Our Reaction to the Cartoons
By Dr. Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD

For the past one month, the Muslim world has been rocked by protest demonstrations, some peaceful and some violent, against the publication of cartoons, satirizing the Prophet, originally in a little known Danish newspaper which were subsequently reproduced by several European papers, in the name of freedom of expression. The cartoons were deeply offensive and hurtful not only to Muslims but to many non-Muslims as well who, whilst believing in the freedom of expression, maintained that it should not become a license for unscrupulous elements to intrude upon the religious sensitivities of others.
The claim that the publication of satirical cartoons was designed to uphold the principle of free expression is disingenuous as is the assertion that the European media are ignorant about the depth of Muslim sensitivity to any disrespect shown to the Prophet Mohammed. Europeans, as opposed to Americans, have had a long tradition of studying Islam since medieval times, an interest that led to the birth of a whole academic discipline, named Orientalism or Arabism. Many European writers and thinkers, especially priest and theologians, have unfortunately misrepresented Islam and the life history of the Prophet in their writing and treatises, primarily to malign Islam and ostensibly to protect Christians from its seductive influence.
Typical among these was Lodovico Marracci, the seventeenth-century Italian priest, who devoted forty years of his life to studying Islam and the Qur’an, with the sole purpose of refuting its teachings. Even relatively more recent scholars and historians, such as Edward Gibbon, who never learnt Arabic, have been hostile to Islam and its preaching. Over the years, an extensive body of literature has accumulated in European academic institutions and research centers that has contributed much to the dissemination of a distorted image of Islam.
While they may not have foreseen the extent of anger and the firestorm the cartoons have provoked, the editors of the Danish magazine, Jyllande-Posten, clearly could not have been entirely unaware of the fallout of their ill-advised decision to publish them. In a full-length article by the paper’s Cultural Editor, Flemming Rose, who commissioned the cartoons, a bizarre rationale for their publication (Washington Post, February 19, 2006) is advanced. According to his thesis the publication of the cartoons was an affirmation that the Danish Muslims had now become equal citizens and integrated within Danish society. In other words, since they routinely ridicule other religions, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism, why not take a shot at Islam and its Prophet as well). However, in reality the paper is not so even handed. According to the CBS news program, Sixty Minutes, the editors of Jyllande-Posten recently rejected a satirical depiction of the resurrection of the Christ, fearing that it would provoke an outcry. The exercise of double standards is not limited to Denmark. This week, the British historian, David Irving, has been sentenced to three years in prison by a court in Vienna for denying that the holocaust ever happened. Mere denial of the holocaust or the existence of gas chambers in concentration camps in Nazi Germany is a crime in Austria as well as in Germany. So, after all, the Europeans are not as firmly committed to the principle of freedom of expression as they claim.
However egregious the provocation caused by the cartoons might have been, the reaction of the Muslim world unfortunately has neither been dignified nor rational. Burning down embassies as happened in Syria or the destruction of property and loss of life as happened in some cities in Pakistan earns us no friends around the world. Above all, such extreme reaction was not the Prophet’s way who repeatedly forgave his tormentors and even prayed for them. In many cities in Pakistan, peaceful and dignified protest marches, taken over by more extreme elements, degenerated into unruly melees. Indiscriminately destroying businesses that are owned by innocent people, whether Pakistanis or foreigners, who have had no association with the offense, is not only wrong but it is also economically damaging to Pakistan and its reputation abroad.
During the past century, the world has undergone revolutionary changes, and with the arrival of information technology nations have been interconnected as never before. Whatever is published in the media in Europe and America becomes instantly available to millions of people around the world. Also, the terrorist events of 9/11 have spawned a great deal of interest in Islam and Muslims, and many bookshops in western countries are inundated with publications on these topics. However, we can exercise no control over what is disseminated by news media or individual authors in Europe or America, and no amount of demonstrations and protests are likely to change it. In fact, the violent reaction is what some of the publishers and writers in their perverse way seek, as they deliberately exacerbate rather than quench the conflict. It makes them instantly famous and their otherwise prosaic publications receive a huge amount of free publicity. How many in America or Europe, for example, had heard of the Danish newspaper before the firestorm broke? Unfortunately, the Europeans don’t have a monopoly on fanning the fire of religious conflict. According to published reports, Imam Abu-Laban of Denmark, sensing that his initial protests were not having any effect in the country, sent a dossier of highly inflammatory pictures that had not been published by any newspapers and were the work of racists, malignant minds in the country, to Egypt where they created a conflagration. The Imam had achieved his goal in the end.
Some good can still come out of this distressing episode. The anguish and rage that the Muslim world has felt over the publication of the cartoon may be channeled into some useful venues. Now is the most opportune time to educate western audiences about Islam and its sublime message and to remove some of the misinformation that has been accumulated well over a millennium. This project can only be undertaken by Western Muslim scholars and academicians who may be best qualified to tailor the message in such a way that it would appeal to the western reader, narration that is perceived as scholarly, historic but unbiased by the expression of overt religious devotion. This would be the best tribute to the Prophet, consistent with the glorious ideals he taught us.

 

 

 

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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