ISVARI MOHAN: The refugees are the solution

People say that Muslim refugees are the problem. But they’re actually a solution: a solution to a much larger problem we’re not fully aware of.

This is a shocking statement, for sure. But more shocking is the rate at which the world is becoming more Muslim, and the West’s fear and inability to handle it.

The major foreign policy problem in the world today is what to do with Islam, the world’s fastest growing religion. We shouldn’t skirt around the issue or pretend that it’s “refugees” that are the problem. The problem is, quite clearly, that they are not just any refugees. They are Muslim refugees.

By 2050, the number of Muslims will equal the number of Christians around the world, become 10 percent of the population in Europe, and surpass the number of Jews in the United States. Muslims are growing at a rate of 73%, while the overall population is only growing at a rate of 35% on average, according to  Pew Research.

So learning to deal with them is not a choice. We’re going to have to live with them, to work with them, to govern with them, and to make “them” a little less “them” and a little more “us.”

The refugee crisis, therefore, is not a new problem. It’s just speeding up a problem that always existed. And this may be a good thing.

Here are 5 somewhat stereotypical facts about Islam, courtesy of a Pew Research poll:
• The vast majority of Muslims, often above 85 percent, believe that prostitution, homosexuality, suicide, sex outside marriage, drinking alcohol, abortion, and euthanasia are moral wrongs. (By the way, so do most Christians.)
• In most Muslim countries, Islam is officially the favored religion and there is majority support for religious courts.
• While sharia law seems obviously incompatible with democracy, many Muslims don’t think so. In fact, a majority of Muslims in many countries support Sharia being the official law.
• The vast majority of Muslims in Asia, the Middle East and Africa believe that a wife must obey her husband.
• Muslims around the world are more worried about Muslim extremist groups than Christian extremist groups.

So what’s the good news based on the same Pew poll?
• The vast majority of Muslims say religious freedom is a good thing and a solid majority prefers democracy over a strong leader.
• Muslims in Southern/Eastern Europe are much more likely to believe that sharia should only apply to Muslims, that religious courts and leaders are a bad idea, that homosexuality, sex outside marriage, and drinking alcohol are acceptable, and even that belief in God is not necessary.
• Muslims in Europe also believe much less than their international counterparts that a wife must obey her husband. Eighty-six percent believe a wife has the right to divorce her husband. The majority say suicide bombing is rarely or never justified.
• Violent crime and class-based inequities are less severe among Muslims.
• The only Western country where a majority of Muslims think the lack of sharia law is bad is Russia (where they have as little democracy as Kanye West has humility).

The conclusion of all this is it seems clear that the values we support — democracy, cross-cultural sharing, and feminism — are not necessarily incompatible with Islam. Muslims in the West become more likely to support them over time.

The sad part is that most Muslims in Western countries still believe that their relations to the West are negative on average. While many Christians in many countries believe similarly “extreme” things about the role of religion in politics, abortion, homosexuality and divorce, we don’t accuse Christianity, even traditional Christianity, of being incompatible with democracy or modernization. And Islam isn’t per se incompatible either.

The future is clear: There are going to be lots of young Muslims in the world as the population explodes. A lot are going to be born in countries with fragile economies and safety. Pew Research shows that 60 percent of Muslims are under the age of 30, and they are going to want jobs. Fundamental Islam is not sustainable and makes the populace miserable, but young men and women without jobs are linked to extremism, political unrest, and violence.

If the current trend continues, they are not going to really understand anything about us. They are going to see our hatred for them. And they are going to hate us. Or, despite our fears, we can let them in. We can embrace the changing world and hope that they will change along with it – and that democracy and feminism and freedom will win out.

It is true that general equality, tolerance of homosexuality/other controversial behaviors, and democracy are rare in the Muslim world today. But if more Muslims live and grow with the West, then fewer Muslims back home will believe that these are evil things. Refugees may even provide the economic growth that Europe so badly needs.

Whether you are pro-refugee or not, we cannot relegate Muslims to a “Middle-Eastern problem” or fail to understand why they want what they want. The most popular Google searches out of Syria after medical issues like “hospital burns” are phrases like “immigration to Germany” and “maps of Europe.” They are trying to come, they will come, and it is not easy or healthy to stop them with violence.

What makes us the West and not Syria, Iraq, or Iran is that we are open to immigrants, liberal, and welcoming. Saying that Muslims are barbaric people who can never comprehend change – or who cling to antiquated ideals – is treating them like they treat us.

Islam is the fastest growing world religion and it is beneficial to all of us if Muslims at large learn to embrace democracy, freedom of expression, and human rights. Maybe we just need to learn to embrace them first.