Indonesian Movie an Antithesis to FITNA

An Indonesian movie is being touted as the antithesis of the Qur'an-bashing FITNA ("Strife," see previous post). VERSES OF LOVE (Ayat Ayat Cinta), attempts to show the compassionate side of Islam. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation.

More than three million people, including the president and top government officials, have flocked to cinemas to watch the Islamic romance, VERSES OF LOVE, released in the middle of January. The movie deals with many sensitive issues, such as Islam's treatment of women and multiple marriages, through the story of Fahri Abdullah Shiddiq, an Indonesian graduate student at Egypt's Al-Azhar University, and his struggle to deal with life's problems through Islamic teachings.

The filmmaker, Hanung Bramantyo, 33, who has won two Citra awards, Indonesia's equivalent of the Oscars, is quoted as saying his mission is to present Islam as a tolerant and peaceful religion, and that there are people who are hip, fashionable and capable of socializing, but at the same time do things in an Islamic way.

Another Dutch Filmmaker Inflames Muslims

Dutch politician and Islamic critic Geert Wilders launched his short video, FITNA, on the Internet last week. Fitna is an Arabic term sometimes translated as "strife." The video intersperses images of the 9/11/2001 attacks on the United States and other Islamist bombings with quotations from the Koran (Qur'an), Islam's holy book.

The video urges Muslims to tear out "hate-filled" verses from the Koran. It starts and finishes with an animation of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad, a bomb under his turban, accompanied by the sound of ticking.

FITNA is 17 minutes, and you could have watched it on the Internet, but the sites have now taken it down because of threats. The Muslims consider it blasphemous against the Prophet, and many consider it in poor taste. Its message is definitely inflammatory and dangerous to the safety of the non-Muslim world.

The drawn cartoon, first published in Danish newspapers in 2005, ignited violent protests around the world and a boycott of products from Denmark by some Muslim countries. The Koran prohibits any images of the Prophet.

Even the Bible says, "Thou shall not make any graven images of the Lord, Thy God," but most Christians ignore this. Muslims, on the other hand, are offended because they regard any visual depiction of the Prophet as blasphemous against their religion.

Government officials and Dutch Muslim leaders do not wish a repeat of what happened in 2005 when militant Islamist rioted in Denmark. Previously, one murdered Dutch movie director Theo van Gogh on the streets of Amsterdam. He made a film accusing Islam of instigating and condoning violence against women. For that he was killed.

Last week, all parties immediately appealed for calm and called on Muslims worldwide not to target Dutch interests. The Netherlands is home to about one million Muslims out of a population of 16 million.

Iran called FITNA heinous, blasphemous and anti-Islamic. A spokesperson called on European governments to block any further showings. Pakistan's Foreign Office summoned the Dutch ambassador to lodge a protest. There was a small protest by dozens of Islamists in Karachi, demanding that Pakistan sever diplomatic ties with Denmark and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, NATO has expressed concern the film could worsen security for foreign forces in Afghanistan, including 1,650 Dutch troops. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in a televised speech on Thursday, that he rejected Wilders' views and was pleased by the initial restrained reactions of Dutch Muslim organizations.

The current European Union president issued a statement: "The European Union and its member states apply the principle of the freedom of speech which is part of our values and traditions. However, it should be exercised in a spirit of respect for religious and other beliefs and convictions."

In Amsterdam, Saturday (29th), thousands of Dutch demonstrated against FITNA, trying to show the world that Wilders does not represent the country as a whole. Sunday (30th) ABC television news featured an interview with Wilders who stated emphatically that he is not a racist, but a realist.

His message is that the goal of radical Islam is to take over the world. Radical Islam is the only religious sect that offers rewards for violent acts against non-believers. Unfortunately, Wilders makes no distinction of radical Islam from the world-wide population of Muslims. He insinuates that all Muslims are radical and violent.

Wilders is trying to warn Western society against a force massing on the other side of the hill (Middle East and Africa), which is encroaching ever closer into Europe and beyond. A force that is determined to rule everyone according to its religious law (Sharia). Think what the Taliban did when they took over Afghanistan, and what the Islamic Revolution brought to Iran, and that is what Wilders envisions for the rest of us. He has already seen seeds of it in Denmark and in his own country.

This is the biggest threat to Western Civilization since World War II, but tanks, guns and bombs will not stop this force. Only diplomacy, eradication of poverty world-wide, education and medical care for all, and a coming together of world religious leaders within the three branches of Abraham's family tree to try and conjoin the Quran, Bible, and Torah into a book of religious tolerance to which all can adhere.

It would mean being realistic and putting aside some doctrines from each, but why should doctrinal concepts impede world peace and brotherly love? WWJD?