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In an interview on
the BBC programme “Hardtalk”, the presenter Stephen Sackur asked
the cultural editor of the infamous paper
Jyllands-Posten if it would publish, under the slogan
“Freedom of Speech” that led it to insult The Prophet
Mohammed (PBUH), a caricature of a Jewish Rabbi killing
a Palestinian child while holding a Nazi emblem. The
editor answered very rudely: “No, because there are
limits that should not be exceeded.”
Although it
is difficult to be logical under circumstances where our
prophet was so gravely and disgustingly insulted, I did
choose to look at the issue and study it objectively,
beginning with this query: Why does the West insult a
person regarded by 1.3 billion Moslems as the most
important being after the Lord?
While
trying to answer that question, I remembered a piece of
news reported by most international radio stations. It
was about the arrest of British writer David Irving in
Southern Austria on 11th November last year
on charges that he denied the existence of the
Holocaust. He received a jail sentence of 3 years.
However, Austria is not the only European country that
enacted laws that regard the denial of the Holocaust as
a grave crime that must be penalized. Nine other
European countries, including France, Switzerland and
Germany, have enacted such laws.
The
Holocaust is not my subject here. What I wish to stress
is that those advanced countries respect the feelings
and sentiments of 14 million Jews in the world, while
deliberately ignoring those of 1.3 billion Moslems.
The
offending caricatures were published in September 2005.
London’s “Guardian” newspaper reported that the same
Danish paper that published them had, in April 2003,
refused to publish caricatures drawn by Danish
caricaturist Christopher Zoeler about Jesus Christ.
This proves that the paper was acting in bad faith and
that it deliberately insulted the Moslems. Danish
Moslems and Arab Ambassadors attempted to avoid any
worsening of the situation but, obviously, the Danish
Government felt that there is nothing to fear and
decided not to apologize for the insult.
The only
reason for that is our weakness as a Moslem Nation and
as Arab Moslems. If any consideration had been given to
the Arabs in general or Moslems in particular none of
this would have happened.
Who
benefits from the after-effects of the insult?
First: the
European extremist Right parties which call for
restricting Moslems’ immigration to Europe and for
stricter immigration laws. They will use Moslems’
reaction as a reason to accuse them of violence and that
Moslems do not believe in dialogue. This would limit
Moslems’ ability to emigrate to Europe and their
absorption within European communities would be delayed.
Second:
Israel and the United States who were extremely put out
by the Arab-European rapprochement. Because, many
times, Europe hindered US plots regarding Iraq and
Israeli plots regarding Palestine. We must also take
into account the European Union’s support of the
Palestinians. Doubtless, the evil act of the Danish
paper will cast a dark shadow over our relationship with
the Europeans for a long time, especially if Europe
continues to take an indifferent stand towards the Arab
and Moslem sentiment, on that issue, which is a grave
one for us.
What should
we, as Arabs and Moslems, do in face of that offence?
I want here
to stress that our religion has instructed us to respect
all religions. Any response to insulting our Prophet
must be expressed in a civilized manner and far away
from violence and agitation to reflect the true face of
our religion which is based upon justice and peace. The
Holy Quran is very clear: "We make no distinction
between one and another of His apostles” (Surat Al
Baqarah).
Therefore,
we must reaffirm that offending any of the Heavenly
Religions, Apostles, Temples or Rites is a red line that
we will not cross regardless of how grave the offence or
challenge.
The
tolerance of Islam is historically proven and its
attitude towards other religions should be a model for
us. I will mention here the story of Caliph Oman Bin Al
Khattab when he entered Jerusalem and was received by
Patriarch Sophronius in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre. When prayer time came, Omar asked the
Patriarch, where he could pray? The Patriarch
answered:”Right where you are”. But Omar said: “Never.
Omar will not pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
for Moslems after me would say that Omar prayed here and
would build a mosque in this place.”
Therefore,
as Moslems and Arabs here’s what I think we should do.
-
Establish
Islamic and Arab information centres all over the
world, where professionals can clear any ambiguity
related to this great Religion or to the Prophet
Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Him.
-
Conduct
high level civilized dialogues with European and other
countries to convince them to enact laws that prohibit
offending any religion or insulting any prophet,
especially Mohammed, Jesus, & Moses.
-
Carry out
a public boycott of products from Denmark, Norway and
other countries that were insolent towards out
prophet. This would put their governments under
pressure from big companies and would make them pay
for their indifference and force them to prevent any
such future incident.
It is of
utmost importance that we uncover the truth about
ourselves. That truth which makes others look at us
without any consideration. Let us compare ourselves to
the Israelis: only 14 million strong, but respected and
even feared by all nations because of their economic,
political and academic influence.
At the
Islamc Conference held in Putrajaya in 2003 Dr. Mahatir
Mohammed talked, rightly, about the heavy influence
enjoyed by the Jews. We need an honest review of
ourselves. And for that, I suggest that a forum be
established so we may listen to our foremost
intellectuals from all over the world. They must lay
down an integrated plan that allows us to catch up with
advanced nations. Then, I am sure no one would dare
even to think of abusing our Prophet.
Finally I
would like to call on all our Arab Brothers, Moslems and
Christians alike, to stay away from violence. Let us
learn from the tolerance of the Prophet himself when the
non-believers from Qureish and other tribes insulted
him. He would maintain his tranquility and peacefulness
by learning from the Holy Quran. There, God says:
“Ye shall
certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in
your personal selves; and ye shall certainly hear much
that will grieve you, from those who received the Book
before you and from those who worship many gods. But if
ye persevere patiently, and guard against evil-then that
will be a determining factor in all affairs.” (Al Imran-
186)
Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor | 
