ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: Lack of knowledge about Islam has made the West speculate and brand Muslims as terrorists. This was stated by Dr Mohammad Wasim, dean of the faculty of the social sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University , and author of many books. He was giving a lecture on 'Islam, Terrorism and West' here on Friday.

Dr Wasim said the West should have more knowledge about Islam. It bombarded East with its ideas, but there was no flow of information about Islamic values from this side of the world, he said.

He said there had been acute westernization in Asia, adding that "we have borrowed their laws, rules, education and clothes". The first characteristic the West attached with the Muslim world was understanding contemporary Muslim societies through scriptural text.

"We are trying to understand each other through scriptures instead of developing contextual understanding and mutuality of thought and philosophy. Terrorism is based on analysis of text and not context, which was complicated," he said.

Dr Wasim said hardly anyone talked about the ways Muslim societies evolved. Nobody saw how Muslims lived in their homes as neighbours and as communities. Stating dominant strategies that followed to remove confusion between Islam and the West, he said people were getting involved in interfaith dialogue.

"They do not realize that nature of conflict between the West and Muslims was not religious but political and economical. Interfaith dialogue is not the solution," he added.

"Civilization is in itself not for itself. States and trans- states operated in them," he said. "Billions are going into educational reforms. It is a positive step. There is message of hate in curricula and efforts are being made to de-demonize books not only in Madressahs but also in mainstream education," Dr Wasim said.

He said it would take generations before the impact of this initiative was felt because it was being taken over by media that was full of controversial stories of conflict. And, people can end up taking sides when they see tanks killing unarmed youths, he added.

"America's policy of regime change through occupation and to maintain bases in the Middle East such as in Iraq or in Afghanistan has produced radicalism that is not matched. There is agitation and insecurity from what has happened in the Middle East.

He said terrorist incidents were symbolic in act as they left strong messages. "The symbol must be understood in the context of its root cause," he added. Clash of civilization was curse of modern times and we must do everything to stop its emergence, Dr Wasim stressed.