True Message of the Prophet

There is a debate among scholars and intellectuals on the essence of  what we understand of God. Is the God that we worship a stern, omnipotent and merciless power or is God the omnipotent, merciful and compassionate Being ? Was the Prophet of God , Muhammad, a messenger of peace and love or hatred and war?   While the Holy Quran clearly indicates that God's compassion exceeds his wrath and that his forgiveness overrides his punishment, but evidently a certain radical interpretation has surfaced occasionally ; mostly in response to attacks from the outer, implying a more radical and violent impression of Islam. A deliberate and well orchestrated effort to display a negative image of Islam by Western media has also been underway for long.
While the insulting films posted recently on YouTube and the offensive caricatures attempting to mock the beloved Prophet of Islam were indicative of a new wave of Islamo-phobia, Muslims worldwide responded in varying tones and forms.  Where American embassies were available, thousands poured into the streets to protest and this led to violence and bloodshed. Among them the most  evident cases were in Libya , Pakistan and Egypt while peaceful marches in other cities still continue.
In an attempt to respond to the accusations and offensive efforts to smear the image of Islam and Muslims, many have resorted to intercultural and intellectual debates. In a recent interview I referred to the Dialogue Among Civilizations as a resort and resolution in face of the current attacks and threats against Muslims worldwide. Some radical sites responded harshly to my comments by claiming that the idea is "shipwrecked" and finished now. The idea which was put forward by President Khatami during his term and welcomed by the UN has stark enemies among radical anti reformist groups in power today in Iran.

In addition many Muslims throughout the world , particularly those living as minorities in Western societies started diverse initiatives to influence public opinion and to counter the offensive efforts in a polite and meaningful manner. In addition to internet and social net campaigns ( one called the True Message of the Prophet has started in Facebook) many groups in the UK and Scandinavian cities set off in the streets to demonstrate the baseless claims of the anti Islam propaganda campaigns.  They talked with people in the streets and gave them flowers along with words from the Quran or from the Prophet.

Democracy can go along with religion

I have just returned back from Geneva. The workshop sessions worked out well. In addition to the opening session, which began at 9 sharp, there were three panels; the first: Religion and the State in the Islamic World and the West, the second dealing with democracy , secularism and religion . The third panel dealt with the conditions and rights of religious minorities.

I had to moderate the second panel in which Lionel Jospin the former Prime Minister of France, Anne Grung a lecturer for Oslo University, Dr. Khoshroo the former Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran and Edibe Sozen from the AK party in Turkey also spoke.

The moderator before me, was very strict in regulating the time, thereby causing Mr. Khatami to sarcastically ask the moderators not to use a "militaristic" approach in their dealings with the panelists. So, when I took up the panel, I promised I would use more compassion in my approach!

Monsieur Jospin took more than the 10 minutes designated for him but I refrained from interrupting him while the other three speakers observed the time limit and at the end I thanked them for not abusing my compassion! Many interventions were also made. Many matters were debated, but I think one of the most important issues that were agreed upon was the understanding that secularism should not be considered as a precondition for democracy , but that even in religious contexts, democracy should be promoted and emphasized.

An Algerian born young woman who was a European citizen and leader of the Islam and Europe Program at the Center for European Studies talked about the concerns of Muslim Europeans and their identity crisis and the citizenship rights of Muslims in Europe. I brought up the point that democracy at the national and international level currently faces two deficits. On the one hand the ethical crisis is plaguing our political systems and on the other hand we lack compassion and love in our decision making processes which is taking us to the verge of confrontation and war.

The final statement of the workshop read among other phrases :religion and politics support each other in their common aim to improve the quality of human life, interfaith dialogue and education for mutual understanding can reduce fear and tensions, promotes religious minorities' rights and expand democracy. The statement also called upon religious and political leaders to be guided by moral and ethical values in the exercise of their leadership and to promote gender equity and overcome those traditional practices that inhibit its achievement .

The full text of the Statement will hopefully be available on the Internet soon. The session finished after 7pm and we convened two meetings for organizing two other events. I tried to practice my French talking with Mr. Jospin and some other delegates. They encouraged me, but I feel I have forgotten so much and I need to practice but when to find the time...

