CAIRO,
April 10, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – After its successful "The
Fog is Lifting" presentation about Islam in the Danish capital
Copenhagen last month, Bridges Foundation is planning a new series
starting late May.
"We
are going to make presentations about Islam in Copenhagen, Odense and
Arhus to explain to the Danes the true values of Islam," Bridges
Director Fadel Soliman told IslamOnline.net Monday, April 10.
He
said the drive comes as a response to the recommendations of Danes who
attended the Dialogue in a Friendly Atmosphere event, held at
Copenhagen Marriott Hotel on March 27.
The
event brought together more than 176 Danes, the majority of whom were
journalists from every media outlet in Denmark, said Egyptian-born
Soliman.
"In
a survey after attending the Fog is Lifting presentation about Islam
and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), 55 percent of
the attendees said that their respect for the Prophet has
increased," he recalled.
"Seventy-six
percent said they would accept to attend more presentations about
Islam if invited, while 97 percent agreed that the Danish people need
this type of presentation to have more understanding about the Muslim
faith."
Soliman
said another presentation on Knud Holmboe, a Danish Muslim journalist
killed by the fascists in 1931 after filming atrocities of Italian
occupation troops in Libya at the time, has appealed to the gathering.
Holmboe's
masterpiece book The Desert Counter is available now in English
and Danish on
.
Bridges
Denmark
Soliman,
a member of the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research of the
Qur’an and Sunnah, said Bridges Foundation will soon have a
Copenhagen office.
"We
are in the process of opening Bridges Denmark, which will be a local
Danish organization to promote dialogue and introduce the true values
of Islam to the Danes," he told IOL.
Established
in May last year, Brideges' work is mostly done through PowerPoint
presentations.
The
organization consists of two main divisions: Public Presenters for
Peace (PPP), which has to do with presentation materials and skills,
and International Institute for Training Presenters (IITP), which
trains willing imams and preachers in presenting Islam to non-Muslims.
The
foundation also organizes "sensitivity courses," which
educate non-Muslims on how to deal with Muslims in sensitive issues.
Bridges's
board of trustees includes German Muslim intellectual Murad Hofmann
and Canadian Egyptian-born Gamal Badawi.
