A few days ago there was a shooting at a 'free speech' event involving purposeful cartoon caricaturing of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The organizers, including the shrill anti-Muslim campaigner Pamela Geller, tried to say all they innocently wanted was to promote free speech by making a point about a subject that angers some people.
Besides the fact that they were, in fact, engaging in bullying (if you know something offends someone, but then you shove it in their faces anyway just because you can, that's bullying,) we have to ask ourselves what their real purpose was. Of course, some Muslims were offended, and a couple of men went on a shooting spree.
While I do not condone solving every problem with a gun, one cannot help but wonder if this is what the organizers wanted. It's pretty obvious that making fun of the Islamic Prophet will make some people over-react and even get violent. Since the 'conference' now we have the U.S. government and talk show personalities adamantly asserting that "ISIS is in America now!"
It didn't help that ISIS claimed responsibility, even though it's publicly doubted by the experts that ISIS was involved. Anyway, the damage is done. The average clueless American is now convinced that ISIS is hiding in their neighborhood, ready to behead the infidels. This fear plays into the hands of certain people who have made it their mission to make people hate Muslims. After all, it distracts from their own misdeeds here and in the Middle East. Ah, but that's an old story.
Getting back to the so-called 'free speech' conference, one wonders why they wanted to focus so bad on making fun of the religious figure of one certain religion. Wouldn't it have been more pertinent in the local American context for them to make a stand for 'free speech' and have a contest involving the use of the "N" word?" They could chant it, write it in cartoons and declare they are taking back a word that has been made forbidden for them.
Ah, but they would never do it. With a straight face they would say that 'hate speech' is rightfully banned, while ignoring the fact that they have no right to define what is hurtful to others, or to deny what offends others. They wouldn't chant the 'N' word because African Americans find it offensive, but they will mock the prophet of Islam in drawings, not caring that Muslims find it offensive.
They would never have a conference to declare the Holocaust a hoax for the sake of free speech, or publicly insult and make fun of Moses or Jewish stereotypes. They would never have a 'swastika drawing' contest because those things would insult Jews.
They wouldn't organize a conference to make fun of Hindu beliefs or gods, nor would they make a conference to defend the right to make fun of Asians, stereotypes about Asians. How about a slant-eyed drawing cartoon contest? They would never do it because they would be banished from every professional forum and probably lose their jobs.
So if the defenders of 'free speech' willingly limit their speech so as not to offend EVERYONE else in the world (Jews, African-Americans, etc) why do they feel they can and should do the ONE THING that makes ALL Muslims angry? Because, as I wrote before, they are bullying and they have an agenda to provoke us to make people hate us EVEN MORE. That is hate speech par excellence.
We Muslims are over a barrel and getting the worst treatment and most disrespect simply because people who have been messing with the Muslim world since 1919 don't want to answer for their culpability in doing misdeeds on a massive scale. Are a lot of people in the Middle East seething with anger, even going nuts and doing horrible things? Yes, they are, but instead of looking at the geo-political CRIMES that have been committed by Western powers there, evil people are saying, "Oh look, it's just their religion that makes them crazy."
There is so much injustice in this world that it is mind-boggling. From parents who oppress their children to nations that invade others either in fact or in spirit - this is a crazy messed up world. As Muslims we are tested as never before, and it seems the challenges just get worse and worse.
Take heart! The Prophet told us we would have times where to be a believer would be like holding a hot coal! With craziness coming out of the Middle East rooted in decades of oppression and foreign meddling, backward cultural practices being equated with Islam and an array of ingenious bullies trying to drag our noble religion in the mud, we must remember that Allah promised us that He is in control, and that His way of life will triumph, no matter how much evil people dislike it.
Stay on the path! Do good to others and make it your example. Speak truth in the face of tyranny. Take solace in prayer and du'a. Show the world Islam is a force for good, nobility and charity. Continue to set your eyes on the prize and be prepared to talk down those who go to extremes whether they are Muslims or not. We can weather this crisis. The Mongol invasions destroyed half the Muslim world, and we bounced back. Maintain the faith, and look to your Lord and pray for wisdom. Ameen!
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