Words of Thanks by Mohammed Chafik, the 2002 Principal Prince Claus Laureate
I would first like to offer my personal homage to the memory of HRH Prince Claus. History will record that this great man worked to bring people in all their diversity together at a time when forces were driving civilisations apart. He strove to establish a link between culture and development during a period when the model of economism had monopolised many minds.
When I heard that I had been awarded a Prince Claus Award, I was surprised agreeably, of course - but surprised nonetheless. On the one hand, it never crossed my mind that the idea of working to defend a just cause could result in winning a prize. On the other hand, I felt that I was simply doing my civic duty towards my country by contributing to the clarification of the ambiguous concept of culture, a concept that can be deployed at will to support any kind of ideological endeavour. That said, I was not at all astonished to learn that in the Netherlands there is a prize for culture and development. I was quite aware that Holland, which I have the pleasure of visiting for the first time, has for centuries been the country with the greatest openness to the rest of the world. And need I say that openness to others goes hand-in-hand with openness of mind? It is no coincidence that Holland was the home of Erasmus and Spinoza, a refuge for Pierre Bayle, and a country that welcomed and inspired René Descartes. It was famous in the eighteenth century for being "Europe’s General Book House". For example, from the Meiji-Tenno era right up to the nineteenth century, Japan borrowed a great deal from Europe in general in its passionate quest for scientific modernity and technological efficiency. Yet it is historically proven that it was 17th century Holland that first initiated Japan to the secrets of Western knowledge. This is the reason why the Japanese long continued to describe mathematics as being the "Dutch science".
In my opinion, the best way to achieve true human development is the exchange of knowledge and know-how, an approach that presupposes the free circulation of ideas and absolute freedom of expression. Here, I may surprise you by saying that freedom of expression engenders chaos. This occurs if honest, courageous political and intellectual elites have not created the necessary groundwork through slow and methodical activities that teach the masses to reason and the most talented to think freely and efficiently about how to achieve freedom of expression in an orderly and productive way. I feel that any ideology that is hermetically sealed and hostile to change must be gradually shaken up from within so as to reveal all its contradictions and ineptitudes. This will encourage it to open up without unduly harming its exterior. These conditions could reduce what we have recognised as "culture shock", and it would help us to raise each particular consciousness without inflicting damage. This is a path that I believe could result in Muslim culture becoming more open to modern scientific knowledge and its positive aspects. This would be achieved by allowing it to elucidate what it considers to be modern science’s bitter and toxic fruits. In this regard, there is a key concept in Islamic culture that states that "Islam is the religion of the natural." This is a subject for careful, mature reflection and can lead to a fruitful debate between the West and Islam because it naturally involves a delicate and vast ecological problem: the problem of how people and their scientific power relate to their cosmic environment. Hence, informed people must answer questions such as: "How can nature be used without destroying it? How can we improve it without corrupting it? How can we make humanity develop without engendering its decline?" But two conditions are needed to conduct this debate in a positive way. The first is that the Muslim world must carefully reconsider the famous hadith: "Wise men are the legitimate heirs of the prophets". And here, the emphasis must be on the meaning of the word "wise". The second condition is that the West must get over its obsession with its dazzling material and organisational success.
The modest cultural battle that I have fought – dispassionately and with conviction – in my country for the past thirty-five years is based on a profound hope to achieve peace amongst different ethnic groups along with a real understanding between religious faiths. I feel that in my part of the world there is an urgent need to imbue culture with a humanism, modernism and universalism that rejects excess. This is because unitarianism and fundamentalism have demonstrated their destructive power throughout history to the extent that the threat of ethnic cleansing and religious conflict is still all too present.
The activities that I have pursued have been voluntarily discreet and resolutely pacifist, and it is to them that I owe the honour of appearing before you today in this centre for moral and intellectual values. Their essential goal has been and still is the preservation of the Amazigh language, and they are based on the principle that every culture has something to contribute and possesses its own world view. There is indeed a vibrant Amazigh culture that has existed for thousands of years. Over the course of time, it became subordinate to Islamic culture, but its specific qualities constantly surface both in linguistic practices and – in all kinds of unsuspected ways – in Maghrib mentality, behaviour, and customs. Naturally it has its archaic side but, because it does not claim to be the depository of the sacred, it is not opposed to evolution. In its way, it is humanist because it remembers a distant past when it was well represented in the concert of Mediterranean cultures by figures such as Terence (Afer), Juba (Juba II), and Apuleius (Afulay). In short, Amazigh culture can enter and benefit from the worlds of politics, economics, society and justice without the risk of any real prejudice to religious faith. Here, I would like to use this occasion to pay homage to the clear-sightedness and courage of my king, HM Mohammed VI, who, at his coronation on July 30, 2001, reminded Moroccans that their culture is pluralist, and that its bedrock is Amazigh. In this way he has arbitrated a national debate that has gone on for decades and in which all voices have made themselves heard at length. Adding actions to words, HM Mohammed VI has also founded the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture where a solid team of academics is currently working on its structure and planning its activities for several years to come.
In conclusion, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the jury of the Prince Claus Awards. Thank you for valuing work that has been so exciting for me, that is clearly important for all Amazigh speakers, and may well be interesting to all peoples of good will. Yet it is work for which I never entertained even the slightest hope of winning any honours. Therefore, I view the daunting distinction that has been awarded to me today as a heart-felt encouragement to assume the full consequences of my choices. I am already considering the obligatory reserve that it imposes on me, and I feel myself bound by a moral commitment never to use it as a reason to excuse any excess on my part.
