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European Muslim leaders are growing astute in handling rising Islamophobia across the continent by learning how to take offensive anti-Islam campaigns into their strides, Muslim leaders and Islamic affairs experts say.


“EU Muslims are now mature enough when it comes to Islamophobia,” Hasan Farsado, leader of the Union of Muslim Association in the Seine-Saint-Denis district in France, told IslamOnline.net on January 18.


Living in democracies, EU Muslims can “resort to law to maintain their rights and defend themselves against assaults on their religious identity,” he added.


Following the Danish cartoons crisis in 2005 and the ensuing protests and internationalization of the issue, European Muslim leaders became aware of right-wing and Islamophobic campaigns that instigated public opinion against them and doubted their loyalty to their countries.


Other similar sacrilegious attempts that lampooned Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and insulted Islam and its holy book, failed to unnerve Muslims in some European countries.


Muslims there resorted to peaceful protests and direct talks with officials and even Islamophobes to demonstrate that what they believe was untrue.


Just this week, Austrian Muslim leaders refused to be provoked by offensive anti-Islam remarks made by a member of a right-wing party, saying such “third-class” politicians do not deserve even their jeers.


In the Netherlands, Muslim leaders have talked to the owner of an exhibition and convinced him to stop showcasing paintings insulting the Prophet.


And in France, Muslim leaders led a peaceful mass rally in Paris, raising placards denouncing Islamophobia and blashphemy.


Shortly afterwards, President Nicolas Sarkozy said both Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are unacceptable in France and some lawmakers proposed to draft a bill criminalizing Islamophobia.


On January 10, more than 400 Muslim groups across Europe signed at the European parliament the first charter on relations between Muslims in Europe and their societies.


More Harm

Farsado said EU Muslims have realized that violent protests and demonstrations will get them nowhere. “Such (violent) reaction to anti-Islam campaign will create more harm than good as it further tarnishes the image of Islam and Muslims in the West,” Farsado noted.


The astute Muslim response nowadays comes in sharp contrast to the killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by a Dutch-Moroccan, who was provoked by the director’s anti-Islam documentary “Submission”.


“Such violent responses won’t deter Islamophobes,” said Farsado.


Vincent Geisser, a researcher and expert at Islamic affairs in the West, echoed a similar view.


“EU Muslims have adopted new tactics (to fight Islamophobia) based on triggering established redressal mechanism through the judiciary and state institutions,” he said.


The first UN Alliance of Civilizations Forum, which wrapped up in the first fortnight of January in Madrid, saw the launch of a Hollywood-backed fund to produce and distribute films that stereotypes about Islam and Arabs, and promote cross-cultural understanding.


A recent British study accused the media and film industry of perpetuating Islamophobia and prejudice by demonizing Muslims and Arabs as violent, dangerous and threatening people.


But some Muslim leaders believe that there is a lot to be done by Muslims in Europe to reach “Islamophobia maturity.”


“I fear that by paying no heed to anti-Islam campaigns Muslims will get used to such offenses as a fait accompli,” warned Mohamed Al-Mesteri, director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).


“Muslims in Europe should translate their peaceful protests into strong media campaigns against offenders and close coordination among Muslim umbrella groups and we unfortunately lack both weapons,” added Al-Mesteri.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Professor Rudiger Wehner of Germany, Professors Donald D. Trunkey and Basil A. Pruitt (both from the US), Professor Ahmad Matloob Al-Nasiri of Iraq and Professor Muhammed Rashad Al-Hamzawi of Tunisia have been declared winners of this year’s King Faisal International Prize in four categories.


The winners were declared in Riyadh by Dr. Abdullah Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the prize, in the presence of Makkah Governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, chairman of the prize committee. A special panel, chaired by Crown Prince Sultan, selected King Abdullah for the King Faisal Prize for Service to Islam.


King Abdullah was selected for the prize in recognition of his outstanding services to Islam and Muslims, both within the Kingdom and abroad. His domestic accomplishments included the establishment of mega economic cities and King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) and the formation of Human Rights Commission and National Dialogue Center.


King Abdullah’s accomplishments overseas included his firm support for Arab and Muslim causes, persistent efforts to resolve differences among Arabs and Muslims countries, generous support to Arabs, Muslims and other communities at the times of need and his efforts to achieve peace and promote cultural dialogue.


Professor Wehner from the University of Zurich, Switzerland won the prize for science (Topic: Biology). An outstanding neuroethologist, whose work revolved around the general question of how a 0.1 milligram brain of a 10-milligram animal solves complex computational tasks. He has focused on the extraordinary navigational skills of visually guided desert ants. His work has inspired many international research groups to use this elegant animal model for various conceptual and methodological approaches aiming at the questions of how nervous systems evolved, how they work and how they control behaviour.


The prize for medicine (Topic: Trauma Management) was shared by Professor Trunkey of Oregon Health & Science University and Professor Pruitt of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Trunkey is one of the most influential leaders in the field of trauma management. He conceived and validated an organized trauma system for a better outcome of the injured patient and disseminated this system worldwide.


Pruitt is an internationally renowned clinical leader in burn surgery and a distinguished researcher in the science of improving the outcome of serious burn injury. His work, over the past 50 years, has covered the entire spectrum of burn care and has had a significant impact on the improvement of trauma care.


Professor Al-Nasiri, acting chairman of the Iraqi Science Academy, and Professor Al-Hamzawi, chairman of the Department of Arabic Language, Sultan Qaboos University in Oman shared the prize for Arabic language and literature. Matloob is awarded the prize in recognition of his fundamental role in studying the evolution, organization and context of terminology in Arabic rhetoric and literary criticism, and his prolific publications in this field. Al-Hamzawi is awarded the prize in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the field of terminology in classical and modern Arabic language, and his efforts to develop this field as an integral part of Arabic language scholarship.


Othaimeen said the prize for Islamic studies (Topic: Rules Governing International Relations during Peace and War in Islam) was withheld for lack of sufficient merit among nominees. The topics for next year’s prize are: Islamic Studies (Studies by Muslim scholars on the concept of civilization cycles); Arabic language and literature (Verification of Poetry, Prose, and Anthology between 300 AH to 700 AH); Medicine (Molecular Targeted Therapy) and Science (Physics). The deadline for all nominations is May 1, 2008.


King Faisal Foundation was established in 1976 by the eight sons of the late King Faisal, the Kingdom’s third monarch. Of the many philanthropic activities of the foundation, the King Faisal International Prize is the most widely known. By drawing attention to important issues and rewarding gifted scientists, the prize’s direct and indirect effects are far reaching. Nominations for the Prizes are accepted from international institutions and organizations only, and not from individuals or political parties.