A tweet by India's Prime Minister Modi on Aug. 16, during his visit
to Abu Dhabi, prompted a unique cultural debate in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE). Announcing to his 14.9 million followers that the UAE
government had allotted land for a Hindu temple, he prompted a
discussion on Twitter that generated over 25,000 tweets in the Arabic
language alone (a very large number for public opinion in the UAE and
other Arabian monarchies), coverage on the BBC, and more.
It was the remarkable crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed Bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, who donated land for the temple; he did so to foster
cultural and religious tolerance and fit his longstanding effort to
bring diversity to Abu Dhabi (another notable example was establishing
the Guggenheim Museum). As the
prince explained,
a "civilized, advanced" Abu Dhabi with sustainable development requires
"concerted efforts from all sectors of the community" -- Hindus
included. The temple also fit newly passed UAE legislation establishing
religious freedom.
But the prospect of a state-supported Hindu temple immediately
provoked an uproar, beginning with the Twitter hashtag (in Arabic)
#BuildingAHinduTempleInAbuDhabi. The imam of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in
Abu Dhabi (where super-star Rihanna controversially had modeled her
Arabian outfit), Waseem Yousef, kicked off the debate that same day with
a tweet asserting that "Religion is for Allah only. All Imams agree
that building temples for idol worshipping is a blasphemy."
"Religion is for Allah only. All Imams agree that building temples for idol worshipping is a blasphemy." — Waseem Yousef
|
"If you truly respect religions, you'd keep these scumbags out of the mosques of Alla.h" — Ahmad Aloudah
|
The popular UAE response to Youssef's tweet came fast and hard:
#StopWassim'sTVShow. And, indeed, he quickly found his television show
interpreting dreams
canceled.
News of the Hindu temple then crossed over to nearby countries,
especially Saudi Arabia, where a surge of anti-Hindu sentiments smeared
the crown prince, the UAE government, and all Emiratis.
Some anti-Hindu tweets cited the Prophet Muhammad breaking idols in
Mecca. Others focused on the persecution of Muslims in Burma where
Buddhists (not Hindus) destroyed a historic mosque and massacred
Muslims.
"1400 years ago the prophet purified Arabia from idol worshipping. Now it returns to Abu Dhabi." — Mshari Al-Shammari
|
Other Saudis were anti-freedom and progress. They apparently believe
it collides with Islamic values, and refuse to consider the UAE as a
model for balancing the two:
"They
claim freedom, build churches and temples, but they're actually taking
bad habits from the West and calling it progress." — @zeiid2
|
Some of the tweets attacked Abu Dhabi's crown prince:
"Only Muslims are worthy of your love and compassion." — @Alyahyamo7ammad
|
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) also weighed in:
"We are destroying the temples of idol worshippers, and the UAE is calling Muslims to follow the infidels." — @Asdia1Y
|
Surprisingly, this was tweeted from a Canadian Muslim, referring to the Hindu temple:
"Thank god for ISIS, which will blow it up soon." — Angham Mohammad Ali
|
The response, however, was not one sided. A tweet quickly emerged from Saudi Arabia under a trending hashtag #LiberalRational:
"Idol worshipping never left Mecca. Mecca is the idol that you worship." — @azoozazeez1
|
Other twitter users from Saudi Arabia also followed suit, including
the writer and public figure Saleh Al Turigee, who has 143,000 followers
on Twitter.
"This
is a huge leap from medieval ways of thinking. Humanity is against
aggression and stopping others from practicing their faith." — Saleh Al
Turigee
|
Positive voices from the UAE and elsewhere in the Middle East,
especially Egypt, supported the temple; they pushed it forth as a symbol
of love, freedom, knowledge, innovation, and humanity.
"India: A Sikh man builds a mosque for his Muslim childhood friend. Extremists will never understand this." — @mo7d_alhajri
|
"Religious
freedom is a right for everyone, just as it is a right for you to have a
mosque in non-Muslim countries" — F. K. Habeeb
|
"Cow-worshippers produced the following people, and we produced ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah." — Karim Habsi, Oman.
|
"UAE
says Islam is a religion of humanity. ISIS says Islam is a religion of
blood." — Fatima Naoot, Egypt (492K followers/writer)
|
Some tweets, both pro- and anti-temple, showed a sense of humor:
"Let's just respect their Holy Cow and stop eating Kebabs." "The cows would be happy." — @alabood9
|
"We are on our way to Abu Dhabi" — @33Abomamed
|
The Hindu temple issue reveals with special clarity the divide
between Muslim extremists (who perceive the "Other" as an infidel) and
Muslim non-extremists (who follow a spirit of openness, peace, and
coexistence with different cultures in modern times). More importantly,
it shows that a non-extremist segment not only exists, but is ready to
take on the extremists. From Abu Dhabi's crown prince, to the city's
population, to the larger body of Arabic-language Twitter activists, the
non-extremists can stand up to -- and sometimes defeat -- the ISIS
crowd.
As a UAE national who lives in Abu Dhabi, where 80% of the residents
come from 161 foreign nationalities, I believe the people are looking
forward to the openness represented by the Hindu temple. We look forward
to its opening and see this as a welcome, significant step towards the
defeat of the extremists in our midst.
Sara Al Nuaimi is an Emirati lady, a Muslim and a cultural activist based in Abu Dhabi.
It was the remarkable crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed Bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, who donated land for the temple; he did so to foster
cultural and religious tolerance and fit his longstanding effort to
bring diversity to Abu Dhabi (another notable example was establishing
the Guggenheim Museum). As the prince explained,
a "civilized, advanced" Abu Dhabi with sustainable development requires
"concerted efforts from all sectors of the community" -- Hindus
included. The temple also fit newly passed UAE legislation establishing religious freedom.
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