As you
know, we have all been witness to many letters
written about the cartoons that the Danish
newspaper published and which other countries
deliberately and defiantly republished. There
were two main stances that the publishers took.
1.
Freedom of speech: We are free to say whatever
we like about whoever we like.
2.
Religions can't impose on us what we can or
can't do.
Strangely
or not so strangely nobody noticed the fact that
the same law of freedom of speech was not
invoked when the Iranian leader made his famous
comments. And nothing strange about the fact
that no religion was imposing anything on the
godless, atheistic, secular West. It was they
who were imposing on all religions in general
(there was one cartoon with icons of Hindu,
Christian and Buddhist deities as well) and on
Islam in particular and yet crying 'wolf' as it
were.
The
Muslim responses in terms of letters have had
only one common note:
1.
What would the Prophet (SAS) himself have done
if someone had made a cartoon about him or
attempted to revile or insult him?
And the writers have then proceeded to say what
they thought the Prophet (SAS) would have done
drawing on the many stories where people did try
to harm him in one way or the other and his
reaction of not retaliating but praying for
their guidance.
In my
view, the issue here is not about what
RasoolAllah (SAS) would have done. It is about
what we, who claim to be his Ummah and who claim
to love him, should do. The example of this is
that if someone were to insult your father, he
himself may choose to remain silent. But if you
also remained silent what would that say about
you? The Prophet (SAS) is not our father. He is
more than our father and mother combined for all
our generations, gone and yet to come.
The question therefore is not about him. It is
about you and me.
Now let
us try to understand what the West is really
attempting to do here. Anyone who really thinks
that this is about so-called freedom of speech
is really either someone who has no political
perspective at all or is fooling himself.
Just ask
yourself this simple question: Why is it that
the Danish newspaper published these cartoons
and even more importantly why is it that France,
Italy and others republished them and then
refused either to withdraw them or to apologize
for doing this act?
The
answer is also very simple: This is a test. To
see what the Muslims will do if someone actually
attacks their Prophet (SAS).
My
brothers and sisters, it is my own experience in
life that there is one thing about the Muslims
that is unique to them. No matter how bad a
Muslim one may be; no matter how little that
person may practice Islam, if anyone attacks the
person (or memory) of the Prophet (SAS) this
non-practicing, sinning Muslim would stand up in
defense of the Prophet (SAS) even if it meant
that he would personally be in danger.
Alhamdulillah, the protests around the world
tell me that this nature of the Muslim is still
the same.
And why
is this the only reaction of anyone who claims
to be Muslim?
Imagine
that you are in the Madina of RasoolAllah (SAS)
and in the middle distance you can see the
Prophet (SAS) himself sitting in the shade of a
tree. Then as you watch him, you see a man come
up to him and hit him.
I ask you
what will you do??
It is not about what the Prophet (SAS) will do.
It is about what you will do. It is about asking
yourself, what Omar ibn Al Khattab (RA) would
do. Or Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman, Ali, Talha, Zubair
(Radhiallahu anhum ajmaeen) would do.
So don't
tell me what the Prophet (SAS) would do if
someone attacked him. Tell me what you would do
if someone attacked the Prophet (SAS).
That, my brothers and sisters, is a measure of
your imaan.
Now let
us ask why the West chose this particularly
obnoxious stance at this particular time.
So what
is peculiar about this time?
First
there was Afghanistan, the result of the
cleverly instigated drama of the WTC. If you
recall (our memories are often very short) just
before America decided to fulfill its goal of
attacking Afghanistan, the culmination of the
WTC strategy; there was much trepidation about
the possible reaction of the worldwide Muslim
community if Afghanistan was attacked. The US
then decided to take the risk. And then they
loed and beheld that nothing happened that
was out of the ordinary. There were some
protests in the Middle East (so what's new??);
some in the US and UK (these leftists and others
will always scream, so who cares??) and some
buses were burnt in Pakistan (well, tell me
about it!!!). Some noises were made by Musharraf
(our guy) and Saudi Arabia (well, you see they
gotta say it) and that was it. After all, while
they made the noises, the same leaders allowed
the Americans to use their land and water to
destroy their own brothers in Afghanistan for no
reason other than that they wanted to practice
Islam. Sure the West did not like their version
of it. But then they were not asking the West to
practice it, were they? They wanted to practice
it themselves.
But was
it about Islam at all? Or was it because it was
the Brazilians and not Americans who were given
the gas and oil pipeline contracts?? Aah!! Well
anyway the long and short of it is that in the
general Muslim world, nothing happened.
Then came
Iraq. Notice that this time there was no fearful
anticipation of any reaction. The attackers knew
that Muslims don't care what happens to other
Muslims. At least they don't care enough to do
anything significant. Afghanistan, Iraq,
Gujarat, all proved that. The non-reaction to
Palestine has been proving that for 50 years. So
America went into Iraq without so much as a by
your leave, to the UN.
Now there
is Iran on the horizon and Syria behind it.
So what
do the thinkers do? They say to themselves:
"Well you know, we have proved that Muslims
don't care what happens to other Muslims. This
whole Ummah thing is a fantasy. No matter that
their God and His Prophet emphasized it. Muslims
today don't remember or care about that. But let
us now do the final test. These chaps have
always been sensitive about their Prophet. So
let us do what has not been done since the
Crusades. Let us revile their Prophet and see
what they do. That will tell us how far we can
really go with them." And so the cartoons.
So you
see, it is about us today. Not about the Prophet
(SAS) at all.
We need
to see things in perspective my brothers and
sisters.
As for
those who advocate turning the other cheek.
Well, there will always be those. But let us
also remember that there is something
particularly pathetic about a nation that puts
personal safety, comfort and luxury above honor.
And
remember O Muslims, your honor is the honor of
RasoolAllah (SAS). If his honor is attacked,
your honor is attacked. Anyone who tells you
differently, is a liar, cheat or a coward who
has forgotten that one day he will stand before
Allah and look at the face of RasoolAllah (SAS).
May Allah
give us the courage to live with honor.
For in
the words of Tipu Sultan (RA) when he was
offered his life and kingdom in exchange for
British overlordship: "A day in the life of a
tiger is worth more than a thousand years in the
life of a jackal."
Take your
pick. You know who you are best.
