After seven years in Morocco I’ve reached my own understanding and interpretation of Islam. I remember after I’d bought my small house in the inner depths of the souk in Marrakech, I asked a friend if I should be concerned about walking home through the Medina late at night. He told me two things: first people in the Medina look out for each other, and second, because of the non-violent tenants of the religion, I shouldn’t be worried walking home alone...he said, unless it was at 3 or 4 in the morning when I might encounter some drunks. I felt relieved in hearing this, knowing if I was walking home at 3 or 4 I would be one of the drunks! So I came by my pre-9/11 understanding of Islam, which really didn’t change after the attacks in the U.S. I only knew that my understanding of the philosophy and ethics of the religion would be diluted in the vitriol post 9/11. In the end I decided to stay in Morocco in part to help interpret a moderate Islamic country to the west. That Rick’s Cafe exists after 63 years is a tribute to the modern Morocco. So when a crisis arrives, in the form of cartoons in a Danish magazine, all the negative forces in the world – lack of understanding, sympathy, compassion and common sense – come into play. Extremists in ALL religions tend to take an incident and blow it out of proportion to prove their point. There is no better example than the embarrassing fiasco in the U.S. during the fight to allow Terri Shivao to die with dignity. The personal tragedy of a family was hijacked by fundamentalist so-called Christians, including our own President who found the time to interrupt a vacation in Texas to fly to Washington in the middle of the night to sign legislation to keep her “alive.” The very same President who could not take the time to interrupt yet another vacation to take charge of the loss of one of America’s great cities, and shared cake and hugs with John McCain while New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and the mis-aligned priorities and incompetence of the Bush administration. Today there is a crisis over cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammed which appeared in a Danish magazine last September. The key point to understand is that the Islamic religion FORBIDS renderings of the prophet, which is different from the Christian view on the depiction of Jesus. The fact that Jesus’ image is an accepted part of the practice of Christianity leaves the image open to whatever free expression might allow. The line is that in Islam, the very portrayal of the prophet is blasphemy. If the Danes had shown some sensitivity, maybe it would not have been blown out of proportion, but instead an incident that took place 5 months ago has suddenly given an excuse, an opportunity to various players who have their own political and social agendas. Violence is unacceptable, and hopefully this incident will pass, but it could have been difused much sooner if there had been more sensitivity and understanding excercised from the beginning. |
