Standing up for things you believe in, defending yourself from an enemy, even insisting on freedom of speech, none of these can truly be achieved when the by-product of any action results in harm.
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Source/Credit: FarrukhYounus.com
By Farrukh Younus | September 20, 2012
As yet another wave of mindless killings spreads across parts of the Muslim world, this time in protest of a movie which very few, initially, had actually seen, another extreme of intolerance is added to the ever expanding list.
Insulting Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, is nothing new. Where dialogue and communication were once delivered by the town orator, and in Arab culture, the poet, the modern era provides us with additional media: radio, photos and tv-movies.
Indeed during the Prophet’s own time, many talented orators spoke negatively of him, including one of his cousins, Abu Sufyan bin Harith. While others such as Yaleel Thaqfi were the driving force behind the children throwing stones at the Prophet until he bled at Taif. Other examples include Umm Jamil who would throw thorns in his path, Umayya bin Khalaf who would verbally insult him and Hind bint Utbah who performed perhaps the worst offense – cutting out and chewing the liver of his deceased uncle on the battlefield.
Despite these verbal and physical attacks, the Prophet learned an important lesson early on when God Almighty reprimanded him for cursing the idols the pagan Arabs worshiped. Abu Jahl, one of the leading pagans said, ‘By God, Muhammad, you will either stop cursing our gods or we will curse the God you serve.’ In response to this dialogue, God Almighty revealed: “Do not curse those to whom they pray to other than God, in case they curse God wrongfully out of ignorance” (6: 108). The lesson? While he has ‘freedom of speech’ dialogues and disagreements must always be respectful: a high standard must be the corner stone for any public engagement.
Insulting someone for the sake of it, or for provocation, is simply bad manners and given that prophet Muhammad said that the best of people are those with the best of manners, protesting Muslims ought to pause and contemplate.
The Prophet also said,’The one who hurts his neighbour does not believe in Allah and the last day.’ Classically there have been numerous definitions for a neighbour, from those living by either side of a home, to the residents of a town. Today, given the ease and flow of information, the internet has made everyone everyone else’s ‘neighbour.’
Whether it’s mobs protesting a video they have not seen, movie directors producing films designed to inflame passions, authors commanding the power of a pen to injure, publications printing naked photographs without permission or even nations utilising the latest military technologies that result in collateral damage, something has been forgotten. Standing up for things you believe in, defending yourself from an enemy, even insisting on freedom of speech, none of these can truly be achieved when the by-product of any action results in harm.
It is neither America nor this one American who made a movie no one had heard of before that has dishonoured the Prophet. Rather, it is these protesting Muslims who as well as murdering innocents have remained silent on issues that actually matter, such as the murder of Muslims by Muslims in Syria; everyday corruption which is rampant throughout the Muslim world, the perpetual and continued abuse of women in Muslim society (by Muslim men), etc. It is always so much easier to blame someone else (in this case America) for your own faults, shortcomings and frustrations. Which is why these protesters are also guilty of being ignorant and the only response to them is, as the Quran states, peace.
Prophet Muhammad learned this lesson early on, he adopted higher standards of engagement in his life which while not always a rosy affair, led to winning some – not all – hearts and minds. From the accounts above we know that Abu Sufyan, Yaleel and Hind all later accepted Islam. So my message to these mobs, who believe they are protesting in defense of the Prophet’s honour is to look at how the Prophet himself dealt with people who physically and verbally insulted him, and like the Prophet, respond with something better. Indeed the Prophet said, ‘The strong is not the one with physical strength, the strong is the one able to control himself when angry.’
We all have a right to protest, one done properly will always deliver a better message. But rioting, leading to even more injustice simply repeats the cycle of violence and is devoid of wisdom.
Read original post here: The Innocence of Muslims
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It is a shame that more attention is not paid to thoughtful discussions of faith such as this; too often the actions of the few paint the many with the same brush
ReplyDeleteThe writer has to my understanding absolutely failed to understand the Quranic verse consisting of a piece of advice that prescribes a preventive measure to protect and safeguard the honour of holy things. The message of the 4th paragraph is a misunderstood result of the verse. He says the prophet was reprimanded by God because he used to use insulting words about the idols as claimed by Abu Jahal.The prophets never use insulting words and especially the prophet who claims to have been raised for the perfection of morality.He was never "reprimanded" by God. I request the writer to please read the commentaries of the verse by great muslim scholars. There is no question of reprimanding the prophet. Please reconsider it. Whatever prophets say about falsehood they say what God breathes into them. Please reconsider it this part spoils the whole message which you have tried to convey. The spirit of the article is commendable.
ReplyDeleteTanweer Akhatar Shahid