Authentic heritage or emergency concept?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares in its eighteenth article the right of everyone to freedom of belief, thought, conscience and worship, and the prohibition of all forms of discrimination and persecution for religious reasons. Many philosophers and thinkers consider this right to be the father of all human rights, because without it justice, equality and respect for human dignity can never be guaranteed.

This right is also considered to be one of the most important, if not the most important at all, indicators of the extent of democracy and justice in any society or system of government. But unfortunately, this right is the most violated of all the other human rights mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the violation of this right is a major cause of many conflicts and crises in different parts of the world. , and it is not. limited to our present time, but rather an old problem Human foot on this earth.

In a time of escalating nationalist tendencies and policies focused on cultural and religious identities, it seems that we are heading towards a new world order that differs from the one that emerged following the fall of communism and the end cold. Age of war. To understand these changes, it is necessary to take into account the role that religion plays in public life in the Arab world and to try to harmonize this role and employ it positively so that religion plays an encouraging role. virtue, justice and democracy and good governance. This requires the concerted efforts of Arab politicians and thinkers to develop models compatible with the heritage and culture of the region and to avoid the mistakes made by Western elites, whether liberal, Marxist or secular, as they considered religion as a marginal factor and to isolate it or ignore it and deny its importance, which has caused a series of disasters such as the Balkan wars and the failure of migration and integration policies leading to the rise rapid new national trends.

The Arab world emerged exhausted and underdeveloped after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, with hopes of establishing a modern state that would join human civilization, but it quickly fell prey to the Sykes Accord. -Picot, who further divided and exhausted him and established the Arab-Israeli conflict, which gave a pretext for the establishment of political currents that adopted the principles of national and religious fascism and corrupt and authoritarian regimes. Sectarianism and racism have been used to stay in power, which has led several Arab countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Sudan to disasters whose effects will not end. before the passage of a long time.

Specialized research in this area indicates that the rate of aggression on religious grounds in the Arab region (Middle East and North Africa) is four times higher than the world average, and that six countries of the Middle East, namely : Israel / Palestinian Authority, Iraq, Syria and Yemen suffer from very high rates of religious and sectarian violence. The conflicts in the Middle East, all of which are conflicts in which religion plays a major role, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, have also resulted in the displacement of more than 20 million people. These unfortunate data lead us to believe that the Arab region urgently needs to revise its laws and regulations and radically reform them, eliminating all forms of religious discrimination and sectarian policies, supporting democratic modernization projects, disseminating and promoting a culture of human rights and equality. Eliminating all forms of injustice and the establishment of justice is the best way to resolve conflicts and achieve peace.

The concept of cultural pluralism and religious freedoms is not an urgent concept in the Arab world. Arab heritage, both ancient and modern, before and after Islam, contains many traditions and examples that can be inspired, revived and developed instead of importing other models that can do more harm than harm. advantage. From the rich religious diversity of the pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula to the Medina Document and certain golden periods from the Umayyad and Abbasid eras up to the Andalusian era, the history of the region is rich in positive experiences that have contributed to enrich human civilization as a whole. , without neglecting the bitter experiences that the peoples of the region still pay for some of them. So far, these experiences should be analyzed and critically studied to learn from their lessons, and it is interesting to note that the periods which have seen the greatest contributions of Arab civilization are those periods characterized by a high degree of d acceptance and respect for cultural and religious diversity and pluralism, which underpins what we discuss in this short article and reinforces the conclusion. What we have achieved is that the Arab world stores beautiful traditions which can complement and augment human civilization in the event that the legal frameworks and regulations are available that allow the release of these potential energies.

Despite the gloom of the current scene, there are initiatives and positive indicators issued by several Arab countries which carry with them the hope of a better future, from Morocco to Tunisia via Egypt, Jordan and the Kurdistan, and Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Oman. There is encouraging news of reforms aimed at expanding the area of ​​cultural and religious diversity and combating extremism and incitement to hatred. The historic visit of the President of the Muslim World League last January to the Auschwitz concentration camp sent a moving message to the world about the feelings of compassion and human brotherhood inherent in Arab culture, genuine feelings that have been suppressed, repressed and absent in favor of nationalist and religious discourse that hijacked the Arab scene and terrorized it for long periods. In this context, we cannot fail to mention and welcome other initiatives such as the Rabat Declaration of Human Rights and Al-Azhar’s efforts to resist and dismantle rhetorical extremism. The efforts may still be in their infancy, but they carry great symbolism, and we can only praise and encourage them, for the road is still long and arduous, and as the English saying goes: The road to a thousand kilometers begins with one step, the important thing is that this step goes in the right direction, no matter how small.

** Joint article written by:

Dr .. Jan Figel, former Commissioner of the European Union and Special Envoy
Dr .. Kataza Gondoy is Director of Research at the International Organization for the Study of Human Rights and Religious Freedoms
Dr .. Wael Al-Ajji, Secretary of the Middle East Conservative Association