Hej allesammen. Fordi dette er min første gang på TED, har jeg inviteret en gammel ven, for at hjælpe med at lette stemningen lidt. Ja. Det er rigtigt. Det er Barbie. Hun er 50 år gammel, og ser stadig så ung ud som nogensinde. Men jeg vil også gerne introducere jer for et mere ukendt ansigt. Det her er Fulla. Fulla er den arabiske verdens Barbie.
Hello, everyone. Because this is my first time at TED, I've decided to bring along an old friend to help break the ice a bit. Yes. That's right. This is Barbie. She's 50 years old. And she's looking as young as ever. (Laughter) But I'd also like to introduce you to what may be an unfamiliar face. This is Fulla. Fulla is the Arab world's answer to Barbie.
Ifølge fortalere for civilisationernes sammenstød, så bor Barbie og Fulla i helt forskellige verdener. De har forskellige interesser. De har modsatte værdier. Og skulle de nogensinde komme i kontakt ... så er jeg nødt til at sige, det bliver ikke et kønt syn.
Now, according to proponents of the clash of civilizations, Barbie and Fulla occupy these completely separate spheres. They have different interests. They have divergent values. And should they ever come in contact ... well, I've got to tell you, it's just not going to be pretty.
Min oplevelse, i den islamiske verden, er dog helt anderledes. Hvor jeg arbejder, i den arabiske region, har folk travlt med at integrere vestlige idéer og ændre dem til ting, der hverken er konventionelt vestlige eller traditionelt islamiske. Jeg vil vise jer to eksempler. Den første er 4Shbab. Det betyder "for ungdommen" og er en ny arabisk TV-kanal.
My experience, however, in the Islamic world is very different. Where I work, in the Arab region, people are busy taking up Western innovations and changing them into things which are neither conventionally Western, nor are they traditionally Islamic. I want to show you two examples. The first is 4Shbab. It means "for youth" and it's a new Arab TV channel.
(Video): Videoklip fra hele kloden. USA.
(Video): Video clips from across the globe. The USA.
♫ Jeg er ikke bange for at stå alene ♫
♫ I am not afraid to stand alone ♫
♫ Jeg er ikke bange for at stå alene ♫ ♫ Hvis Allah er ved min side ♫
♫ I am not afraid to stand alone, if Allah is by my side ♫ ♫ I am not afraid to stand alone ♫
♫ Jeg er ikke bange for at stå alene ♫
♫ Everything will be all right ♫
♫ Alt bliver okay ♫
♫ I am not afraid to stand alone ♫
♫ Jeg er ikke bange for at stå alene ♫ Den arabiske verden.
The Arab world. (Music)
(Musik)
♫ She was preserved by modesty of the religion ♫
♫ Hun var bevaret af religionens beskedenhed ♫
♫ She was adorned by the light of the Quran ♫
♫ Hun var iklædt Koranens lys ♫ Shereen El Feki: 4Shbab er blevet døbt islamisk MTV.
Shereen El Feki: 4Shbab has been dubbed Islamic MTV.
Dens skaber, en egyptisk TV-producer ved navn Ahmed Abu Haïba, vil have islam til at inspirere unge til at leve bedre liv. Han tror den bedste måde at få det budskab ud, er at bruge det enormt populære medie: musikvideoer. 4Shbab var skabt som et alternativ til eksisterende arabiske musikkanaler. Og de ser cirka sådan her ud. (Musik)
Its creator, who is an Egyptian TV producer called Ahmed Abu Haïba, wants young people to be inspired by Islam to lead better lives. He reckons the best way to get that message across is to use the enormously popular medium of music videos. 4Shbab was set up as an alternative to existing Arab music channels. And they look something like this. (Music)
Dette er iøvrigt Haifa Wehbe. Hun er en libanesisk popstjerne og pin-up i hele den arabiske verden. I 4Shbabs verden handler det ikke om at 'støde og gnide'. Men det handler heller ikke om 'svovl og flammer' Dens videoer er ment til at vise en venligere og blidere udgave af islam, for at hjælpe unge med at håndtere livets udfordringer.
That, by the way is Haifa Wehbe. She's a Lebanese pop star and pan-Arab pin-up girl. In the world of 4Shbab, it's not about bump and grind. But it's not about fire and brimstone either. Its videos are intended to show a kinder, gentler face of Islam, for young people to deal with life's challenges.
Mit andet eksempel er til et lidt yngre publikum. Og hedder "The 99." De er verdens første islamiske superhelte. De blev skabt af en kuwaitisk psykolog ved navn Naif Al Mutawa. Og hans drøm er at redde islam fra forestillingen om intolerance, alt sammen i et børnevenligt format. "The 99." Karaktererne skal personificere Allahs 99 egenskaber: retfærdighed, visdom og nåde, blandt andre. For eksempel er der karakteren Noora. Hun menes at have evnen til at kigge ind i folk, og se det gode og det onde i alle. En anden karakter, kaldet Jami, har evnen til at skabe fantastiske opfindelser.
Now, my second example is for a slightly younger crowd. And it's called "The 99." Now, these are the world's first Islamic superheroes. They were created by a Kuwaiti psychologist called Naif Al Mutawa. And his desire is to rescue Islam from images of intolerance, all in a child-friendly format. "The 99." The characters are meant to embody the 99 attributes of Allah: justice, wisdom, mercy, among others. So, for example, there is the character of Noora. She is meant to have the power to look inside people and see the good and bad in everyone. Another character called Jami has the ability to create fantastic inventions.
"The 99" er ikke bare en tegneserie. Nu er det også en forlystelsespark. Der er en animeret serie undervejs. Og ved denne tid næste år, vil typer som Superman og Wonder Woman have slået sig sammen med "The 99" for at slå uretfærdighed overalt, hvor de finder det.
Now, "The 99" is not just a comic book. It's now a theme park. There is an animated series in the works. And by this time next year, the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman will have joined forces with "The 99" to beat injustice wherever they find it.
"De 99" og 4Shbab er blot to af mange eksempler på denne slags kulturelle krydsninger. Vi taler ikke om et 'sammenstød mellem civilisationer' Ej heller en slags uidentificerbar masse. Jeg kan lide at tænke på det som et net af civilisationer, i hvilket de forskellige kulturelle tråde er flettet sammen.
"The 99" and 4Shbab are just two of many examples of this sort of Islamic cross-cultural hybridization. We're not talking here about a clash of civilizations. Nor is it some sort of indistinguishable mash. I like to think of it as a mesh of civilizations, in which the strands of different cultures are intertwined.
Selvom 4Shbab og "The 99" ser nye og skinnende ud, har det faktisk en meget lang tradition. Igennem hele sin historie har islam lånt og adapteret fra andre civilisationer både antikke og moderne. Trods alt er det koranen, der tilskynder det: "Vi gjorde jer til nationer og stammer for at I kunne lære af hinanden." Og i mine ører er det meget vise ord, uanset hvor du er fra. Tak. (Bifald)
Now, while 4Shbab and "The 99" may look new and shiny, there is actually a very long tradition of this. Throughout its history, Islam has borrowed and adapted from other civilizations both ancient and modern. After all, it's the Quran which encourages us to do this: "We made you into nations and tribes so that you could learn from one another." And to my mind, those are pretty wise words, no matter what your creed. Thank you. (Applause)