Calgary has not been immune from the rallying cries to kill the enemies of radical terrorist organizations. Several young men have left the city to join these groups in battles in the Middle East.
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| Imam Umair Khan, addressing a crowd at Baitun Nur Mosque in northeast Calgary on Jan. 20, 2015. (Photo: Reid Southwick) |
Source/Credit: Calgary Herald
By Reid Southwick | January 20, 2014
Insults against the Muslim Prophet Muhammad are “giving fuel to extremists” to recruit young men to take up arms against the West, according to a Calgary imam who argued Tuesday night there are limits to freedom of speech.
Two weeks after deadly attacks at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Imam Umair Khan told a northeast Calgary crowd the murder of innocent people in the name of Islam is “more offensive than any cartoon could ever be.”
But Khan said many Muslims find themselves in the awkward position of condemning these attacks while feeling insulted by the magazine’s mockery of their Prophet.
“This is giving fuel to extremists,” he said. “They say, ‘Go ahead, make fun of the Prophet Muhammad; we’re getting more recruits going to Iraq and Syria.’ Unfortunately we see that problem in Calgary, too.”
The imam’s comments came after a senior al Qaeda official — who claimed responsibility for the bloody Paris rampage — called on more lone wolves to wage jihad in Canada, among other western countries.
A pro-ISIS video had earlier used images of the deadly October shootings at Parliament Hill to urge supporters to carry out similar violence against Canadians.
Calgary has not been immune from the rallying cries to kill the enemies of radical terrorist organizations. Several young men have left the city to join these groups in battles in the Middle East.
Khan, an imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, stood in front of an audience at the Baitun Nur Mosque in Westwinds to reflect on blasphemy and freedom of speech in light of the attack against the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris.
Reports indicated demonstrators burned churches and destroyed Bibles on the weekend while 10 people were killed in the capital of Niger as violent protests broke out in different parts of the world against the latest Charlie Hebdo cartoon. But Khan said the Qur’an does not give its followers the authority to kill those who insult or mock their Prophet.
Khan said Muslims should be combating these mockeries with the pen, not with the sword or gun.
The imam said western media organizations that have covered the Charlie Hebdo story are guilty of a “double standard” because he said they denounce insults against gays and other minorities but dismiss caricatures of Muhammad as freedom of speech.
“We’re all on the same side; we’re against extremism and terrorism. We want to fight back against this ideology,” he said. “But, look, if you keep making fun of us or insulting our Prophet, which is so sensitive to us, you put us in a difficult situation.”
rsouthwick@calgaryherald.com
Read original post here: Calgary imam condemns Charlie Hebdo attack but says cartoons offensive
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