In light of the heart-breaking events that unfolded after the release of a despicable short film about the “savior of humanity” [1], I wanted to reach out to the world, as a fellow human being first, and as a proud Muslim second.
The insulting movie that was nothing but an aggregation of lies had one sole objective that it executed flawlessly: fuel the hearts of the unstable, ill-informed and resentful few to have them engage in furious protests right by the anniversary of 9/11. Accordingly, a group of ready-to-order angry men and women in many Muslim-majority countries answered the call: they gathered around US embassies and/or consulates and when they could not find any US ones, they elected the next candidate Western country they could find …pathetic. It was an incredible show of human nature going fast and furious. Then, to make matters worse, some Pakistani minister announces a bounty of $100,000 to whoever kills the movie maker.
So then, I started to ask myself: Why is it when similar demeaning movies had unfolded about prophets Moses, Jesus, Abraham, (PBUT) etc… no one reacted? What is it with some Muslims-by-inheritance [2] that makes them respond to this insulting film with violence? To answer these questions, I tried to step back and look at the events in their context: From the Muslim side:
From the Western side:
Double standards when dealing with anti-Islam conducts vs. when dealing with anti-semitism. E.g.: when a drunk John Galliano[5] uttered some anti-semitic comments in a Parisian bar, he was immediately dubbed as anti-semite, arrested and immediately fired. But, when a troubled fraudulent man makes a movie that incites hatred and promotes Islamophobia he is protected in his “right to free speech”. So, it is completely ok to insult, express disgust against Muslims but not against Jews. I wonder what kind of democratic and fair judicial system this is. Don’t get me wrong, I am an inveterate free speech advocate; but I hereby condemn the double discourse.
The list may go on and on, but the bottom line is that there is no correlation between Islam as a religion and the reactions of these minority groups. I don’t want to get into the weeds of the different denominations between reformists, traditionalists, mystics, salafists/literalists, …etc. But, just note that Islam like Christianity or Judaism cannot and should not be blamed for the actions of its followers. Why? Because when you interpret a divine or even a mundane message to suit your inner motives and serve your interests you are no longer a reference nor a credible source. The salafists do so when they claim Islam to be non-democratic and then revert when they can finally enter the political arena. Some patriarchal societies do so today still when they use the very clear contextual and temporal permission for polygamy, for instance, to justify their lust for hedonist pleasures, … My message to my fellow Muslims is to honor our Prophet by:
Footnotes:
fn1. George Bernard Shaw described the Prophet Muhammad as such.
fn2. Yes some, because you have to contextualize and bear in mind that out of 1.5 billion. Muslims, a couple hundred violent protesters are no way near representative- according to the rules of the scientific method.
fn3. Indicative literacy rates around: 27% in South Sudan, 26% in Mali, 38% in Afghanistan, 61% in Morocco, 62% in Pakistan, 66% in Egypt, …etc.
fn4. The Prophet PBUH was illiterate, but unlike many people today, he used to meditate and re-think what he used to see/hear. Today, many literate people are anything but knowledgeable for they satisfy themselves with what their preacher, media, leaders, etc… “feed” them with. From the East to the West, CNN, Fox News, Al Jazeera, …etc are not truth holders. Taking what we hear or see at face value is what brought us here at the first place.
fn5. The former flagship Dior designer.