Two events at the right moment. On the European side, there are significant displays of respect and admiration for the true Arab civilisation. Two eloquent examples of this were given last week with the reopening of the Islamic art collection in the Louvre museum in Paris, and the inauguration of the new mosque in Strasbourg, the largest place of worship for Muslims in Europe. It is purely by chance that these inaugurations have come at this time as both projects had been in preparation for years and no-one could foresee when they would be ready - but that is how it has worked out.
What a lesson this is regarding the true grandeur of the Arab civilisation! Some aspects were already known - for example, how the classical Greek civilisation had been saved during the Middle Ages by Muslims - and one should take inspiration from that time. The weekly Le Point presents the department of Islamic art at the Louvre by speaking of its collection as unequalled and sublime which, in itself, is provocation for fundamentalist intolerance. It speaks of the superb sculpture of the head of a woman from Iran dating back to the XIIth or XIIIth century, followed by that of lovers and by a young girl with almond eyes smiling mysteriously. It asks whether the bearded followers of the religion will visit this vibrant tribute to the splendour of the Muslim civilisation. Tariq Ramadan, who is unfortunately not always so well inspired, has said: “There can be no religion if there is no wellbeing, no culture, no arts or humour” (our translation).
The Strasbourg mosque, which was inaugurated last week, is located less than two kilometres from the Notre Dame cathedral. The work of the architect, Paolo Portoghesi, the mosque was financed by Morocco, the Alsace region, the district of Strasbourg, the Lower Rhine province, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and, above all, by the faithful. During the opening ceremony, the French minister for home affairs, Manuel Valls, who welcomed the event, nonetheless said he would not hesitate to expel from France any extremists who “albeit taken in by our country do not respect the rules of our country”. Portoghesi, for his part, explained that he had respected the Islamic tradition in every line of the mosque. What a salutary meeting of the two civilisations.
Fanaticism continues. In the meantime, the author of the film, “Innocence of Muslims”, that those who have seen it describe as ridiculous and objectionable, has been imprisoned for banking fraud. And yet - what a lot of death and destruction has been caused by that insignificant work, due to fanatics that have forgotten or never truly known the real Muslim civilisation!
Nothing should prevent Europe and the Arab world from overcoming their divergence and accepting their differences. We still have a long way to go. The West must not weaken freedom of expression, and it is not up to the political authority to intervene. But this attitude continues to be met with misunderstanding, to be rejected by part of the Muslim world. In fact it was confirmed during the UN General Assembly when several Islamic countries called for all blasphemy to be considered a crime; the Egyptian president deemed as inadmissible any expression offensive for the religious or cultural sensitivity of the Muslims; the president of Pakistan spoke along the same lines; and the secretary general of the Arab League called for a worldwide code banning any blasphemous expression, which would deal a death blow to freedom of expression. It is true that, in the context of the EU, official Islamic voices have rejected the principle of censure, but most Muslims residing in Europe or who have the nationality of a member state do not agree.
An additional bond. Let me return to the Arab Spring and to the neighbouring countries. In some ways, the Arab civilisation has not been very fortunate in that region as, on the spot, the most visited and sought-after remains are those of Ancient Rome, of Carthage and of other, earlier civilisations, while the Arab civilisation has created the most perfect and spectacular expression of its glory in Andalucia, in Sicily, in La Puglia, in Asia and now also in Paris and Strasbourg. This is an additional bond that should link Europe to the southern rim of the Mediterranean. That is, if the Salafists and other fanatics also this to be so …
Just one more remark: the Malians and Somalis who hide behind a religious façade to practice cruelty and blackmail have nothing to do with the Muslim civilisation. They are bandits of the very worst kind - and should be treated as such. And one must also be careful of those who, in Sudan, are more concerned about oil income with their claimed religious fervour often concealing a number of other objectives. Sometimes, however, that is also true on the European side. (FR/transl.jl)