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:

1. Who are the protesters? Were these heads of states? Respectable scholars? Religious leaders? Or rather a disenfranchised group of people? I think we all know the answer to this question. Add to this the socio-economic issues that the protesting people are currently facing in the midst of all the insecurities and instabilities post the Arab Spring that put them in a fragile situation where every little breeze is viewed as a nascent storm.
2. The huge illiteracy problem in many Muslim-majority countries [3]. When 70% to 40% of the population has never read a book, how can you expect them to reflect what the religions of the book say? When they don’t even know what the Prophet, in the name of whom they protest, stood for, what his life was like, what his character was like, what he said/recommended/taught/preached/did etc… While illiteracy is not a problem in itself, when combined to ignorance and disincentives to learn or question the status quo, it can yield irrevocable damages… [4] To illustrate, protesters did the one thing the Prophet (PBUH) repeatedly warned against: never act out of anger, forgive, don’t ever retaliate, for only God reserves the right to serve justice. They failed miserably in representing a man that gave up his home and emigrated miles and miles away to avoid confrontation. A man who had tens of thousands of followers adhere to his message simply because of his character… (Read Karen Armstrong’s books on Muhammad PBUH - She is a non-Muslim historian that depicts objectively and impartially the greatness of our Prophet)
3. The incoercible desire to find an outlet for their anger, as a well respected young Muslim scholar put it: today unfortunately many Arabs/Muslims have some ready-to-press buttons that you just need to activate and then sit back and watch. (Moez Massoud, Sept 21, 2012)

From the Western side:

1. The US foreign policy post 9-11 and all of its bloody repercussions in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, …etc. Humiliations and inhuman treatments that some US soldiers have committed in prisons against Muslim prisoners (urinating on dead bodies, burning Quran, torturing prisoners, etc…)

2. 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:

3. Reading/learning about him as much as we can, from all credible sources available to us (“Seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim”, (Muhammad PUH))
4. Honoring him in our deeds, character, behavior, work ethic, relationships with our spouse/kids/parents/in-laws/neighbors/animals/…etc. Nothing will make him prouder than to see us “be the best possible versions of ourselves” (Oprah) - for this life is too short to be wasted and we have so much to achieve in it.

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.