Gulf News,
Intellectuals worldwide have said the human civilisation owes a lot to Muslims and Arabs. They were reacting to comments by British TV presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk published recently in the Britain's Sunday Express.
Headlined 'We owe Arabs Nothing', the article sparked a row in the UK and the Arab region, forcing the BBC to suspend his daily morning chat show. Kilroy-Silk later quit the show.
Gulf News called for opinions on the issue from experts and intellectuals who have gathered from around the world to attend a conference – Cultural Contacts in Building a Universal Civilisation: the Role of Islamic Contributions. The event has been organised by the American University of Sharjah in collaboration with Research Centre for Islamic History, Art, and Culture of Istanbul.
Professor William Shea, Galileo Professor of History of Science at the University of Padua in Italy, said: “You find irrationality and prejudice everywhere, but this case is outrageous. The comments show this man has no culture and serves some racist ideology.”
Shea said Islam's contribution to international culture is obvious. “Anyone who says 'We owe Arabs nothing' has probably not considered the importance of Islamic art, which you can see just by opening your eyes when you travel. The Holy Quran itself is a literary masterpiece apart from being a very sacred document.”
On the issue of repression of women, Shea said the idea was extremely unfair. “I have travelled in Islamic countries and do not think that women are oppressed. Generally speaking, Muslims treat women much better than those in other parts of the world.”
On branding Arabs as 'suicide bombers', he said terrorists are everywhere in the world and they are not just Muslims. “In the US, school killings are common but we don't say all Americans are terrorists. There's no way that Islam has more terrorists than others.
“The problem we are facing right now is that we have a group of terrorists who are misguided people trying to send the message in all likelihood to the Americans and the West for not taking steps to solve the Palestinian question.
“I think, we have to reinforce the influence of Islam in our institutions in Europe, the UK and the US.”
In his article, Kilroy-Silk, 61, former Labour Party MP, questioned the Arab region's contribution to civilisation, calling Arabs 'suicide bombers, limb amputators and women repressors'.
Prof. Ziauddin Sardar, writer, broadcaster and cultural critic from the UK, said: “He was hired by the Sunday Express precisely for these views … He is not just articulating his own views, but also airing views of some racist elements in British society.”
Sardar said there are some Muslims who are terrorists or extremists. But the presenter's remarks were racist because based on a few individuals, he branded an entire society.
Sardar said: “You can criticise an individual, but you can't label a whole society. By saying 'We (west) owe Arabs nothing', he is airing ignorance.”
These views, Sardar said, exist not just in Britain but also in the West.
The author of several books, Sardar said there would have been no West without Islam. The west as it exists today is the product of Islamic science, civilisation, culture and learning. “The West owes its origin and development to Islam. We cannot imagine a West without history and western history is related to the history of Islam.”
Dr David Lea, associate professor of philosophy at the American University of Sharjah, said the TV presenter's views misrepresent facts.
Such comments are dangerous and inflammatory because it is all right to have a personal opinion but to print or broadcast that to influence thousands of people is very dangerous and shows that he may be having some sort of agenda.
“I think the best way to counter such racist comments is to bring people from the West and the Arab region together through frequent cultural links. There should be a frequent exchange of groups to educate each other and remove misconceptions.”
Prof R. Rashed from the National Centre for Scientific Research University of Paris said Kilroy-Silk's views show that people in the west are not well informed about history.
“A man who passes such racist remarks shows that he is ignorant of the history of Europe and not just the history of the Islamic civilisation. He used vulgar language and must be condemned. Arabs should take measures to remove such misconceptions by educating people and 'rediscovering' their contribution to the West.”
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