Protest but With Restraint

by Dr. Ahmed Saad Al-Mofareh, Arab News Tue Feb 7 2006

Muslims around the globe have been deeply hurt by the negative portrayal of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in a Danish newspaper. Some Muslims felt so outraged that their intellectual faculties failed to help them to deal with the matter prudently.

Others were stunned — not knowing what has happened to a country claiming to be a forerunner of freedom and human rights. The third group took a longer time to think of their response — may be giving more time to the Danes to realize their big mistake and back away. But this did not happen and it seems that it is not going to happen at all. The Danish officials as well as the public have insisted that the issue concerns only the freedom of expression!

Do the Danish people think that Muslims would let go such a blasphemous act? Don’t they calculate the consequences of such a profound insult? Do they think that the Islamic societies would accept their justifications? No, this is a great sin and unforgivable mistake and Muslims cannot compromise and sit back idly. It is a crystal-clear offense that deserves swift and precise response. And this is what has happened in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

The majority of non-Muslims in Denmark and some other Western societies do not know that insulting or denigrating any prophet or messenger of God — let it be Noah, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Lut, Jesus or Muhammad — is a great sin in Islam. Of course a large number of people in those Western societies do not believe in God, and ultimately do not recognize His prophets and messengers. Those who have some kind of faith do not recognize our religion or Prophet.

But the Holy Qur’an — revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad 14 centuries ago — teaches Muslims how to deal and relate to all prophets and messengers. It teaches us to respect all prophets and messengers of Allah and makes no distinction among them. For example we read in the Qur’an:

The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from His Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. “We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His Messengers.” And they say: “We hear, and we obey, (we seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the return of all. “ (2: 285).

Allah admonishes us to stand firm against any evil acts toward any one of His prophets and messengers. We must defend them and their messages as they have come originally from one source, our Creator, Allah. The Qur’an says:

Say: “We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus), and the Prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah we have submitted (in Islam).” (3: 84).

Therefore, we Muslims would not accept any type of defamation or humiliation of any prophet and messenger. This is why we are disturbed and angry at what the Danish newspaper had published. It is our duty and responsibility to react to this sacrilege. We should denounce it openly but with total restraint lest we lose our just and fair right of defending our Prophet.
Second, by condemning the action, the actors and their supporters by all peaceful means till they back off we receive tangible evidence that such things do not happen again. In doing so, we should take into account what Allah has instructed us in the Qur’an:

Revile not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah without knowledge. Thus unto every nation have We made their deed seem fair. Then unto their Lord is their return, and He will tell them what they used to do. (6:108)

And the Qur’an adds:

Thus have We appointed unto every prophet an adversary — devils of humankind and jinn who inspire one another plausible discourse through guile. If thy Lord willed, they would not do so; so leave them alone with their fabrications. (6: 112)

Thirdly, we should work harder to convey the message of Islam to nonbelievers by inviting them to study the life and history of the Prophet.

The Holy Qur’an says:

Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: That we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims. (3: 64)

But we should invite them in the manner Allah has prescribed for us in the Qur’an:
Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in a better way. Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who go aright. (16: 125)

Also we should remember that there is no compulsion in religion.

There is no compulsion in religion. The right path is henceforth distinct from the wrong path. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower. (2: 256).

Fourth, we should not forget that there are fair-minded individuals among the non-Muslims around the world who are also offended by such an act. We should not blame them for an action they are not responsible for. Rather we should appreciate their effort and help. The Qur’an says:

O ye who believe! Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in justice, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that ye deal not justly. Deal justly, that is nearer to your piety. Fear Allah. Lo! Allah knows of what ye do. (5: 8)

All the above verses are clear evidence that the message of the Prophet Muhammad is comprehensive, makes no distinction among people or the message of all the prophets and messengers. This message has come after a long series of messages and prophethoods, beginning with Adam (peace be upon him), the father of all human beings, passing through Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and finally Muhammad. The Qur’an says:
We sent thee not save as a mercy for the mankind. (21: 107)

And We have sent thee (O Muhammad) only as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. (25: 56)
And We have not sent thee (O Muhammad) save as a giver of glad tidings and a warner unto all mankind; but most people know not. (34: 28)

— Dr. Ahmed Saad Al-Mofareh is a member of the Shoura Council, Saudi Arabia.