Adit on Mr. "Wild" Wilders Movie

The OIC summit in Dakar, Senegal, has raised a relevant and tough topic, Islamophobia in the modern society. The phenomenon has increased significantly in the Western world, where there weren't as many muslims as there are now. The phobia is born out of fear for so-called "Islamization" of European or US culture. Many European societies are being very suspicious about Islam taking over and changing their culture.

Furthermore, some parts of the Islamic society around the world happily fueled this fire. Widespread violence in Arab countries after the republishing of Prophet Muhammad's cartoons in Denmark only proved the points of Islamophobia. Bearded men in white robes running amok in a supposedly civilized country is just contrary to what Islam wants from its adherers. Honor killings, abuses, and discrimination against women found in many muslim-majority countries doesn't really help Islam clean its name, instead it buried the blessings of Islam under violence and blood.

The phenomenon also gave birth to a number of, sometimes exaggerated, critics against Islam. Many made sense. Islam, especially its people, needs to grow and adapt itself to current conditions, whereas many muslims seem to live in a time capsule. In this part, I myself am critical of many opinions against the modernization of muslims. Sadly, others only showed disrespect and hate toward the religion. They shaped public opinion against Islam, without knowing what Islam really is.

Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician, is one of these blind critics. He's planning to release a 15-minutes movie titled Fitna, containing his critical view of Islam and Qur'an. Wilders previously said that the Qur'an is a "fascist book" and that it "should be banned"; furthermore, he compared it to Hitler's Mein Kampf. He wants it to be a "call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization".

As a respect towards the freedom of expression, the movie cannot be banned from circulating and people cannot be banned from watching it. Consequently, people also have their right to express their disapproval, their strong disapproval. The Dutch government should be applauded: they doesn't ban the movie but they do state that they "fundamentally disagreed" with the movie.

What muslims should do is to refrain from proving the movie right. Any violence against the movie is the same as making the sequel to Fitna. Everyone must respect Mr. Wilders' right to express his views, however exaggerated it may be. On the other hand, if one does disagree with him, then one must express it in a civilized way. If he can make a movie against Islam, why can't we make something in support for Islam rather than burning down embassies and setting up death threats?

Governments wishing to prevent conflicts from the movie should also adapt the same stance as the Dutch govt. They can't ban it, just let Wilders run wild, but they are also able to show that they disagree and don't approve the film. This stance must be respected by muslims, too. Islam does tolerate differing opinions and also encourages healthy debates and discussions.

The democratic and human rights-respecting govts of Western countries should also take an active part in eradicating Islamophobia. Their muslim citizens are their citizens after all, with the same responsibilities and rights as other citizens. Supporting Islamophobia or being Islamophobic is the same as supporting homophobia, which is very uncivilized.