March organizers were hoping for a big turnout, and welcomed the participation of non-Muslims as well. The leaders of Norway's major political parties and top government leaders said they would join the march and several were invited to speak during Saturday's event.
The march was to begin at the square in front of Oslo's central train station at 4:30pm, and proceed up Karl Johans Gate to the Parliament. Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik was among those scheduled to speak to the crowd, along with Justice Minister Odd Einar Dørum, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) journalist Noman Mubashir and Labour Party leader Jens Stoltenberg.
A key group of local Muslim religious leaders said Friday they were encouraging all Muslims to participate. The more liberal among them already have protested violence, terror and killings in the name of religion.
The march, initiated by NRK's Mubashir, comes largely in response to the recent killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim extremist. Van Gogh's murder struck a chord all over Europe, and led to a TV debate in Norway in which the spokesman for Norway's Islamic Council raised doubts about how many Muslims opposed the killing. Another Muslim leader, Awais Mushtaq, later said he understood why an Islamic fundamentalist carried it out.
Outrage
That outraged not only Islamic critics such as Carl I Hagen, leader of Norway's conservative Progress Party, but also many Muslims as well. Akhtar Chaudry, a member of Oslo's City Council from the Socialist Left party, claimed most Muslims do not "understand" the killing and rejected suggestions that they do.
Hagen challenged Muslims in Norway to take a stand, and the Islamic Council clarified that it indeed opposed the killing of van Gogh. Mubashir responded with the march.
"I want to show that moderate Muslims distance themselves from all types of violence and terror in the community," he told newspaper Aftenposten. "It's important to me to prove that the vast majority of us want to live in peace and harmony, and that I hope the next generation will.
"If we continue to stay quiet and be defensive, it can be interpreted as though we support terrorism. We're doing ourselves a disfavour if we don't take a clear stand."
'Positive and important'
Hagen said he was glad to see Mubashir's engagement, "and if I'm welcome in the parade, I'll march. It's very positive and important to mark that no one should accept murder and other extreme acts."
The Islamic Council spokesman who stunned many of his fellow Muslims, Zahid Mukhtar, was in London this week and won't be marching. "I'm glad the march is being arranged," he insisted. "We must show that we can and will behave in a proper manner."
