Westerners and good Muslims<\/p>\n
Tariq Ramadhan claims that what we have here in the West is
\nthe absence of Islam (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 17, 2003). Well, it
\nall depends on his perspective, on how he interpreted it and, of
\ncourse, on how he views the issue of the relationship between the
\ncivil government and the religious authorities.<\/p>\n
I am sure that many good Belgian Muslims would disagree with
\nhis opinion. Actually, a view on that issue is not clear yet as
\nfar as most Indonesian religious figures are concerned. It
\nappears as if they are all confused when asked to have a clear
\nposition on that specific issue, even when they are involved in
\npolitics.<\/p>\n
About the situation of Islam in the West, and in Belgium in
\nparticular, we have an Islam adapting to its new environment the
\nbest it can, step by step. Islam was nowhere to be seen at the
\nend of the 1960s in our country. Now, we have a large community
\nof Muslim people -- mostly from rural regions of Morocco,
\nAlgeria, Tunisia and Turkey -- who came to work in Belgium.<\/p>\n
Most of them are living in urban areas such as Brussels and
\nAntwerp. Seemingly, they like it here since many of them decided
\nto settle and to bring more members of their families to make a
\nnew life in Belgium. The Belgian civil government is giving its
\nplace to Islam on a slow and legitimate pace so as to ensure that
\nthere is no conflict of interest between the respect of basic
\nHuman Rights and how Islam is lived in general.<\/p>\n
So the problem, if any so far, is that the majority of Belgian
\npeople are opposed -- who could say they are wrong -- to an Islam
\nwhich would like to import "extremist views or habits" into our
\ncountry. The vast majority of the Belgian people do not want to
\nsee Muslim people in their streets wearing religious attributes
\nsuch as the veil for example. It is contrary to our culture to
\nwear such religious attributes in school for example.<\/p>\n
I, personally, have nothing against that when such items are
\nworn by consenting women. However, in many cases, you have many
\nproblems with that specific issue in the Muslim community (mostly
\nrural Maghrebins who are intolerant about their women making
\ntheir own choices and are definitely not willing to give them the
\nsame freedom as Belgian women, indeed a similar thing exists for
\nmost Indonesian women).<\/p>\n
If we do accept the import of Islam in Belgium, we do not
\naccept the import of foreign cultural "attributes and habits" of
\nany religion in our country that is contrary to the important
\nbasic human rights that Belgian women and men obtained step by
\nstep, sometimes fought over, -- over the last two centuries.<\/p>\n
YVAN MAGAIN
\nTubize, Belgium<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/westerners-and-good-muslims-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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