Posted by binsar on 15 Nov 2007 at 03:07 pm | Tagged as: Article, Interreligious Dialogue
The whole controversy about the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad has drawn angry reactions from Moslems all over the world. The main issue is the fundamental value of democracy in the West against the misuse of freedom of speech by insulting the Prophet Muhammad. We can now see that there is a big misunderstanding of culture on how the West in looking at others beliefs and values.
However, this issue has made me question myself, what would be the reaction of a Moslem from the West? This intriguing idea soon reminds me of an interview I made for the class of religious leadership, as a course in my master’s program in the Netherlands in 2004. Among various choices of religious leaders, one particular Moslem Imam interests me. His name is Imam A. van Bommel, a converted Dutch Imam, born as a Dutch citizen in a Christian background. His father is a Catholic and his mother is a Reformed Protestant. He converted to Islam at the age of 23 after a 5 years research among the Mollucans in a small village in Frisland. Having this kind of background has made Imam van Bommel thinks and acts as a Moslem as well as a Dutch.
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