Among the multiple messages carried by the World Cup in Qatar, the mindset of many visitors to Qatar began to reshape its segments towards Arabs and Muslims, which paves the way for the collapse of many parts of the image drawn by some Western circles through art and media about Muslims and their culture.
Certainly, 28 days of contact between the East and the West - on Arab soil this time - will not be able to uproot and change that image that has been enshrined for many decades, and deepened further after the attacks of September 11, 2011 that targeted the United States, and it was - often - showing the human being. The Arab in the form of a savage Bedouin hostile to modernity and development, or a rich man who spends billions on his pleasures, and drowns in the seas of alcohol as soon as the plane takes him out of the airspace, or an extremist youth addicted to planting mines and beheadings, or a woman who is nothing but a repressed being looking for an outlet behind the curtains of tents Bedouin, or the walls of closed houses in order to glimpse a light of freedom and life among the veils of repression and persecution of traditions.
But what is certain - also - is that there is another image that can make a big difference in the size of the 2022 World Cup, the details of which can be read in many statements and comments of those currently attending the football event, especially those who are not "idealists" and "fanatics", who visit the region for the first time in their lives. And they sit among its inhabitants, wear their clothes, and “speak” - with what they can repeat - with their tongues, and they walk in their markets without arrogance or arrogance.
The Green Grass.. A civilized bridge between East and West
And if the Arab Spring has opened a window of light in the body of the dark image of the Arab person, then the World Cup in Qatar 2022 is expected to expand that circle of light, through lamps of different directions and sources.
Away from the image of bombings, kidnappings and terrorism, here are the fans from all continents (more than 1.2 million) who come to Qatar in the largest global travel situation after the Hajj, without the slightest fear or anxiety. On another image of the Arab man, with his firm principles, his creative spirit, and his open human conscience.
And because the stability of the stereotype about the Arabs is part of the strategies of influential countries and global entities;
The campaign was very intense in order to prevent Qatar from hosting the World Cup, and after much political and media violence the campaign failed, to start another to discourage Western peoples from going to this Arab country, before the second campaign collapsed - also - as it is expected that the number of arrivals to Qatar will exceed one million. And 200,000 people, thus breaking the stereotype of east-west migration, and not the other way around.
And while the fascination of the Arab person with everything that is Western remained a stable state in the cultural and civilizational relationship between the two parties;
The features of the shift in the perception of the Arabs were evident in the statements and comments of many newcomers and from all over the West to Qatar.
In order to transform the "cultural shift" towards the West into a popular and elitist Western fascination - albeit partially and limited in time and place - with the treasures of the East, the fragrance of its civilization, the humanity of its peoples, and the attractiveness of some of its civilized values, especially since most of those coming to Qatar are "Westerners", who do not bear hatred, They are not moved by "trends", and they do not seek to establish personal glory, and they do not consider themselves the center of the universe, and they aspire to explore different cultures with humility and happiness, according to the expression of Qatari Assistant Foreign Minister Lulwa bint Rashid Al-Khater.
Most of the people, football fans, who came to enjoy #Qatar2022 are neither politicized nor deferred nor are they looking for false personal glory.
These masses, like most people, do not consider themselves the center of the universe and look forward to exploring different cultures with humility and happiness.
Welcome to all fans ⚽️😃 # Qatar 2022_ joy_ for all https://t.co/mC1iDXlhqe pic.twitter.com/AAZFhmlCA6
- Lolwah Al-Khater Lolwah Alkhater (@Lolwah_Alkhater) November 24, 2022
The call to prayer, the carpet, the ghutra, and the headband
Qatar has become the center of global attention, and has deservedly become a main engine for blogging and tweeting - as well - and the World Cup has the lion's share in social media and in the manufacture of influential content, adding to this a rise in the media, after it remained for decades the talk of the diaries of elites, research centers, public opinion-making entities and political decision-making.
This is my last night in Qatar, but...!!
pic.twitter.com/veRIPrtBKq
- Rashid Al-Muraikhi (@almoraikhi_r) November 24, 2022
Among the influential attractions of the World Cup, the messages of the call to prayer were heard by millions, as it prompted many to stop at this divine call, which shakes the nets of hearts more firmly, stronger, and more beautiful than the nets of the national teams.
The sound of the call to prayer enters the heart before the ears pic.twitter.com/UJ69FrfQS2
— TRAVIS |
Travis (@irode0) November 20, 2022
And in front of the manifestations of introducing Islam and presenting it through new windows that are not known to Westerners, the daily entry into Islam index recorded a continuous increase, amid the demand of visitors to some mosques, especially the “Katara” mosque to search for the truth of Islam, which means the arrival of one of the civilized messages to embrace the country Arab Muslim for this great event.
