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CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE

An Open Letter to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Dear Mr. Berlusconi,

 

     As Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group of Companies, who has been a member of the country’s National Council, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Dubai and a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, I feel it is my duty to reply to your recent remarks, broadcasted on Italian Television, after your talks with the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the Russian President Vladimir Putin on the crisis set off by the events of 11th September.  They have left me in despair. Your outrageous remarks on western civilisation and Islam were not only a slur on the Arab civilisation but on Islam itself.

 

     As a former member of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and until recently the only non United States members of the world board of governors of the American based United Services Organisation and honoury member of the Arab American Medical association, I have found that most, if not all, Europeans and Americans who are familiar with Arab Islamic Culture came to admire our civilisation for its contributions to the development of humanity. So when you said: “ We must be aware of the superiority of our (western) civilisation, a system that has guaranteed the well being and respect for human rights and (in contrast with Islamic countries) respect for religious and political right, a system that has as its values, understanding of diversity and tolerance,,” I was appalled as this distortion of history.

 

     What is even more worrying is that your remarks seemed to be supported by Russian President, Mr. Vladmir Putin, when he is reportedly to have said that, “Islamic Fundamentalism is a danger growing like virus”. And the German Foreign Minister, Yoschca Fischer, sees Islam as a danger, because it would lead to the destruction of Israel. His remark completely ignores the justice of the Palestinians’ struggle for their homeland.

 

     None of these sentiments would have been expressed I believe, if President
Bush hadnot foolishly claimed that America was launching a ‘Crusade Against Terrorism’, implying that this was a clash of civilisations putting the West against Arab and Islamic civilisation throughout the world.

 

"So much of what you value in the world came from the great Arab Islamic Civilizations of the past."

 

     In your very damaging remarks Mr. Berlusconi, you claim western civilisation to be superior, because it “has at is core, as its greatest value, freedom, which is not the heritage of Islamic culture”; this is an insult to all good Muslims and to our great cultural heritage. 

     What you statement ignores is the process of history: no one people or race can lay claim to a “unique civilisation. All emerging civilisations owe a great deal to those that have gone before them or are developing around them. 

     Thus, to denigrate our culture and society is to devalue your own. In the case of “Western Civilisation”, others have passed on all the values and knowledge it now espouses and has adapted too it. In particular, the contributions of Arab-Islamic Civilisation have been significant. Without its thinkers, philosophers, mathematicians, scientists and doctors, the West would not have the values or structure it does today. 

     Not only has Arab Islamic Civilisation made major contributions to humanity, but also it has, because of its ingrained respect for knowledge, translated and preserved much of the work of the Greeks and Romans. Had it not done so much for the philosophy that western civilisation is based on, it would have been lost forever in the turmoil of the Middle Ages in Europe, an age in which few could read or write and much learning was lost. 

     So much of what you value in the word came from the great Arab Islamic civilisations of the past. The western numbering system for instance is adapted from Arab numerals. A whole branch of mathematics, Algebra, is another significant contribution that Arab Islamic civilisations have made to the sum of human knowledge. Quite apart from this remarkable achievements, Arab contributions in Medicine is notable with books by great Islamic physicians works such as Avicenna’s  “Al Canoon” and Al Razi’s “Al Hawi”, were translated from Arabic and became the standards used by Physicians in the West for many years up to the 18th century in Europe. 

     Islamic Arab societies were among the first to set up universities and certainly the first societies to ensure that literacy was wide spread through a school system, the like of which would not be seen in most Western societies until the late 19th Century. These are but a few examples of the vast contribution that Arab Islamic civilisation has made to the store of human knowledge. 

     Branding Islam as a system that enslaves its adherents, denies human rights, takes away their human dignity, is intolerant of others and their religions, and is a travesty of the truth. I can only conclude that you have little real knowledge or understanding of Islam and the Arab Civilisation. How else can you so irresponsibly incite hatred by your words? Or is it that along with President Bush, you really do believe that they are at war with Islam. 

     I find it worrying, that both you and President Bush believe that Islam promotes hatred and fanaticism; because Islam’s foundation is peace. The very name ‘Islam’ comes from the Arabic root word ‘salaama’ which means ‘peace’. Islam is a religion based upon achieving peace. By its very linguistic definition, the nature of Islam is apparent. It is a religion of peace. Therefore, any act that is contrary to peace, such as terrorism, is not sanctioned by Islam and has no place in it. They are not Islamic and should never be thought of as Islamic. Islam guarantees human rights, freedom of action, and the right to choose within an organised social framework, based on justice, truth and charity. 

     It is to be added, that its practitioners see Islam as a continuation of God’s message. The Kor’an, is in fact a continuation of both the Christian Bible and the Jewish Torah with the same messages of peace, justice and truth that they teach.

     I would like to quote from a recent letter I received from Sir Mark Sykes whom Grandfather, Sir Mark Sykes along with George Picot drew up the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916, that has divided the Middle East in which he says. ”Many faiths have given much to the world, particularly in the field of art and culture, whether it be the Temple of the Parthenon in Athens, Angkor Wat, St. Peter’s in Rome, or the Blue Mosque of Isfahan. Islam is pre-eminent in this respect, and many Westerners are unaware that much of their own culture comes form Islam. Arab scholars revived the old books and scientific and medical treatises of the Greeks, and translated from Arabic into Western tongues and by this route the learning of the ancient world inspired the European Renaissance. Arab mathematicians gave us our numbers, our “ Arabic numerals”, discovered the concept of zero; “ Algebra” is an Arabic word. When the Roman Empire collapsed into the disintegration of the European Dark Ages, the University of Fez was the largest in the world, and Baghdad the richest city.” 

     He continues: “When Salah-uh-Din, one of the greatest figures of history retook Jerusalem, the city gates were opened to him by the Jews, they knew that under Saladin, they would have more opportunities and liberties than under the Christian Crusader knights. In contrast, when the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem a century earlier, they waded in blood to the altar of the Cathedral of St. John and they killed everyone, including Christians, who they found taking sanctuary in the holy building.” 

     Man seems to be by nature intolerant; but the Holy Koran recognises the Peoples of the Book, and particularly in the long golden age of the Caliphate of Cordoba, a multi-faith culture that flourished under Islam. Yes, of course there are intolerant elements in Islam, which some of us do not believe reflect the teachings of the Prophet; but remember the burnings of heretics in the squares of Spain, the auto-da-fe, under the Spanish Inquisition, and the 10,0000 Protestant heretics hanged every year in the Spanish Netherlands under the rule of the Spanish governor,the Duke of Alba.” 

     This tolerance for others has enabled faiths to survive and be practised within Arab Islamic societies. When other states were condemning faiths that were not practised by them and through intolerance were condemning and outlawing their adherents. Countries governed by Islamic principle, were, and have over time provided the freedom to practise their religions. They have protected and offered refuge to other religions. This acceptance and tolerance enabled Arab Islamic civilisation to flourish, and become great, precisely because at its core it values, Truth, justice, human rights and human dignity. 

     The modern secular western capitalism of the type promoted by European leaders and America is not even favoured by the Orthodox Christian faiths. They believe that through promoting the material aspects of society, Western governments has eroded the spiritual side of human life, turning people away from God and morality.

     So, as the proverb says, put your own house in order before criticising mine.

Khalaf Al Habtoor

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