The Perverted Will to Power: Geert Wilders' Call for Banning of the Quran

 

In 2007, Geert Wilders- the far right Dutch politician- termed the Holy Quran as a ‘fascist book’ and called for its banning in the Netherlands. He later followed it by a speech in the Dutch parliament and called Islam ‘ as the Trojan Horse in Europe’ amplified this nasty and unsubstantiated rhetoric by asserting that if ‘Islamification were not stopped, it would be a matter of time before the Arabification or Islamization , Netherabia or Eurabia would be a reality’. He drew parallels between the totalitarian systems of communism, Fascism and Islam. These wild assertions fortunately came to a naught: they did not have the intended effect.  Wilders’ populist hopes and desires were dashed.

 

This much is good and salutary. However, what is alarming was/is whether Gilders was echoing and amplifying the hopes, wishes and desires of his people.  And whether it were the legal, political and international ramifications of the call which prevented the Dutch authorities and powers from implementing Wilders’ prescriptions. If this is the case, then the question is why are the Dutch and the Netherlands-historically the bastion of tolerance and acceptance- averse to Islam and Muslims?  Is there merit to Wilder’s assertions? Does the Dutch aversion to Islam mark a trend and a theme across Europe? Is Wilders’ then by being ‘politically incorrect’ speaking to the real desires and wishes of the Dutch? What accounts for this aversion? Are inter community or the relations between Muslims in the Netherlands and the native Dutch doomed? Is, broadly speaking, this a metaphor for Europe?

 

Wilders assertions are ahistorical, stem from prejudice, his formative experiences, political ambition, skullduggery and are plain wrong. His reading of the Quran is superficial and the verses that he culls out to buttress his arguments validate his prejudices and biases. Islam was and has been a world historical force and it were as bad and as regressive as Wilders posits it to be, Islam would have died a natural death centuries ago. The reality is that it did not. To the contrary, Islam expanded far beyond its frontiers and became a world historical force in the process. If this power of Islam was premised on the force of arms, coercion or the sword, it would have met the same fate as communism and fascism. The fact is that it did not. Islam is, has been and continues to be a source of inspiration, spiritual succor and comfort for millions. Clearly, no one is forcing these people to follow the dictates of Islam or shoving Islam down their throats.

 

Having said this, it would be inaccurate and plain wrong to posit all is well in/within the world of Islam. Manifold and multifarious challenges bedevil the world of Islam, the salient of which is political decay that defines it and from which accrue and flow the responses in dealing with this. One of these responses is political Islam. Political Islam, a variegated and diverse movement, aims to reverse this decay by going to the roots of Islam and reshaping and remodeling Muslim society according to the tenets of Islam and Islamic law, the sharia. This movement has many manifestations and offshoots, some of which are violent and have elevated armed Jihad to the position of a duty for a Muslim. (Al Qaeda is an offshoot and manifestation  of this).

 

Conflating this with the overall beliefs, orientation and attitude of Muslims and deducing that all Muslims are rabid fanatics and violent people is inaccurate and mischievous. It is important to disentangle the faith from its various interpretations. This is more salient and poignant in a globalized world where the movement, diversity and difference are inevitable. Wilders’ assertions are then pure balderdash. What then accounts for the latent hostility and angst toward Islam in the Netherlands in particular and Europe, in general?

 

The crystallization of hostility toward Islam and fear of Islam can be dated back to the killing of Van Gogh who directed a film with Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The film was derogatory and insulting toward Islam and it catalyzed the rage of a Muslim immigrant who then murdered Van Gogh. This validated the beliefs of the native Dutch that Muslims were intolerant, could not countenance criticism and would kill for their beliefs. This was the immediate catalyst. The real reasons however go deeper. Historically, Europe and Islam has been each other’s Other. The rancid relationship developed during the times of the Crusades and Islam’s expansionist phase. This led to a psychology where Europe and Islam deemed each as the foil and enemy of the other. This historical consciousness is deep and exists on a profound level. The current  mutual angst and fear , it could be said, is the reformulation of this historical rivalry in modern day avatar and idiom. Validation is accorded to stereotypes of Islam and Muslims by the nature and attitudes of Muslim immigrants to Europe. These immigrants are usually peasants and poorly educated. This makes their absorption into host societies difficult. Mutual estrangement ensues as neither the host society nor the Muslim immigrants understand each other. There is no point of meeting or dialogue and stereotypes the get validated by acts such as the Van Gogh killing.

 

Wilders assertions tap into these latent fears and stereotypes. The acceptance or , in the least, receptivity to these accrue from the  changes globalization is wreaking in the rather homogenous states and nations of Europe, the deepening and widening of the European Union, the strains on the welfare systems of these states and the lack of economic integration of Muslim immigrants. This is then amplified by demagogues and populists like Wilders and have a resonance in European society. The question then is: Is this irremediable? If so, can anything be done to resolve the Muslim question in Europe?

 

The answer is not easy. However, erring on the side of optimism, it would appear that the condition may be amenable to some sort of a resolution that redounds positively to Europe and Muslims. Counter intuitively, it may be in globalization that a sanguine solution may lie. Globalization is leading to what has been termed, globalized Islam. That is, Islam in direct encounter with the west, unmediated by imperialism or other accretions and Islam short of territorial and cultural associations. This phenomenon is exposing Muslims to the tenets of liberalism and democracy and the idiom in which globalized Islam will be articulated in the language of rights, duties, responsibilities and liberal ideals. These are all missing from the authoritarian and rigid milieus of the Muslim Middle East. And integrating these into the framework and beliefs of Muslims can only be a sanguine and salutary development. There is thus a silver lining and it is this that needs to me made use of.

 

Crystallizing and hastening this would require far sighted visionary policies and a sanguine approach and attitude by European societies toward globalized Islam. Distance-psychological and physical- will only lead to more estrangement and alienation. The concomitant to this would be negative for social peace, and relations between Islam and the West. This is a scenario that nobody needs and has to be pre –empted. Mutual and genuine understanding and reach out programs would go far in alleviating negative stereotypes and peaceful, amicable societies. Globalization is here to stay. It may meet with hiccups and problems but it is not going to melt away. People cannot be shunted or kicked away from different countries/societies. Prudence dictates that globalization be rendered salubrious and fruitful for peoples. In this schema, it becomes pertinent for western societies to make an effort to understand Islam in the right light. Banning, deportations, criminalizing, segregation are no solutions. It is about time then that the Dutch- traditionally doyens and pioneers of tolerance and acceptance-lead the way in Europe and be the torch bearers of attempts to put Islam in its right perspective. Much is at stake than the hateful ramblings of people like Wilder’s. Let us al work toward a new, bold and beautiful world.