"Do you want to try the hijab?".. Female fans admire the hijab in response to the invitations of some women in the Qatar World Cup # Al Jazeera_Mondial 22 pic.twitter.com/Rzvz00D8J3
- Al-Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) November 23, 2022
A great turnout of foreign fans, male and female, to visit mosques in Qatar and learn about the teachings of Islam.
pic.twitter.com/e5yefoEhBf
- Hamad Lahdan Al-Muhannadi (@hamadlahdan) November 23, 2022
A number of fans documented the moments of the call to prayer, or entering mosques, and the media and social media documented the moments of transition to Islam, including - for example - the conversion of an entire Brazilian family, while Western women - at the invitation of women in Qatar - tried to wear the hijab for the first time, They recorded the appreciation and celebration of the overwhelming feeling towards the veil, which - in some countries - symbolizes extremism, and western right-wing parties seek to make it a sign of terrorism and a message of violence.
A Brazilian family converted to Islam in Qatar.. Members of a Brazilian family pronounced the two testimonies of faith, announcing their conversion to Islam while attending the activities of the World Cup Qatar 2022.
pic.twitter.com/O7B3xrPDJw
- Society Magazine (@mugtama) November 23, 2022
On the other hand, from time to time some of the arrivals to Qatar show some kind of racism, or try to perpetuate the image of Western arrogance and domination.
British fans also tried to evoke the history of the clash between East and West, by wearing clothes that simulate Crusade fighters, and a visiting French media person expressed his dissatisfaction with the large number of mosques in Qatar. And athletes from Europe, especially from Germany and Denmark.
Ghutra and Henna... Anecdotes that carry the Qatari heritage to the world
Many World Cup fans noted - with astonishment and appreciation - the level of hospitality and popular embrace, in addition to the high levels of generosity with which Qataris met their guests, which included at the official level: gifts on every seat in the opening match stadium, and in other matches, and varied at the popular level, where The circulated video clips show daily scenes of distributing coffee, sweets, and drinks to sports fans, in front of stadiums, in markets, and in the streets.
Some of them also got acquainted - for the first time - with open councils, their culture, and the generosity of their people, and some of them documented that experience in videos posted on social media, which spoke with great celebration of that Arab custom that is spreading particularly in the Gulf countries.
In addition, many World Cup guests were greatly impressed by the safety atmosphere that characterized the country’s cities, which enabled many fans to recover things they had lost by mistake, brought ambulance and medical services closer, and gathered the peoples of the world in the open Doha diwaniya, so that different cultures could drink Qatari Arabic coffee, fizzing with aromas. Human cohesion.
Surprised cheerleader, she lost the book and after an hour she got it despite the presence of thousands of people. These are the messages that we want to convey to the masses, about our religion, our culture and our traditions.
pic.twitter.com/tDrO1Fqvkl
- Hamad Lahdan Al-Muhannadi (@hamadlahdan) November 21, 2022
The ghutra and the headband were not absent from the scene, so the fans raced to wear the ghutra and wear the headband, while Qataris and residents ensured that they would help them appear in this Gulf form, which has long been marketed - in some western media with right-wing orientations - as an outfit of extremism and terrorism.
May God protect them. This video spread on social media of Qatari children offering coffee and sweets to the crowd at Khalifa Stadium before the Germany-Japan match. We are now under the microscope and every action, whether positive or negative, spreads quickly. These simple positive things have a great resonance.
pic.twitter.com/ko85N2hF8g
- Hamad Lahdan Al-Muhannadi (@hamadlahdan) November 24, 2022
In many cases, funny mistakes occur, when some female cheerleaders wear a ghutra, or fans dye their hands with henna, in a funny exchange of appearances whose owners may not be aware of the specificity of each case, or fans wear the flags of their countries in the form of a ghutra topped with a headband over their usual clothes of pants and shorts, in the middle An atmosphere of fun and celebration, weaving memories fragrant with the place, event, Islamic civilization and Qatari Arab traditions.
And between the ringing of the call to prayer in the hearts and the clamor of music speaking with all the voices of humanity, the streets and squares of Doha and its huge stadiums, on the banks of the Gulf and the Corniche promenade, and in the platforms of the Museum of Human Art;
A new civilized awareness is being created, Western postulates are being broken, the list of Muslims and fair-minded people from the West is increasing, and Qatar is writing another page of its messages to the world and globalism.