Najady Abu Bakr, member of the Executive Association for Muslims in Belgium, called on Islamic countries to speed up plans to establish a unified Islamic market as a step on the way to a comprehensive Islamic Unity. Speaking on the sidelines of the Future of the Islamic Nation conference in Cairo, Abu Bakr warned against hesitating to eliminate backwardness in the Islamic World.
He said that the executive association places the issue of Islamic-Christian dialogue high on its list of priorities, because after the September 11 events, the image of Islam in Europe has become distorted. Western media has been disseminating false information, such as that Islam is a religion of terrorism and violence and that Islam urges its followers to hate Western civilization. So the association’s duty is to reveal the tolerant image of Islam through a dialogue with followers of other religions, especially followers of Christianity.
Abu Bakr described the role of the association in serving Muslims in Belgium as "an administrative role," because Belgium does not recognize any religions, even Christianity. However, Belgium recognizes the organizations that are afiliated with these religions. He described Belgium as an "unbiased" state in dealing with recognized religions. Belgian law requires the state to fund the activities of recognized religions. In the field of Islam, the country takes on the role of appointing imams and teaching Islam at official schools. There are 100 schools for Islamic education and more than 300 mosques funded by the state.
Abu Bakr said that Muslims in Belgium enjoy their full rights, including political rights. "We have 20 people who have won the latest legislative elections, in addition to 22 people of Muslim origins who won in the municipal elections," he said, adding that Muslims are still a minority in Belgium, numbering half a million in a country of 10 million.
According to Abu Bakr, Muslims in Belgium are part of Islamic society, because they influence and are influenced by whatever happens in the Islamic world. "Muslims should wisely adapt to the societies they emigrate to, so as to give a positive image of our [Islamic] nation," he added.
Although Belgium is a small country in terms of space and population, nevertheless it has had an honorable role in helping Muslims and Islam in the Palestinian issue. Abu Bakr mentioned that the Belgian minister of foreign affairs visited areas of Palestine no one else had ever been to. He was faced by threats from extremist groups in Israel, which led to a deadlock in the relationship between Israel and Belgium.
Abu Bakr also foresaw a great role to be played by Muslims in Europe in serving Arab and Muslim interests. "Muslim presence is growing in Europe in such an intelligent way, respectful of Islamic principles that urge us to respect the countries in which we reside. We have freedom, which we can make use of in an intelligent way that does not clash with the laws of these countries. In this way, we are proving that we are good citizens," Abu Bakr said.
