There are many faces of Islam and we do an injustice to its believers' faith if we fail to recognise their diversity. We should not judge the world's 1.4 billion Muslims, who are the majority in 48 different countries, as if they are one homogeneous whole. We should be especially wary of claims to speak on all their behalf by extremist reactionaries who make equally sweeping assumptions about the inherent hostility and incompatibility of western beliefs towards them. In fact, these are a tiny minority of Muslims. Detailed reporting shows their simplified views distort and betray the real human complexity and range of Islamic beliefs.
These are among the major conclusions drawn by Mary Fitzgerald from the series of more than 30 articles published in this newspaper since last May on the general theme "Under the Crescent, The Many Faces of Islam". She is the inaugural winner of the Douglas Gageby Fellowship. It is awarded annually by The Irish Times Trust to a young journalist working on a project of major Irish and international importance and offering a valuable service to readers of this newspaper. Informed and investigating journalism has a central role to play in encouraging understanding, dialogue, argument and tolerance between different cultures and civilisations - and within them, since there are also many faces of Christianity and secularism.
That this theme has huge contemporary relevance is shown by many events this year. The series began shortly after the international furore over the Danish magazine cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. It continued through the highly destructive war between Israel and Lebanon. Pope Benedict XVI's citation of a 14th century emperor who described Islam as "evil and inhuman" fanned the issue. It will be taken further when he visits Turkey next month. This comes as the reforming Islamic government decides how to manage a crisis in its continuing bid to join the EU, arising from a growing feeling on both sides that this is a step too far. Other tensions include increasingly shrill debates in Britain, Australia, France and elsewhere on Muslim integration.
Bad journalism plays a prominent role in fanning such tensions. Images of extreme religious belief among Muslims are often projected into public debate by sensationalist headlines and distorting stories. This should be identified and criticised by all concerned. But just as it is wrong to reduce civilisations or world religions to such simple stereotypes, so it is wrong to characterise all media as equally failing in truthful reportage and commentary. Media too are multiple and plural.
This series has shown how important it is to meet individual Islamic believers. It is they who actually do the talking. Today's concluding article in this series contains a reprise of a number of the people covered. They emphasise a rich diversity of belief among contemporary Muslims and voice a well-informed suspicion that those who deny this often have their own narrow interests at play.