"Fitna": Intentional Ignorance of Islam

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Geert Wilders' film, "Fitna" is a particularly good example of Western portrayal of Islam as backwards, violent and uncivilized and how the film portrays all Muslims as violent, intolerant, especially against Western nations and ideals. It looks at how the film utilizes graphic scenes of violence, such as clips of the September 11th attacks of the World Trade Center, to grab the viewer's attention and create a fear of Islam. It contends that the film is a biased and inaccurate portrayal of the majority of Muslims and that while certainly some Muslims are radical and possibly violent, the film "Fitna" makes a deliberate and intentional effort to perpetuate the misunderstandings and misrepresentations of Muslims in order to create an artificial fear and hatred of Islam.

From the Paper:

"Far from the product of an unintelligent, unorganized effort, Fitna is well constructed and thought out, which is why its message is so dangerous. The film's persuasiveness comes from a variety of factors, the most technical of which is the film's very construction. The film begins with the image of an Arabic man wearing a turban, which has a fuse protruding from the top. Immediately the film then moves to an image of the Qur'an and then split screen pictures of the translation of a passage from the Qur'an and planes flying into the World Trade Center. While these images alone can have very different meanings, showing them together artificially creates a meaning that the Qur'an is directly promoting terrorism and violence against civilian targets. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bogle, Emory C. Islam: Origin and Belief. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1998.
• Engineer, Ashgar Ali. Islam: Challenges in the 21st Century. New Delhi, India: Gyan Publishing House, 2004.
• Ernst, Carl W. Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
• Lawrence, Bruce. The Qur'an: A Biography. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.
• Wadud, Amina. Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacre Text from a Woman's Persepective. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

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