Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity
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*A Muslim response to "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day"*
*by Nihad Awad*
27 May 2010
Washington, DC - I will be the first to defend anyone's right to express
their opinion, no matter how offensive it may be to me. Our nation has
prospered because Americans value and respect diversity. But freedom of
expression does not create an obligation to offend or to show disrespect for
the religious beliefs or revered figures of others.
In apparent reaction to the recent controversy over a depiction of Islam's
Prophet Muhammad in an episode of the animated sitcom *South Park* on the
cable network Comedy Central, a Seattle-based cartoonist, Molly Norris,
created a cartoon poster depicting images claimed to be likenesses of the
Prophet.
She has since distanced herself from the event, saying she never intended to
launch "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day". And on her website, she has since
posted a statement that reads in part: "I did NOT 'declare' May 20 to be
'Everybody Draw Muhammad Day.'...The cartoon-poster, with a fake 'group'
behind it, went viral and was taken seriously...The vitriol this 'day' has
brought out, of people who only want to draw obscene images, is offensive to
the Muslims who did nothing to endanger our right to expression in the first
place...I apologize to people of Muslim faith and ask that this 'day' be
called off."
Jon Wellington, the creator of a Facebook page dedicated to the day, also
repudiated the "inflammatory posts" it inspired. He said, "I am aghast that
so many people are posting deeply offensive pictures of the Prophet."
Despite Norris and Wellington's seemingly sincere attempts to distance
themselves from the event, Muslim-bashers and Islamophobes made sure the
call to "draw Muhammad" went viral on the Internet. Most Muslims believe
visual representations of prophets are inappropriate as they might distract
from the worship of God alone and even lead to idol worship, which is
forbidden in Islam.
So how should Muslims and other Americans react to this latest attempt by
hate-mongers to exploit the precious right of free speech and turn 20 May
into a celebration of degradation and xenophobia?
Before I answer that question, it must first be made clear that Muslim
Americans value freedom of speech and have no desire to inhibit the creative
instincts of cartoonists, comedians or anyone else.
The mainstream Muslim American community, including my own organisation, the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has also strongly repudiated
the few members of an extremist fringe group associated with the website
RevolutionMuslim.com which initially appeared to threaten the creators
of *South
Park*. That group, the origins and makeup of which have been questioned by
many Muslims, has absolutely no credibility within the Muslim American
community.
I, like many Muslims, was astonished to see media outlets broadcasting the
views of a few marginal individuals, while ignoring the hundreds of mosques
and Muslim institutions that have representatives who could have offered a
mainstream perspective.
Next, one must examine how the Prophet Muhammad himself reacted to personal
insults.
Islamic traditions include a number of instances in which the Prophet had
the opportunity to retaliate against those who abused him, but refrained
from doing so. He said, "You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but
you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness." And a verse from the
Qur'an tells the Prophet to "Keep to forgiveness (O Muhammad), and enjoin
kindness, and turn away from the ignorant" (7:199).
This is the guidance Muslims should follow as they express concern about an
insulting depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, or of any other prophet of God.
Instead of reacting negatively to the bigoted call to support "Everybody
Draw Muhammad Day", Muslim Americans – and Muslims worldwide – should use 20
May, and every other day, as an opportunity to reach out to people of other
faiths and beliefs to build bridges of understanding and respect.
The best and most productive response to bigoted campaigns like "Everybody
Draw Muhammad Day" is more communication, not less – and not by restricting
the free flow of ideas with measures like banning Facebook.
Research, including a 2010 Gallup poll gauging US attitudes toward Muslims,
has shown that anti-Islam prejudice can go down when people interact with
ordinary Muslims and have greater knowledge of Islam.
Therefore, the best reaction to those who would mock the Prophet Muhammad
(or the religious leaders and symbols of any faith) might be to host a
mosque "open house" for the local community, a community service activity
organised by Muslims and involving people of other faiths, or a newspaper
commentary describing the life, legacy and personal character of the
Prophet, which is the opposite of the calumny some people fabricate about
him.
We will all benefit if each of us – whether Muslim, Jew, Christian,
Buddhist, or Hindu – exhibits the common human decency required by our
respective faiths.
###
* Nihad Awad is Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR), a Muslim American political and civil rights group. This
abridged article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews)
with permission from the author. The full text can be found at www.cair.com.
Source: CAIR, 20 May 2010, www.cair.com
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=27868&lan=en&sid=1&sp=0&isNew=0
--
Sesungguhnya, hanya dengan mengingat Allah, hati akan tenang.
now surely by Allah's remembrance are the hearts set at rest.
N'est-ce point par l'évocation d'Allah que se tranquillisent les coeurs.
im Gedenken Allahs ist's, daß Herzen Trost finden können.
>> al-Ra'd [13]: 28
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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