Thank you all.
When I heard that I had been awarded a Prince Claus Award, I was surprised agreeably, of course - but surprised nonetheless. On the one hand, it never crossed my mind that the idea of working to defend a just cause could result in winning a prize. On the other hand, I felt that I was simply doing my civic duty towards my country by contributing to the clarification of the ambiguous concept of culture, a concept that can be deployed at will to support any kind of ideological endeavour. That said, I was not at all astonished to learn that in the Netherlands there is a prize for culture and development. I was quite aware that Holland, which I have the pleasure of visiting for the first time, has for centuries been the country with the greatest openness to the rest of the world. And need I say that openness to others goes hand-in-hand with openness of mind? It is no coincidence that Holland was the home of Erasmus and Spinoza, a refuge for Pierre Bayle, and a country that welcomed and inspired René Descartes. It was famous in the eighteenth century for being "Europe’s General Book House". For example, from the Meiji-Tenno era right up to the nineteenth century, Japan borrowed a great deal from Europe in general in its passionate quest for scientific modernity and technological efficiency. Yet it is historically proven that it was 17th century Holland that first initiated Japan to the secrets of Western knowledge. This is the reason why the Japanese long continued to describe mathematics as being the "Dutch science".
In my opinion, the best way to achieve true human development is the exchange of knowledge and know-how, an approach that presupposes the free circulation of ideas and absolute freedom of expression. Here, I may surprise you by saying that freedom of expression engenders chaos. This occurs if honest, courageous political and intellectual elites have not created the necessary groundwork through slow and methodical activities that teach the masses to reason and the most talented to think freely and efficiently about how to achieve freedom of expression in an orderly and productive way. I feel that any ideology that is hermetically sealed and hostile to change must be gradually shaken up from within so as to reveal all its contradictions and ineptitudes. This will encourage it to open up without unduly harming its exterior. These conditions could reduce what we have recognised as "culture shock", and it would help us to raise each particular consciousness without inflicting damage. This is a path that I believe could result in Muslim culture becoming more open to modern scientific knowledge and its positive aspects. This would be achieved by allowing it to elucidate what it considers to be modern science’s bitter and toxic fruits. In this regard, there is a key concept in Islamic culture that states that "Islam is the religion of the natural." This is a subject for careful, mature reflection and can lead to a fruitful debate between the West and Islam because it naturally involves a delicate and vast ecological problem: the problem of how people and their scientific power relate to their cosmic environment. Hence, informed people must answer questions such as: "How can nature be used without destroying it? How can we improve it without corrupting it? How can we make humanity develop without engendering its decline?" But two conditions are needed to conduct this debate in a positive way. The first is that the Muslim world must carefully reconsider the famous hadith: "Wise men are the legitimate heirs of the prophets". And here, the emphasis must be on the meaning of the word "wise". The second condition is that the West must get over its obsession with its dazzling material and organisational success.
The modest cultural battle that I have fought – dispassionately and with conviction – in my country for the past thirty-five years is based on a profound hope to achieve peace amongst different ethnic groups along with a real understanding between religious faiths. I feel that in my part of the world there is an urgent need to imbue culture with a humanism, modernism and universalism that rejects excess. This is because unitarianism and fundamentalism have demonstrated their destructive power throughout history to the extent that the threat of ethnic cleansing and religious conflict is still all too present.
The activities that I have pursued have been voluntarily discreet and resolutely pacifist, and it is to them that I owe the honour of appearing before you today in this centre for moral and intellectual values. Their essential goal has been and still is the preservation of the Amazigh language, and they are based on the principle that every culture has something to contribute and possesses its own world view. There is indeed a vibrant Amazigh culture that has existed for thousands of years. Over the course of time, it became subordinate to Islamic culture, but its specific qualities constantly surface both in linguistic practices and – in all kinds of unsuspected ways – in Maghrib mentality, behaviour, and customs. Naturally it has its archaic side but, because it does not claim to be the depository of the sacred, it is not opposed to evolution. In its way, it is humanist because it remembers a distant past when it was well represented in the concert of Mediterranean cultures by figures such as Terence (Afer), Juba (Juba II), and Apuleius (Afulay). In short, Amazigh culture can enter and benefit from the worlds of politics, economics, society and justice without the risk of any real prejudice to religious faith. Here, I would like to use this occasion to pay homage to the clear-sightedness and courage of my king, HM Mohammed VI, who, at his coronation on July 30, 2001, reminded Moroccans that their culture is pluralist, and that its bedrock is Amazigh. In this way he has arbitrated a national debate that has gone on for decades and in which all voices have made themselves heard at length. Adding actions to words, HM Mohammed VI has also founded the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture where a solid team of academics is currently working on its structure and planning its activities for several years to come.
In conclusion, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the jury of the Prince Claus Awards. Thank you for valuing work that has been so exciting for me, that is clearly important for all Amazigh speakers, and may well be interesting to all peoples of good will. Yet it is work for which I never entertained even the slightest hope of winning any honours. Therefore, I view the daunting distinction that has been awarded to me today as a heart-felt encouragement to assume the full consequences of my choices. I am already considering the obligatory reserve that it imposes on me, and I feel myself bound by a moral commitment never to use it as a reason to excuse any excess on my part.
Thank you all.
