Zain Ali: Respect the key to harmony

It is Sunday afternoon and there are 500 to 600 Muslims gathered at the intersection of Queen and Custom Sts in Auckland.

There is a middle-aged European man seated next to me. He eyes me cautiously and turns toward me rather nervously.

"So are you Muslim?" he asks.

"Yes, I am."

"So you're part of the protest?"

"No," I reply. "I'm merely here as an observer."

He has a puzzled look on his face. "So why are Muslims so upset at these cartoons of Muhammad?"

There are the stock replies: perhaps Muslims lack humour or suffer from an inferiority complex and can't handle satire; perhaps it's multiculturalism gone wrong.

So what is it that has offended Muslims so much?

The Danish cartoons were first published four months ago, and only now are Muslims reacting. Why the delayed reaction and why the outpouring of such violence and hatred?

These are tough questions, but speaking for myself, and as a Muslim, I didn't find the cartoons offensive. Sure, they were in bad taste, but not offensive.

The point was well made by an Iraqi cleric, who noted that Muslims had to take responsibility for the violent, hate-filled image of Islam. This lack of responsibility was evident in scenes of violence in the Middle East and Europe, once again revealing the dark underbelly of the Muslim world.

The rally in Auckland was different. There was no violence, no chants calling for the death of America or Israel.

But there were two chants that remain etched in my mind: respect the prophet and respect all religion. They reveal the rarely seen, genuine face of Islam.

These slogans also pinpoint the heart of the debate, where freedom of expression and moral responsibility clash. In a true democracy we must have the right to speak freely, but we also have a moral obligation toward the welfare of others.

The caricatures of Muhammad as a terrorist undermine the notion of moral responsibility. You may believe Muhammad was a cut-throat, but be aware that there are other opinions. Caricatures seem inappropriate when dealing with such a serious issue.

Similarly, the Muslims who resort to violent protest are also morally guilty. They have chosen to override their obligation for the welfare of others, the results being destruction and death.

I did eventually join the rally, though I largely remained ambivalent as to the effectiveness of such a protest.

There remain so many tough questions. Can Muslims see themselves as Kiwis? Are Muslims willing to integrate? Is the dark underbelly of Islam present in New Zealand?

I see these issues revolving around one question: is a multicultural society possible?

I think it is, though we have be very careful how we define multicultural.

It won't be enough to say that a multicultural society is a place where all cultures are equal, because all cultures are not equal; there are some cultures or cultural practices that are clearly wrong.

Consider a culture where women are ill-treated. That cannot be considered equal to a culture with equity for males and females.

I prefer to define a multicultural society as a place where all cultures are equal before the law, the legal framework which captures the social and moral norms of a nation or people.

This model has its weaknesses. In Nazi Germany hate became part of the law.

But definitions aside, I think we have some good insights as to what would underpin a multicultural society.

Consider the Jewish philosopher Immanuel Levinas, a Holocaust survivor. For him the most fundamental encounter is when we are face to face with another person.

Facing a person is not like looking at a cup, which is nothing more than an object shaped from plastic or glass. A person is much more than an object and should never be treated or thought of as an object.

Caricatures of Muhammad treat him as no more than an object of satire. And violence fuelled by hate only dehumanises the victims into objects to be broken and silenced.

Our first step must be to face each other as people. Only then can we truly begin to discuss the tough questions.

* Zain Ali is a PhD student in the department of philosophy, University of Auckland.