The following excerpts are from two interviews with Bahraini author Dhiya Al-Musawi, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on May 4, 2010 and on Al-Arabiya TV on March 26, 2010.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memri.org/legacy/clip/0/0/0/0/0/0/2471 .
Al-Jazeera TV, May 4, 2010: "Who is Responsible for Booby-Trapping Planet Earth? Who Distributes the Drug of Religion Through Some Mosques, by Means of Extremists? I Am Not Generalizing by Saying It Is All Muslims"
Interviewer: "Most of our viewers – 86 percent – believe that Europe, in its recent attack on the niqab, on the minarets, and on Islamic clothing, displays almost unparalleled racism against the Arabs and the Muslims."
Dhiya Al-Musawi: "I believe that 86 percent is not something odd for the Arab and Islamic world, because we Arabs and Muslims continue to pass around the biscuits of conspiracy theory. Therefore, I have come today to Al-Jazeera TV, to talk about the prison of history in which many Arabs and Muslims live."
Interviewer: "Prison of history?"
Dhiya Al-Musawi: "Yes, we live in a prison of history, and many extremists sleep on the bed of the past. We must saw off the legs of that bed, so that their heads hit the floor, and they awaken from their political, social, and even economic stupor.
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"Who is responsible for booby-trapping planet Earth? Who distributes the drug of religion through some mosques, by means of extremists? I am not generalizing by saying it is all Muslims. Who is responsible for turning religion into a can of sardines? Who is responsible for hijacking the minds of the youth, and then booby-trapping them in Iraq and elsewhere? Who is responsible for cementing this ideology in the minds of the youth? These extremists are. These extremists may have different genes, but their DNA is one and the same. The secular extremists, the Christian extremists, the Jewish extremists, the Islamic extremists – they are all the enemies of humanity, of the ‘Party of Man.’"
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Al-Arabiya TV, March 26, 2010: "I Call for a Cultural Intifada in the Arab World, in Order to Sweep Away the Superstitions That Dwell in the Arab and Islamic Mind"
Interviewer: "You once wrote: ‘Let me introduce myself. I am a very provocative writer. I refuse to listen. I am as stubborn as 40 bulls. I am as sharp as a shark’s teeth, and I inflict wounds like a Yemeni dagger. My skin can tolerate people who speak only the language of knives, and in face of all the troubles, I have become as thick as a lizard’s skin.’
"What’s the purpose of all these descriptions? After all, you have removed your turban for the first time, and you are dressed in keeping with the latest fashion."
Dhiya Al-Musawi: "I believe that in the Arab world, if you want to focus on enlightenment, on the ‘Party of Man,’ and on the culture of life, you need to develop the skin of a lizard, and you need to inflict wounds – not on people, but on ignorance, illiteracy, and violence – by means of enlightenment. I believe that if someone wants to generate change in the Arab world, to expand the horizons of the Arab world, to open up its windows to sunshine, liberty, truth, and enlightenment, he must be capable of withstanding blows. I believe that these stabs are the flip side of turbulence. In the Arab world, when people curse you, it means you have been successful in making your voice heard. Therefore, I call for a cultural Intifada in the Arab world, in order to sweep away the superstitions that dwell in the Arab and Islamic mind.
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"People who believe in the Prophet, his family, and his companions, must strive to spread the culture of peace and tolerance in the world, to spread anything that makes this world more beautiful, rather than to generate internal battles."
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Interviewer: "Many Bahraini Internet forums describe you as a cleric who listens to music, who drives a Porsche sports car, who wears Dolce & Gabbana, who is obsessed with fashion, who celebrates Valentine’s Day and Christmas, and who watches Hollywood movies. People are not used to such clerics – or maybe you are no longer a cleric?"
Dhiya Al-Musawi: "I am not a cleric."
Interviewer: "For long, or is this recent?"
Dhiya Al-Musawi: "No, for a long time. But if it has to do with the clothes of the cleric... I am a Muslim, and I am Islamic. I am trying to implant the culture of life into society. Yes, I live this life, and I listen to music. Music has never been against humanity or religion. On the contrary, I have described music as a ‘purifying angel.’"
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"Have you ever heard of a man wearing an explosive belt emerging from an opera house to blow people up? I wrote once that it is better to give a child a guitar than a gun."
