“We have more in common than you would expect at first sight”

In the news, discussions and preaching the “West” and the “Islamic world” are often used as opposites. The West will be associated with sex, drugs and alcohol and the Islamic world with terrorism and the oppression of women.

People judge each other relentlessly, but do we really know what’s happening in that other world? Have we lived there? Have we been there? Do we actually know someone there? Unfortunately, the judgments are usually based on nothing more than the news and stories on social media.

If Donald Trump makes ridiculous statements about Muslims or Islam, he has no idea what he is talking about. The same holds for Imams who destroy Western values during lessons or sermons. In both cases, a gap is created between groups of people who have more in common than you would expect at…