Islamic Student Association Maastricht: “Muslims are not afraid of critical debate!”

The newly established Islamic Student Association Maastricht ( ISVM) recently organised its first public event with a “Conference on Islam and the West”. Crossroads writer Henrik Hartmann speaks with ISVM’s chairman Zine Abhidin Zouggari about the perception of Islam after 9/11, Geert Wilders’ controversial statements, and how Muslims are represented in Maastricht.

“There has been much debate in the Netherlands about Islam, about how backward and dangerous it is. But mostly the discussions, while being about Muslims, do not include Muslim voices,” says Zine Abhidin Zouggari, 25-year-old student at Maastricht University’s Faculty of Law and chairman of the new Islamic Student Association Maastricht (ISVM).

As we sit together over a cup of coffee, Zine explains why he and some fellow students with Muslim backgrounds saw the need for a body representing Muslim students. “The idea came after a public lecture by an Islam critic. We were sitting together thinking why people are eager to talk about Islam, but do not invite speakers who actually are of Muslim faith”. For Zine, it would “simply be ignorant” not to allow Muslims with an academic background to take part in the debate.

The Islamic Student Association already counts about one hundred members, half of whom are actively involved. Activities are organised in English as a common language, rather than in Dutch, because many members are German students who came to study in Maastricht.

One should not think of the ISVM as some sort of political group or debate club however: “It was not that we said ‘we need a voice, therefore let’s start an organisation!’ On the contrary, we started out just as a platform where Muslim students can meet. We also do other activities, for example a trip to London that we organised recently. This is important, especially for the girls , because an Islamic association like ours is often the only group they can get their parents’ permission to take part in.”

Qu’ran vs. Mein Kampf
A few days before this conversation with Zine, ISVM’s made its first public appearance with an evening of lectures and panel discussion entitled “Conference on Islam and the West”. Even though it was announced only a few days in advance, the event stirred considerable interest. The old monastery’s chapel that now serves as auditorium of the University College was packed with every seat filled. The mostly student audience had come to hear two Islamic orators about the role of the Qu’ran and Islam.

Speaking first, Hamza Andreas Tzortzis, a UK-based author and Islamic activist, addressed the topic of “The Inimitability of the Qu’ran” and tried to make non-Muslims understand “why Muslims are so crazy about the Qu’ran”, as he put it. He explained the importance of the book for Islam, as it sets rules for most aspects of private and public life. Then Abdullah Hanif, who introduced himself as “a public speaker and engineer by main profession”, also from the UK, tried to clear up common “myths” that the West has built up about Islam. In great detail he explained Muslim perspectives on aspects like the role of women in Islam or the concept of Jihad.

The two men related their presentations to the fevered debates that are taking place in the Netherlands around the murder of Theo Van Gogh, the Hirsi Ali affair and recent controversial statements by MP Geert Wilders who has compared the Qu’ran to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”. Both speakers commented very critically on the role of Western right-wing policy makers in what has come to be thought of as the new conflict between the West and Islam.

“How Muslims are treated today can be compared to the anti-Semitism of the 1930s or the anti-communist paranoia of the McCarthy era in the 1960s”, said Tzortzis. According to Hanif, Muslims today have become “scapegoats” and are presented as “barbaric and backwards”. At the same time, he says, the West is guilty of hypocrisy: “Western countries torture while talking about human rights, they support dictators and wage wars.”

Picking up on what is described as the “dialogue of sound bites”, the speakers called upon the audience to overcome a narrow view of Islam that has been shaped by the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the subsequent “war on terror”. Muslims want dialogue, they both said, but an informed dialogue and not one that is based on insult and ridicule. Hanif stressed that the Qu’ran denounces mockery and insult of any religion. “This should be kept in mind when discussing for instance the protests following the Danish cartoons”, he said, referring to the “Mohammed cartoon crisis” that ignited outrage in much of the Muslim world in 2006.

“Everybody looks at you”
In the café with Zine, I ask him if he can feel that tension between Muslims and non-Muslims. “9/11 has changed everything in that sense,” he replies. “Before that, I was perceived as a Moroccan or an immigrant. Now people refer to me as a Muslim, and at the end you always become to some extent what people see in you.”

Zine says that his Muslim identity has never been very significant to him before the attacks on the World Trade Centre. In fact, he believes that the ISVM would not exist today if 9/11 had not happened. “I think the way Muslims started to be perceived after that has changed me in the same way as it has changed many Muslims. We have to face a certain suspicion that we need to get used to.”

Still, the future is not all that dim: “We have to see this as a chance as well. Today, we can change something. The time of anti-Islamic hysteria has hopefully passed, and people are more interested and open towards Muslim views as well. In a long-term perspective, I believe that we can really come to a positive discussion, which can actually help us turn what happened on 9/11 into something fruitful.”

As if to conclude on the subject, he adds smilingly: “Even as I say all this, don’t forget that you are talking to a representative of a Muslim organisation. When this is done I will go and play football in the park with my friends. Then I will be just Zine again, not Zine the Muslim.”

