Reputed author and journalist M J Akbar says that one has to look at the Muslim world through a 'kaleidoscope and not through a telescope' in order to better understand it."If we do that then, we will realize that there are many fragments (in that world) and we may have a better understanding of its strengths and weaknesses," Akbar, who is an Asia Society Associate Fellow, said at the Asia Society in New York during a discussion on Islam vs. the West: Myth and Misunderstanding.
Akbar, who is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said there is no single 'monolithic Muslim world' as is usually believed in the West.
Noting that it's 'very dangerous and inaccurate' to see people with one label, he said while Muslims have spread around the world, and that there is a sense of Umah (brotherhood) among them, it does not go beyond a certain point.
He said as a human being he would feel bad and would have the same sense of anguish if a bomb goes off and kills people in a country say like Indonesia, beyond that one has to realize that Muslims live in different countries and cannot have the same kind of affinity that they feel with fellow citizens within their country.