Improvement of advocacy of Islamic idea
Iranian Public Relations News Network(shara) — Kazakhstan is one of the countries that was 70 years under the pure atheistic ideology of Soviet Union. During these years we used to live with communistic ideas, whittling Allah, saying “communistic party knows everything”. And that led people to refuse an existence of Allah. Even young people start to forget the ways of Shariathen. Only after the disintegration of Soviet Union, when the country started to seek new economic and political ways of development, the people started to seek its own idealistic way. And we found current economic and political way, saving traditions and following the road of the Muslim religion
At this time we still didn't know about religious perceptions, but little things about The Koran. Exactly in that period there were a lot of religious trends, so, many young people confused to choose one. Also there were those who took a different faith. But now situation is better. Nowadays Kazakhstan created its own democratic and competent society. “There’s no power without the people, so there’s no people without religion”. Therefore the nation’s accord and unity between country and religion have made good connection. At that time our society that consisted of many ethnic groups and religious faith went through transitional period. Muslim principles had important role in providing country’s inner stability and external security. Inner stability influenced to international relationship. Nowadays Kazakhstan is the country that influences interreligious conception between religious confessions.
Recently in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana has opened mosque Haziret Sultan. This place has built in traditional Islamic style and it’s area is 17,7 cube meters. The mosque designed with kazakh traditional ornaments and national elements in classic Islamic model. More than 10 thousand people can read namaz. It’s brief picture of nowadays Muslim religion in Kazakhstan. That is Kazakhstan is the place to develop Muslim traditions and Islamic ideas. Certainly, holding this orientation, muslim countries should cooperate with each other. Because negative information about muslim might influence to inner stability.
We see in news about uproars and explosions in muslim countries. And world mass media gives not enough information everyday life of citizens or about development of culture and science in Islamic countries. It is profitable for bad PR disseminators. That’s why I think it is important to improve Islamic spin doctor actions.
Nowadays Islamic idea as social conception is going through the age renaissance. One of the reasonable conditions is being in structure of Soviet Union, and now after receiving independence, republics try to be more active in disseminating muslim idea, including Republic of Kazakhstan. Disseminating idea is not enough, it is also important to prove how much the idea would effect to economic development. Because, no matter what kind of idea it is, if it influences to development of culture and social conditions of people, only that way it will find supporters. Islamic idea indeed is well within the requests and high leveled principle. Unfortunately, muslim mass media, muslim internet journalism mostly are not active in deeply writing about problems of economics, politics, education, youth breeding, culture development, human psychology and public health. For those, who knows about it in haste - Islam religion is just reading namaz and keeping the fast oraza. Perhaps, in the countries living with muslim principle for a long time, write about economic importance of Islam. But it’s not wide-spread in global level. It is underestimated the importance of global development of humanity in financially helping to retarded muslim countries by Islamic Development Bank. It shows week point in system of advocating muslim idea.
Some western journalists and PR experts are successful in creating bad association to word “islamist”. We should consider them as anti-islamic viruses. And it is important to create our own anti-viruses to clean wrong opinions right along. Because Muslim religion is our defense, that saves inner unity. Living, eating, raising are all at the expense of religion. Which means that to protect a religion is duty of every muslim. Protecting means not only defending your own interests or running the demonstration. Demonstration is one the ways of showing counteraction. We should implement other operative ways. For that we need to organize special researchers in this direction. And then we will be able to solve cases in Islamic orientation according to plan and constantly practice it. Regularity makes any work productive.
Thereby taking as a basis Islamic PR ideological, political, scientific principles, it will be complex of regular activities in various directions. These complex activities should consist of inner PR complexes. It is not enough to study Islam science at schools. We should find a better way of advocacy Islamic idea as a basis of harmony, holding to democracy and open opinions. For that we need PR programs. It would be right if this PR program would be studied in institutes of higher education as special course. Even if they study it with Internet, it would be great opportunity for youth to study Islamic PR.
One more important issue is representatives of various religious trends that breed strife come to institutes of higher education and propagandize their erroneous intention policy among students. Therefore, one of the targeted audience of Islamic PR is institutes if higher education.
There’s a phrase: “Men rule the world, which is ruled by women”. Of course, it’s a joke. But there’s one thing that is true about it. So I think muslim women should be more active in disseminating Islamic ideas. In opinion of well-known PR researchers, women fit in PR sphere. Because they notice details. It’s in their nature. If she didn’t notice details, she wouldn’t be able to raise a child.That’s why we should draw in talented women PR experts in Islamic idea of muslim countries. Because we need to repulse to western low educated film directors and authors, who are always ready to slander muslim.
We should not forget that women are basic influential force in creating social opinion. They are adapted to this issue from nature. It would be useful use this ability in PR work. Man and woman perceive the world in different ways. And this difference is two sides of equality. If one of them is behind, then social development will hamper. Almighty Allah is so democratic, that even if he gives us talent, he doesn't care if you are a man or woman at all. So, we don’t have enough nature democratic view. Because of this, the role of muslim women in general society is still low. Of course, man is better for politics.
But women also can prosper our society and Islamic world with advices. In this case, I wish to make conditions to prepare muslim girls as Islamic PR experts. One more important issue will be about the history of muslim PR. PR researchers shows us as if world history of Public Relations started from American Ivy Lee or Edward Bernays. As if muslim countries didn’t know how to make relations. But we can’t no more let people think that we learned public relations from Ivy Lee or Edward Bernays. It was proved that Americans put it into scientific range. But actually, the history of PR started a while ago. Including the history of muslim PR going through a lot, came to us. To know how much public relations was necessary to disseminate Islamic idea it is enough to read facts about the life of Prophet Muhammad. In foretime chief’s speeches in front of the people, dances of shaman, traditions and rites – all of them were technologies of Public relations that made people to unite as nation. Even we can find examples of PR actions among them. Therefore it is necessary to entirely correct the history of muslim PR.