“I’m a proud Maastrichtenaar”
This comment gets us talking about Maastricht, about the cultural climate and the role of Muslims in the city. “Isn’t Maastricht often perceived as a rather conservative place, not particularly multicultural?” I ask. Zine disagrees. “In fact”, he says, “we have as many immigrants here as in the rest of the Netherlands. Immigrants here just happen to be very well integrated.”

To him, integration issues in general are more related to class than to religion: Many immigrants came as low-skilled workers from rural areas, and many of these families do not manage to rise in social status. Hence, he sees two reasons for Maastricht’s more positive picture: “On the one hand immigrants in this area came more often from a middle-class background and are well organised, and on the other hand Maastricht has a very liberal Muslim community.” “There are many Muslims at Maastricht University and even two Muslims in the city council,” Zine adds proudly.

“We are lucky that all the immigration problems from the Randstad did not come to Maastricht”, he says. “Muslims here are real “Maastrichtenaars”. When I speak Dutch, people can easily identify me as coming from this region, and I am grateful to have grown up here. When I go to Morocco, I say with pride that I am from Maastricht.”

“Nobody should be shut up”
One of the central obstacles in the coming together of Islam and secular Western society is the apparent incompatibility of values. The observance of the Sharia, the comprehensive religious law based on the Qu’ran, often seems to conflict with the norms and values that constitute Western societies. The acceptance of these liberal values is often seen as critical point in the integration of Muslims.

The two orators at the ISV’s conference had very particular views on the issue. Rejecting liberal democracy as sole basis of law, and denying that Muslims can truly live their faith in a system other than an Islamic state, they revealed a very traditionalist standpoint. I confront Zine with some sections of the lectures and ask him if the ISV follows a specific ideology.

“It is true that compared to intellectuals like Tariq Ramadan who work out visions for Muslims in secular societies, these two speakers can be seen as rather traditionalist,” he says. “And indeed, we had a discussion with some of our members who said that they were afraid that we as an organisation would come across as too conservative. But at the end of the day, our goal to invite people to come together. Whether traditionalist or reformist, it does not matter. Whoever is interested in a true dialogue is welcome, and these two brothers surely like engaging in critical discussion.”

“Both of them were in the country for a conference in Utrecht,” Zine continues. “So for us, it was the perfect chance to get two Islamic scholars and very articulate speakers to come to Maastricht. There is no hidden agenda – we want to go into the public and invite people to debate, and seized this opportunity”.

So no, “there is no ideology behind our organisation,” he finally answers. “It is open to all Muslims, no matter which community they belong to, as well as to people who are interested in the faith. Nobody should be shut up. If people are willing to talk and exchange their thoughts, let them talk. This is why we want to involve everybody in question-and-answer sessions, so that they can voice their concerns and opinions.”

Politics of fear vs. honest debate
During the public discussion part of the debate, it was not merely non-Muslims who asked questions, but also many Muslims who wanted to express their disagreement with what had been said, more specifically about the connection between state and faith, and the speakers’ insistence on the literal interpretation of Islamic laws and principles.

“I liked that”, Zine says. “Next time, I would also like to invite people critical of Islam into the panel. This way we can have a heated and honest debate from the start. I have seen German author Henryk Broder speak in Maastricht on the Islamisation of Europe”, he continues. “It would be great to invite a guy like that”.

His words startle me. Is Broder’s islamophobia not the same thing as the politics of anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders? Zine denies this. “The difference is that Broder likes to provoke. He speaks to an intellectual audience, and he wants to entangle them in a straightforward argument.”

“Muslims have been pampered”, he continues, “and that has to stop”. He says that Muslims in the Netherlands just as in other European countries were made to believe that they did not need to integrate, because they were not considered as permanent members of these societies. “Now it turns out that we do belong to these societies. And this means that it is up to us to find our place here.”

But that challenge, he says, has nothing to do with what populists like Geert Wilders demand. “Wilders speaks to simple people. His voters feel threatened and Wilders feeds on their fear. He is not interested in dialogue at all, but in promoting hatred and resentments on both sides. This is why he is so dangerous. We try to achieve just the opposite.”

“This is the whole point”, Zine sums up, “you need to differentiate and not paint things in black and white. For instance, I respect Hirsi Ali, and I think that much of her criticism is valid. But when she starts speaking about what she perceives as ”true Islam”, then she is playing a dangerous game. In that way, she offends many people.”

Towards the end of the debate on Islam and the West, the two speakers stood up and addressed the audience sitting in the lecture hall. “No matter what your opinion is on Islam and not matter if you agree with us or not. Do you think that a discussion like the one we just had is productive and useful? If so, then please raise your hand.” Almost everybody’s hand went up.

By Henrik Hartmann

Originally from Germany, Henrik Hartmann, 24, moved to Maastricht three years ago. He studies at the University College and is currently working on his Bachelor in Social Sciences.

More information:
Islamic Student Association Maastricht