The publication of the infamous cartoons had inflamed the feelings of Muslims everywhere. It was a sheer act of provocation in the name of free speech. But it should be understood that this was the action of a very small minority. We, in the Islamic Tourism magazine, have always looked for the big and bright picture; one of compassion, peace and understanding between all communities of the world and we highlighted the need for building bridges between the Islamic culture and the rest of the world.
Indeed, Islamic Tourism magazine and its website are necessary contributions in this direction. People of different creeds, languages and countries are working on both the magazine and its website. They all believe that the world has become a small village with different people living in it and they need to get on well with each other. We covered news and reports on different parts of the world, in all its variety. We believe there are lots of positive points we should build on. We all share common element of thinking and experiences. Tourism, as we understand it, is one of the important means of discovering these common elements. Ordinary people in every day life tell of there love and understanding of the places they have visited; even when the places they visited suffered from poverty, injustice and natural calamities.
The publication of the cartoons is a work in the opposite direction: a work well planned to highlight the negative and dividing factors. They are not an individual act but they fall into a pattern spreading over the last two decades aimed at overturning the historical trend towards tolerance and understanding in the age of multi-culturism and globalisation.
We believe that this crisis will be over soon although we expect similar negative provocation to come back again. But this should increase our trust in the future and the decency of humanity to shine through the crisis and to lead to a better world; a world of respect for people’s beliefs and sensitivities.
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