We live in a world where the importance of national boundaries has been diminishing due to globalization. Cross-cultural exchange among people from different countries has significantly increased and while it helps promote greater appreciation for each other’s culture, the exchanges do not always go smoothly due to stereotypes and prejudices. I learnt it firsthand when I engaged in a cross-cultural discussion with an Egyptian guy last year at a party at friend’s house.

I have always been interested in politics and current affairs and my friend Adam knew this. Thus, he introduced me soon to an Egyptian guy named Ali after I arrived at the social gathering. Ali had recently come to the U.S. for college education and had never been out of Egypt before arriving in the U.S. As we met, Ali quickly noticed that I was not totally at ease and he encouraged me to ask him any questions I may have. After I struggled to come up with questions, Ali asked me to explain whatever perceptions I have about the Islamic world and Muslims in general.

I started by claiming that Muslims hate freedom of speech. Similarly, they don’t give proper rights to women and are against women education. I also added that Muslims do not understand the west and have formed their own perceptions about the West, mostly negative. I also claimed that Muslim countries are backward as evident by their economic progress. I also accused Muslims of embracing terrorism to achieve their objectives.

While I was expressing my opinions of Muslims, Ali kept a calm face and listened to me attentively. After I had finished, the first question Ali asked me was to name the sources from where I get my news and information. After I named mostly western media, Ali asked how much I was confident my opinions about Muslims are a fact. When I claimed I am about ninety percent sure, Ali reminded me I had answered one of my own questions as to why some Muslims do not understand the west and have formed their own perceptions which are negative and often inaccurate. After Ali sensed I am confused, he told me I was getting my news only from western media which presents views that serve national bias and agenda. I had never accessed non-western media for information, thus, I didn’t always consume objective news. Ali also reminded me that I almost considered my opinions as a fact even though my news came from sources that could not be entirely considered objective.

On the topic of freedom of speech, Ali claimed that different cultures have different definitions of freedom of speech and it is not the right thing to apply western definition of freedom of speech to other culture. Ali claimed that people often discuss ideas in Muslim countries but religion is often off-topic just as denial of holocaust or support for KKK may be a social taboo in the west. While I was listening to Ali’s arguments, I could not help but be embarrassed due to the fact that most of my beliefs about Muslims had been nothing but prejudice.

Ali also claimed that most Muslims support peace but the actions of few fundamentalist elements get more press courage than the actions of the majority which has distorted the image of Islam in the west. Ali admitted that west is more economically developed but he also reminded me that many Muslim countries are relatively quite young as compared to the west and a significant number of them only gained independence during the last century. Thus, the west had a significant head start in terms of economic development but now some Muslim countries are catching up including UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, and Qatar.

The experience taught me the importance of having an open mind towards other cultures and carefully choosing the sources from which we get our information. I also learnt that just consuming information is not enough but even more important is critically analyzing it. Everything I had believed about the Islamic world, I was guilty of some of those things myself including a prejudiced view.