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Adonis: “I am against the institutionalized Islam”
He is regarded as a major Poet of the Arabic language, and has just the Erich Maria Remarque peace prize. Adonis’ political stance in the Syrian conflict is controversial. In the Interview he explains his Position.
DW: you have in spite of all protests on the part of the Syrian Opposition, the Erich-Maria Remarque Friedenspreis get a high recognition. It has amazed?
Adonis: Somehow I was not surprised, because I believe that the members of the Jury great intellectual, and the true Intellectuals know my Position. You have voted unanimously for me. Me has the courage of the Jury, amazed. You have an ethical courage, I admire.
DW: The criticism against it was not against her literary work, but against their political Position on the Syria crisis. They are charged with, not the Syrian Opposition supported. Why have you acted so?
There are many opposition groups in Syria, and I support the domestic Opposition, who are against any kind of violence, is positioned. You will of Haytham Manna and his group. I was and am against the (Syrian) Opposition abroad, the violent and local theocratically. It is with the Americans, but also with the Europeans in a relationship. But the USA can not be on the side of liberty and free peoples. It is a country, by the destruction of a people, the Indians, arose. You may never forget. It is the first country with the atomic bomb. The USA were never on the side of the democracies, they are the worst regimes in the world, namely Saudi Arabia and Qatar, allies. Also, some European countries were used to kolonialistisch and imperialist, in part to behave that way until today. I was and am against this Opposition.
Adonis at the awarding of the peace prize
They advocate for a complete separation of state and Religion. Is this realistic in a corner of the world, where the people are very religious?
Why not? If Europe was able to have Church and state separate, why should the Arabs, who in their previous history is very well developed and liberal were not able to do this? Islam is a totalitarian Religion. He interferes in the personal lives of the people. I’m sure that the individual is the freedom to enjoy. I was and am against the institutionalized Islam that an entire society, with violence being forced upon.
Many say that Syria is a choice between two Alternatives: either a dictatorial Regime or the Islamists.
You should with any of these Alternatives to settle for. A Problem that for 14 centuries exist, but not within a week or a year to be resolved. All my life I have with the Opposition is worked by the separation of state and Religion, democratic liberties Union. It is impossible for a civil society in Syria to build up, as long as it is only duties, but no rights. Democracy is possible only through the separation of Religion and state to be achieved. A dictatorial Regime is the consequence of the glorification of the Religion. It is the mixture of the political with the religious Power, and this must change. The Baath party, the long in the two great States of Syria and Iraq ruled, is a kind of Muslim brotherhood. It is autocratic. Only by the alteration of religious structures is the way for a democracy to be free. A Change in the regime alone is not enough.
They feel the Religion as an obstacle in the development process. It was in the Islamic history epochs in which poetry and science were common.
The poet was always a man mighty of valour, head
Except for the reign of Al-Khalifa Al-Ma’mun (editor’s note: ruler of 786-833, the study of Greek philosophy in his country promoted) were famous thinkers and writers killed. The caliphs were despots, they only have the spiritual support. The Poets were not proper Muslims and did not believe in the true Islam. You should the history books in question, because they have been falsified. All those involved in the Islamic culture have contributed, to the Poets, philosophers and thinkers, were not Muslims in the true sense of the word. This is shocking for those who have a false Knowledge of the Islamic Arab history. It desperately needs a new interpretation.
No one makes their literary works in question. Alone their political orientation has many upset. A Poet and a thinker, not a political responsibility?
I’m not a politician. For me, politics is part of the culture. For other is exactly the opposite. You understand the culture as part of the policy, I don’t agree with. The policy changes and has, differently than the culture, with little truth to do.