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present and that they avoid to present. Both of which are meant to correct the negative stereotypes and inadequate knowledge of Islam currently prevalent in the mainstream society.
5.1 Enriching Sources and Correcting Information about Islam and Muslims
The first strategy that all of the interviewees wanted to display is the diversification of sources and correction of information on Islam and Muslims.
In terms of diverse sources, the interviewees all agree that sources of knowledge about Islam and Muslims in Taiwanese mass media are rare. Meanwhile, they believe the lack of diverse sources is one of the most significant reasons why people have very little understanding of Muslims. It is therefore the great responsibility of these Taiwanese Muslims to provide the Taiwanese general public with correct and adequate knowledge. As Ameenah said:
“The [mass] media often exaggerates things that do not have any relation whatsoever to the Islamic religion during news reports. Many people acquire negative impressions of Islam after watching the news. Even if they are willing to search for information on the Internet, they may come across incorrect information. Muslims have the responsibility to deliver the right
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knowledge [of Islam]. It is not okay for the society to possess the wrong perceptions anyway.”
Although the extent varies, all of the interviewees believe that they ought to offer information about Islam to help society acquire better knowledge of the religion and the group of people that believe in it. They furthermore intend to provide not only information on the religion but also information that are true and accurate.
Nadir was convinced that providing correct information would help people build better impressions of Muslims. He said:
“Most people in Taiwan are able to formulate fair perceptions after explanation and analysis. I believe that Taiwanese people, especially the younger generations, are flexible in terms of perception if they are given adequate access to the correct information.”
By correct, the interviewees said that the knowledge Taiwanese people possess is not always completely false. Constant misrepresentations of Muslims in mass media however do vilify the religion and Muslims who believe in the religion. The interviewees indicated that the image of extremists on TV only demonstrates the behavior of a tiny group of radicals and is not representative of Islam. However, instead of denying the existence of radical Muslims, they choose to present what they
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believe is the truth, for example the fact that the majority of Islam promotes peace and hospitality.
As Firas said：
“Actually, many Taiwanese people [non-Muslim] possess a little knowledge of Islam. But they often get it wrong…For example, people have often asked me questions like ‘Do you really need to shower every time before you pray?’ or ’How can you not eat anything during the entire Ramadan? ’…… I believe that it is better for them to ask me questions rather than search for answers online. It may be the only chance for them in their lifetime to encounter me [as a Muslim] and come to me with questions.
Of course, I have to try my best to provide them with the correct answers!”
In addition to reversing the horrifying images of Muslim in the news, some of the interviewees attempted to present the multiple aspects of the Muslim lifestyle. The information they offer is not necessarily about religious doctrines. Many of them consider the political, economic and social turbulences occurring in areas where Muslims lives important information for the Taiwanese who are usually unable to obtain these types of information through mass media. The difficult and arduous life of foreign Muslims who live in war zones, the Syrian people suffering from civil war for instance, were examples frequently given during the interviews that the
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interviewees also like to post on Facebook. As Hazim said:
“I hope my friends learn that there are many Arabs living in miserable conditions. It’s terrible that the news media in Taiwan often equates ISIS with Arabs and Islam. I want people to understand that there is no absolute connection between race and religion.”
Other interviewees did not give explicit examples, but they did consider it their responsibility to provide information. As Basim said:
“Most of the time you don’t see what happens abroad on the [mass] media in Taiwan. People like us who are constantly receiving information on the Middle East are obliged to share what we know with others. I believe that anyone [Taiwanese] who has ever lived abroad would agree with the idea that ‘we have to let the Taiwanese people know what is really going on out there.”
For the interviewees, to build the image as a source of information means that they may have to paying more attention to the contents they post on their timelines. To some extent, all of the interviewees show anxiety about the correctness and legitimacy of information they share. They tend to avoid expressing opinions on issues that they are not familiar with, even when they are hot topics about Islam and Muslim. As
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Ameenah said:
“Once, one of my friends tagged me in his post and asked me a question about Muslims and Islam. I didn’t respond to the question directly because it involves a great amount of interdisciplinary knowledge that I don’t have.”
Another example for the contents that the interviewees avoid sharing is the
information they do not consider acceptable. For example, Abbas mentioned that he would never share news about Ashura Day, which is one of the biggest religious commemoration in Shi'a Muslims’ traditions and most of Sunni Muslims do not recognize it. As he said:
“There are some special holidays as Ashura from other sects, they would publicly thrash themselves with chains and then bleed a lot……I would not want to post events like that because I do not believe in it. My God tells me that there are only two festivals [Eid Fitr and Eid Adha] in a year.”
Firas also possess the similar opinions toward the misbehaviors conducted by Muslims, even the Muslims who misbehave are not Taiwanese.
“Once I read the news about that the royal family in Saudi Arabia traffick in illicit liquor. It is against our religious disciplines. I would not want to
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disseminate cases like that.”