Promoter of Islamic idea, great wise man of East, one of the founders of theory of setting Public Relations in Kazakh history had been written by Kazakh philosopher coming from old Otyrar, mathematician, music theorist Abu Nassyr al-Farabi (873—950) (in Latin — Alpharabius). As modern researchers say: ‘PR is a strategic control element’ and al-Farabi said the next in his work ‘Civil Science’: ‘Happiness is prosperity, pleasure and acceptability and except it all is cunning, meanness and peccancy’ and further he explained the reason of activation of these properties being in human in such a way: ‘There is one thing being a base for all these in human and those are actions and behavior comfortable for relations, common to cities and people living in definite order and the last are to be implemented just by control’. Role of PR as ‘a strategic control element’ was defined by al-Farabi in that way. By explanation of al-Farabi ‘control covers behavior and methods of virtuous properties organization and explains actions fixing virtuous behavior and actions’. This definition stated by al-Farabi is also one of the modern PR definitions [1. 44-45]. And the next American F. Seitel defines PR as ‘a planned process to influence public opinion, through sound character and proper performance, based on a mutually satisfactory two-way communication’ [2. 12]. Such a definition was given by al-Farabi before F. Seitel: ‘One of the properties of human being is his making connection with another human or another people while achieving his aim. Every one finds himself in that state’ [1. 441].
There is an old word of Kazakh as ‘karashy’. This word is met in Bukhar Zhyrau Kalkamanuly, living in ХVIII century and also it is met in zhyrs (songs) of Makhambet Otemisuly, the activist poet, living in ХІХ century. Makhambet has such verses as: ‘I’m the karashy, who lost his house’ [4. 116]. In Bukhar zhyrau’s verses: ‘Even your karashy leaves you, when your game is over’ or ‘Khan’s being good depends on karashy’ it is clear that the karashy is a man showing every action of the khan, controlling the country as acceptable. Thus, karashy was constant advisor of the head of the state and he was kind of counsellor and contact between the people and the khan. The academician Rabiga Syzdykova states the following in his research work ‘Sozder soileidi (Speech of the words)’: ‘The word karashy mostly comes together with word the khan’: …’If the khan has a karashy then his ship swims even in sand’, ‘If the khan wants his game to over, then he becomes enemy with his karashy’. ...These proverbs indicate that karashy is a man serving the khan, dependent on him, but at the same time he is political-legally and economically free representative of society. The Karashy is also met in the legacy of old epoch ‘Yer Targyn’ zhyr (hero epos). Hero Targyn says: ‘What for I’m gonna be Karashy for the dog like you’ [3. 35].
One proverb from the stated above as: ‘If the khan has a karashy then his ship swims even in sand’ gives the exact meaning of the speciality of modern PR expert. Thus, the expert putting connection with populace, actually saying PR expert is a type of speciality coming from long ago in Kazakh people history. These authors are the ones who were on the path of muslim.
These our historical information and historical deposits influence on our feeling ourselves courageous nowadays. Ancient Turkish epoch brought its ancient Turkish wisdom to these days by self-informatization. We can value that as historical-strategical phenomena of Public Relations, that is to say a document of governmental and international Public Relations being kept in Kazakh history.
Modern Public Relations are like the inner structures of those historical connections. Meaning of modern Public Relations is not just in getting on well with modern people. But is a search of answers for yesterday’s and tomorrow questions and consideration of their solvation. Also its main strategy is strategical communications. Strategical communications establish works covering the next day’s, the next year’s or further periods. By targeting these aims we get programs supplying their achievement.
Every muslim country has its own PR history like that. I think it is good to find facts and hold special international conferences on this topic. We should suggest the history of Islamic Public relations to students, postgraduates, doctoral students of institutes of higher education as research project.
Only by using all opportunities to make connections with people all over the world we will be able to get them our ideas. That’s how we increase the number of our supporters. I think it must be concrete model and general principles of disseminating Islamic idea that based on humanity and democratic direction. For that I have a suggestion to take next actions: - to prepare special PR experts and journalists who will be able to speak a few languages and work in this direction in institutes of higher education of muslim countries; - to make a concept of creating good public image of Islamic idea;
- to advocate good image of muslim person central and local media should give information about persons who high cultured and suitable for nowadays demands; - to knowledge deeply PR experts and journalists, who work in Islamic idea direction, in social sciences; - to hold meetings on the base of political discussion and hold events to improve cooperation of religious cultures; - to notice that «half of the audience are women», and approve special programs for them on international level; - to give opportunity for muslim youth to master new innovative technologies. Literature 1. Abu Nassyr al-Farabi. Selected treatises (Kaz). ‘Aryss’ Print, -Аlmaty, 2009. 2. Potcheptsov G. Public Relations (Rus). Ed. ‘Center’. -М., 2004. 3. R.Syzdykova. Speech of the words (Kaz). ‘Mektep’ print. - Almaty, 1980. 4. N.Kelimbetov. History of the Kazakh Literature (Kaz). ‘Ana tili’ print, - Аlmaty, 1991. 5. http://bas.yvi.kz/post/92125 http://en.shara.ir/view/804/%C2%A0Improvement-of-advocacy-of-Islamic-idea
