As a Muslim student, my reaction to the controversy surrounding
the offensive cartoon portrayals of Prophet Muhammad was one of
anger, hurt and disappointment.
I’m angry and disappointed to see the Danish media use
freedom of speech as a guise to insult the personality of Prophet
Muhammad, a man beloved to more than a billion citizens of the
world.
Anyone of conscience knows that the cartoon portrayals of the
Prophet (and their subsequent reprints) are nothing less than
emotional torture and intellectual terrorism.
But my anger and hurt were soon overshadowed by disappointment
when Muslims in Europe, Syria and Lebanon, going against the
example of their Prophet Muhammad, reciprocated hate with hate
““ and used violence against innocent people.
The example of the Prophet Muhammad is that of a balanced,
tolerant and just man who held himself accountable to his Creator.
To think that a community who aspires to follow his examples would
go against his principles and seek vengeance in his name is
depressing.
The Prophet Muhammad who Muslims love is quoted to have said,
“You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal
with them with forgiveness and kindness.”
The Koran, Islam’s revealed text, prohibits the use of
pressure and intimidation for changing the hearts of people:
“It may well be that God will bring about love (and
friendship) between you and those with whom you are now at
odds.” (60:7)
This is the reality of Islam that I know and that I grew up
with.
Still, the situation of the Muslim groups who reacted to the
cartoon controversy with violence in Syria and Lebanon is also
important to consider.
These Muslims live under absolutist, dictatorial regimes with
little to no accommodation for democratic ideals, human rights and
freedom of political expression. I believe that their rage enjoys
government blessings while the power-bearers in these states prefer
that the hungry, poor citizenry gets distracted by an
emotion-rousing subject of insults against their Prophet. This
diverts their hostilities outward toward Europe, rather than inward
toward their own totalitarian governments.
Their reactions clearly point to larger problems within Middle
Eastern states and societies.
The provocation of these European newspapers was foolish and
full of hatred. It would be naive to think that there are no double
standards among most European and American journalists working for
big media corporations.
Most of these advocates of freedom of speech do not dare write
against the foul practices of multinational corporations, their
dirty trade practices, and their exploitation of labor in
developing countries. Most of them would not even touch the
so-called issues of national security even if the position of the
power elite was against national interests.
Let’s be truthful to ourselves: Freedom of speech was
never instituted so that intolerance and hate would be
perpetuated.
Freedom is upheld so that humanity is not oppressed, such that
meaningful dialogue takes place to lead us to an understanding of
respect for each other. As an individual of consciousness I make a
plea to you to allow me to introduce my Prophet the way most
Muslims see him.
I hold out my hand with an invitation to come learn about the
character of Prophet Muhammad this Wednesday, Feb. 15 in Court of
Sciences 24 at 8 p.m. Will you be a part of a “Day of
Familiarization,” where we teach people who the Prophet was
and what he really represents, peace and blessings of God upon
him?
Abdullah is a fourth-year physiological science student.
Lari is a third-year business economics student.