Author:
Publication: The Copenhagen Post
Date: October 31, 2004
URL: http://www.cphpost.dk/get/82655.html
Journalist and social worker Masoum
Moradi received a death threat last Friday, after he made negative reference
to the prophet Muhammad in a newspaper editorial. Experts say Moradi isn't
the only high-profile Muslim to be targeted by threats of violence
Writers, critics and politicians
in this country report increasingly aggressive reactions from Islamic fundamentalist
circles in the national debate on Islam.
One week ago, an instructor at Copenhagen
University's Carsten Niebuhr Institute was beaten after he read excerpts
of the Koran aloud.
On Friday, Iranian-born columnist
and social worker Masoum Moradi received a death threat in the mail at
his home on the island of Funen, after making a negative reference to the
prophet Muhammad in an editorial for daily newspaper Fyens Stiftstidende.
"Some people feel I crossed a boundary
about what can permissibly be said about Muhammad. I questioned him, and
that shook the very foundations of Islam as a religion. These people are
trying to scare me into keeping my opinions to myself, but they're not
going to win," Moradi told daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The incident
was reported to police.
The death threat was written on
a word processor and phrased in Arabic. The letter accused Moradi of being
a lackey for "Zionists and crusaders," therefore deserving of death.
"I'd like to raise the bar for what
can be openly discussed. In the same way that people discussed Christianity,
I think we ought to be able to talk about the prophet Muhammad as a historical
personage, and create a forum for debate in which people can speak freely,"
said Masoum Moradi.
Moradi told Jyllands-Posten that
some refugee and immigrant groups had begun to participate more actively
in Danish society than previously.
"These groups used to be more isolated
because of their fundamentalism. But now they're starting to read local
newspapers and take a more active role in the public debate," said Moradi.
Radical Liberal MP Naser Khader
told the newspaper that he had also noticed how well-informed extremist
Muslim groups were becoming.
"The image of these groups has changed
quite a bit over the past two to three years, and the methods have become
much more aggressive. I used to experience aggressive behavior when I was
at political meetings, but now it's moved into the private sphere. I can
be confronted with it when I'm out with my children," said Khader, who
declined to elaborate on his negative encounters.
Copenhagen Council integration consultant
and city councilman Manu Sareen told Jyllands-Posten that he had also received
threats from extremist Muslim groups.
"These people aren't stupid, and
it really challenges our popular image of thugs being responsible for these
threats and attacks. Many Muslim fundamentalists are very well-educated,
and know perfectly well where to go for information - as well as who's
who in the national debate," said Sareen, adding:
"There's an organisation of more
fundamentalist Muslims in Denmark that we haven't seen before. This is
doubtless due to the increased polarisation of Danish society. When Danes
and Muslims distance from each other, each side finds new allies. One way
of bonding with new allies is to find new enemies - for example, anyone
who doesn't interpret Islam in the same way that you do. It's an unfortunate
trend that doesn't benefit anyone at all."
According to Professor Torben Ruberg
Rasmussen of the University of Southern Denmark's Center for Middle East
Studies, the dramatic reactions may be due to a new generation of Muslims
who approach their religious convictions differently.
"For the new generation, religion
is a self-chosen project. So they don't just take offense on behalf of
the prophet - they take things very personally. The problem is that many
Muslims have a hard time understanding that all values are open to discussion
in the Danish public arena. Nothing's sacred - and anyone who has an idea
that certain issues are untouchable is bound to clash with someone at some
point," said Rasmussen.