Geneva Workshop on Religion and Politics

I am now in Geneva. I arrived in the afternoon after losing a connection from Amsterdam to Geneva due to the delay that we had in Tehran. It took me more than 12 hours to get here. I am attending an international workshop on Religion and Politics held jointly by the International Institute for Dialogue Among Civilizations, The Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights and The Club of Madrid. That is the Center led by President Khatami, the Oslo Center led by Prime Minister Bondevik (Norway ) and the Club of former world leaders.

This is an initiative aimed at understanding the interplay between religion and politics in the West and Islamic societies. Issues dealing with secularism and democracy, political Islam, the importance of appreciating diversity will be raised tommorow, during the four sessions we will have.

We had an introductory session tonight and President Khatami and Mr Bondevik spoke while others had the chance to introduce themselves, Mr. Jospin the former French Prime Minister as well as the former Bosnian Prime Minister, many academicians and scholars and religious leaders were also there. I think we will have a unique opportunity tommorow to listen to some interesting views on these issues.

I have been asked to moderate the second panel on religion and democracy. This seems to be the "crunch issue", referring to the term used to underscore the major contentious issues in international negotiations. Can religion and democracy come to terms ? Can the Islamic state come to undertake the basic provisions of political freedoms, civil liberties and at the same time ensure an ethical and balance approach in governance? Well we have to wait until tommorow to see what is going to be said.

Fitna and the Vatican

As a seventh or eighth grader, I was trying to challenge my history teacher who was telling the class that Islam had spread in its early years from the Arabian Peninsula with the force of the sword. I attended Iranzamin, an international school in Tehran, our lecturers were American or European and most of our textbooks, including the history book our teacher was referring to, was American.

The textbook said exactly the same thing; that Islam had spread not due to the belief and conversion of people who had got the reviving message and were persecuted by their rulers and tyrants, but by force of the sword. A commonplace evident distortion of history by Christian historians, reflects the policy of denial that was practiced for a long time.

That history book was full of references to the merits of the Roman Civilization and excessive references to the services that European civilization had rendered to humanity and of course the American civilization. Very little, if any, mention was made of the great services that Islamic scholars, scientists, artists and leaders had provided. That was back in 1974.

Today, there is more understanding and recognition of the Islamic civilization in many dimensions, there are many sincere attempts on behalf of Christian authorities and scholars to appreciate the role of Islamic culture in the scientific, technological, social and political advancement of the human civilization.

Yet, there still are malevolent attempts to incite religious hatred and to depict a distorted image of Islam for the world. There seems to be a well orchestrated ongoing effort to portray Islam as a religion of violence, hatred and revenge. The film "Fitna" by Dutch far-right MP Geert Wilders, which features images of attacks in New York and Madrid intertwined with recitations from the Holy Quran, has provoked widespread condemnation.

I saw the film on the internet last night. It is very unfortunate that under the disguise of freedom of speech, which is a highly valued principle, a European politician would go to the extremes of insulting a divine religion known to be the fastest growing religion on earth.

The coincidence of the news given by Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, the compiler of the Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican yearbook is striking. He said "For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us." He added that figures for 2006 showed that Catholics accounted for 17.4 per cent of the world population while Muslims accounted for 19.2 per cent.

Asked for an explanation Monsignor Formenti observed that "While Muslim families, as is well known, continue to make a lot of children, Christian ones on the contrary tend to have fewer and fewer". He said the figure for the Muslim global population was derived from data submitted to the United Nations by Muslim countries. He did not mention the high number of converts particularly in European countries.

I think there is an ongoing effort to create tensions leading to a collision course between Muslim and Christian societies who have been living together in peace for centuries. Muslims in Europe are emerging as a reality that has to be dealt with in a just and dignified manner. Up to now they have been generally excluded from the political and economic processes of their societies. Contrary to Iran, where religious minorities have a quota in the Parliament, Muslims lack any political representation in many European countries although they have strong minorities. These populations are mostly peaceful, law abiding and hardworking citizens.

The Fitna is a test for the values of democracy, tolerance and respect for diversity of opinions that Europeans claim to cherish and promote.