Earlier this month, I bashed out a piece on the “Year of Tolerance”
that was being promoted by the Federal Government of the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”).
The piece, which can be found at http://beautifullyincoherent.blogspot.com/2019/12/in-praise-of-tolerance.html,
argued that the UAE, had realized that in order to prosper in the post-hydrocarbon
age, it would have to be open to the world and that would require tolerance. Hence,
this collection of absolute monarchies took the brave step of promoting tolerance
in a region not known for tolerance and just when tolerance was going out of
fashion in the Western Democracies.
There were the big showcase events to show that the UAE had
gotten “tolerance.” The year started with the UAE becoming the first nation in
the Arabian Gulf to host a Papal visit. The main players of the UAE political
scene took their chances to ensure that they were photographed with the
Pontiff.
While the high and mighty of the UAE had their photo opportunities
with the Pope, the question does remain – is there more to the UAE’s promotion
of tolerance beyond the photo opportunities. The UAE is located in a part of
the world which is not known for tolerance. Neighboring Saudi Arabia (which is
one of the UAE’s closer allies in the region) for example, only just allowed
women to get behind the wheel of a car and allowing cinemas became a sign of
major progress. Across the Gulf, you have Iran, the world’s most famous
theocracy, where a priesthood dominates society. How different can the UAE be?
The answer is – very much so. Dubai is famous of the
emirates is famous for being very open about many things. While the other Emirates
are more conservative, they are also opening up. What was most interesting for
me was to click onto the website for Gulf News (Duabi’s National Daily), which
had a section dedicated to the photos of Christians celebrating Christmas at
Churches in Dubai and Sharjah. Dubai is known for openness – Sharjah is not.
The fact that the article mentioned that there are “Christian Communities throughout
the UAE,” indicates that the UAE is more open to “other” religions that their geographical
location might suggests. The Christmas pictures from Gulf News can be found at:
While the systems both Saudi Arabia and Iran might suggest
that Islam is somehow the antithesis to having a tolerant society, the truth is
less so. Mohammed, Islam’s prophet did not see himself as being the ONLY prophet
of God. In fact, Islam recognizes the prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus is
regarded as one of the main prophets. Mohammed did accord Jews and Christians privileges
and protections in lands that he ran.
When the Crusaders marched towards what we call the Middle
East, they found that it was the Islamic world that had tolerance for others
and it had innovation and economic prosperity. Its only in modern times that
the roles have reversed.
Nobody doubts that there will stumbles along the way but if
history is any guide, the UAE’s efforts to promote tolerance and openness are
correct. Islamic Societies lead the world in modernity back in the 14th
Century when they were beacons of tolerance. It’s worth celebrating the fact
that the Arab World is looking back to its history and trying to learn the
right lessons and if the Arabs can look back and understand that they were most
prosperous when they had tolerance, the Western Democracies would do well to
understand that they prospered because they have tolerance.
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