ANAMA: The
controversial Danish imam accused of stirring uproar in the Muslim world
over cartoons of
the Prophet Muhammad has defended his actions, saying they were aimed at
forging peace, not causing bloodshed. "History will give us credit because
of our efforts to keep Europe away from any further violence," said Ahmad
Abu Laban, the leader of the Islamic Community in Denmark, in an interview
with AFP.
Abu Laban, who is accused of instigating a mass campaign
against Denmark in the Arab-Muslim world which sparked deadly riots that
killed more than 50 people, said the protests were not the start of a
clash of civilisations. "Some people would presume it is the beginning of
a clash of civilisations, but we call it the engagement of civilisations,"
said Abu Laban. He was speaking on the sidelines of the "International
Conference for the Defence of the Prophet" organised by Muslim religious
leaders and being held Wednesday and Thursday (March 22-23) in Bahrain.
Abu Laban brought the cartoon matter to Cairo’s Al-Azhar
University, the top Islamic scholarly institution, shortly after
caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published in a Danish newspaper
in September 2005. Abu Laban and other Danish imams then took a 43-page
dossier on a tour of the Middle East, including the 12 controversial
cartoons and three other pictures that had been sent to Muslims by
anonymous people elsewhere.
"We sent our delegation to Egypt, we were trying to expand
the platform of dialogue to the concerned people and more countries," he
said. In his view, Denmark became the focal point of Muslim rage because
of the refusal of Danish leaders to heed the Muslim point of view in the
controversy that pitted western values of free speech against religious
beliefs. "Denmark paid for the Islamic-European conflict," said Abu Laban,
the leader of the Muslim Faith Society in Copenhagen.
Despite widespread calls for a formal apology, the Danish
government refused, citing its belief in protecting freedom of speech.
However, the editor of Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which initially
published the cartoons, eventually issued a broad apology.
Abu Laban stressed that Muslims in Denmark, who make up
about three per cent of the population, suffer discrimination and that he
was made a "scapegoat" by the Danish press for his role as a Muslim
community leader. "We suffer marginalisation... In the subconscious of
most of the leaders in Denmark, they reject us. This is the name of the
game. They don’t like to deal with us like partners," he said. "Our centre
(Muslim Faith Society) is the most important one," he said. The Danish
press "cannot attack somebody who is not known, so they decided to choose
me as a scapegoat," he said. "I predicted that the government would face
trouble and would search for a scapegoat."
"We are in the focal point in Denmark, under constant
attack by the global media. We are here because it has become a global
issue for Muslims," said Abu Laban. "This conference is not meant to
expose or blackmail Denmark, it is a rather progressive attitude on how
Muslims can be united in this noble cause, to honour and to guarantee the
respect their prophet deserves."
Abu Laban also blasted Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh
Rasmussen for his "ineffective" response to the crisis.