under construction, after the renovasi it will resemble the mosques that people try to visit in Saudi Arabia at least once in their lifetime. But typically for moderate Indonesia, they only go if they aren't saving for a new roof or a child's wedding.

As with the incredibly different ways Christianity is followed by millions in the UK, so many conversations I have with Indonesians remind me how incredibly differently Islam is interpreted by different people, and how there is seemingly little judgement towards those who take it less seriously. Rina, who's very devout, was chuckling because last Friday lunchtime, when men are obligated to visit the mosque, many of the team remained upstairs, laughing at YouTube clips. At the weekend I learnt of Ribut's love of Bintang beer. As long as things aren't done directly under the nose of the sharia police, very little will happen. And even though Indonesia follows Islam more liberally than most places, I've had enough conversations to know that it's likely very similar across the Muslim world.

The way Islam is vilified in the West is one of the travesties of our time. An ignorant ex-schoolmate shared a video on Facebook with a supporting caption of something like 'finally someone tells it like it is'. Inside a moronic American woman bawls that 25% of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims have destroying Western society as their goal. 'Telling it like it is' have become bywords for 'talking absolute shit'.

If people cannot articulate themselves except through hysterical sensationalism then I wish they would learn to zip it. It's true there are fundamental ideological differences between atheists and the followers of various religions, but in terms of the West vs Islam rhetoric, Islam would feel less threatening to Westerners if they avoided turning it into a campaign of hatred and over-simplification. Four hundred thousand Muslims are not currently plotting the downfall of the West, but the number of the most extreme radicals could very well increase if particular western governments and media establishments don't start to demonstrate some nuanced thinking.

A mere hint of it would be an improvement. Theresa. Donald. Rupert.