The Dutch movie ‘Fitnah' (controversy which can lead to social separation) which was made in an attempt attack Islam failed in all accounts. The 15-minute movie by Wilders, a Dutch parliament member and opposition party leader, was posted on its Internet website last week. If the intentions of Wilders were to rally up hatred against Islam and Muslims, or even anger Muslims to the extent that they violently protest against his version of freedom of speech, he failed in all accounts. The Islamic world did not respond violently as some did two years ago after the publication of blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Dutch did not show any Islamophobia after the short movie was aired but in fact many rallied up behind the Muslims requesting the movie not to be aired. The Muslim community in Holland did not get violent but protested through the media and through legal channels, the Dutch way. The Moroccan Society in Holland decided to deal with the movie by educating people and Wilders himself about Islam by giving out copies of the Qur'an, and opening up mosques doors for people who are interested in Islam. The Moroccan Society even started to urge people to send Wilders children toys, eventually Wilders received around 3000 teddy bears, all this in accordance to the Islamic saying of one has to be kind to their enemies. The Dutch government came out strongly, stating that it fundamentally disagrees with the controversial movie, even before the movie was aired. All in all the reaction to the film before it was aired was mostly against Wilders with some organizing campaigns such as Stop Wilders campaign by Dutch nationals themselves. All this is positive, of course, and shows a maturity of the Islamic world and the Dutch country. But this didn't happen two years ago when blasphemous cartoons were published in Europe, and then republished in protest of Muslims protests against them. Many in Europe didn't understand why Muslims were so angry; Muslims didn't understand why Europeans didn't respect their religion and the Prophet. Muslims rallied up, protested, some ended in violence, burning European flags and even attacking embassies. And, of course, the economic boycott started. I truly believe that both the Islamic world and Europe learned from that lesson, both matured in their own ways. The Islamic world started to open up their mosques to let non-Muslims learn about Islam, they translated many volumes of books on Prophet Muhammad both for adults and children and conferences, seminars and lectors were held between Islamic and Christian scholars and the dialogue started. Muslims learned how to express their anger the European way, through legal means. And Europe started to realize how strongly Muslims felt about certain issues and also learned the danger in angering them, both socially and economically. Thankfully, this time such a move did not lead to any violence. The need for continuous dialogue and cross-cultural communication has been felt by both sides. Two weeks ago the Kingdom held a conference on dialogue between the Islamic World and Japan and this week, King Abdullah announced the need for dialogue among religions. “The idea is to ask representatives of all monotheistic religions to sit together with their brothers in faith and sincerity to all religions as we all believe in the same God,” the King said last Monday in Riyadh at a seminar on “Culture and the Respect of Religions.” King Abdullah's proposal was warmly welcomed by Muslim, Christian and Jewish clerics worldwide. This conference, which came on the initiative of the ruler of a country which is seen by many in the West as the heartland of Islam, must be a big step forward in cross cultural communication.* Suzan Zawawi is a Cross Cultural Consultant with an MA specialized in Cross Cultural Communication Share your cross cultural experience or send in your cultural questions to [email protected] __
