We hear about the blasphemy and mockery of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) at certain intervals. This is not a new phenomenon but happened all the time throughout the ages. Moreover, this kind of mockery is not limited to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) alone. It also happened to many other revered Prophets who came before him, especially in the history of Jews, who tried to crucify Jesus Christ (pbuh), killed John the Baptist and others.
The irony is that these kinds of malicious materials are widely tolerated by many modern countries - which claim to be democratic and free countries - under the pretext of freedom of opinion.
Is this Freedom of Opinion?
In fact there is a clear line between freedom of opinion and blasphemy. Freedom of opinion is to express something candid, good, bad or different view point openly. Islam too advocates and respects freedom of opinion. The Quranic verse, “Allah does not like the public mention of evil except by the one who has been oppressed,” (4: 148) hints that if a person is oppressed, he can even pronounce the evil talk in public. This is just an example to see to what extent Islam gives and encourages freedom of opinion.
Meanwhile, if someone approaches you and abuses your father, or any other respectable personality by saying that he was a womanizer, an oppressor, a child molester and makes a fictitious film depicting the same and supplies it to the masses through various media, will you tolerate him for the sake of freedom of opinion?
Surely, this will not remain in the parameter of freedom of opinion; it is called blasphemy and generally not tolerated by anyone in a civilised society. Tolerating blasphemy is not tantamount to respecting freedom of opinion.
There are laws against blasphemy in every country and there are several instances of applying these laws. Even during the cases of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the past, laws of blasphemy were implemented. When controversial writer Salman Rushdie wrote ‘Satanic Verses’, many non-Muslim countries banned it even before Penguin could release this ill-intended book in several countries. India, a country with non-Muslim majority too banned it when it was about to be published in its land. Khushwant Singh, then resident editor of Penguin Publications in India, who is known for his ‘Gossip Sweet and Sour’ columns also had recommended banning this book in India.
It is very important for any country to utilise the available laws against blasphemy and to develop strong laws against blasphemy as it is a very counter-productive to the society and countries. There is no contribution towards knowledge, logic, literature or progressive thinking in this kind of blasphemous works. The sole intention of it is to provoke people and to create chaos in the society.
Why do They Make Mockery?
Question arises why these people often resort to blasphemy of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in particular? God forbid, every time in this kind of blasphemous works Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is portrayed as a molester, a womaniser, an oppressor, a terrorist and so on. Similar is the case with the infamous Danish cartoons, which had caused global uproar a few years ago.
Probably, a SWOT analysis of the Muslim community to ascertain the reason behind this blasphemy will lead us to some better conclusions.
Strengths of Muslims
Without exaggeration, some of strengths which Muslim community possesses are seldom there in any other communities of the world. One of the strength is that they have the only book of guidance which cannot be distorted. It’s a fact that none of the divine Scriptures which came before Quran is available today in a secured and undistorted form. You will not find any book which is an accurate book of guidance as Quran. It is also protected in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, who have committed complete Quran into their memory, as Quran says: “We have certainly sent down the dhikr (Quran) and we will surely guard it” (15: 9).
Another strength of Muslim community is the ‘Shariah’ - the rules and regulations of Islam developed on the basis of Quran and traditions of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). Major part of the Quran is all about rules and regulations for human life. It gives broader and illustrative rules and regulations about a believer’s private life, social life, transactions, social fabric, marriages, divorce, and distribution of assets and so on. Moreover, for every small act and every aspect of life there is detailed guidance and illustration in Islam. You will not find this kind of detailed rules and regulations in any religion. Due to this fact, constitutions of a few non-Muslim countries too allow their Muslim population to follow their own personal-laws based on Shariah. Whereas many non-Muslim communities develop their own rules and regulations for marriage, divorce and other civil rights which undergoes amendments and changes whenever they see flaws in it. But in Islam there are set of Quranic rules and regulations which are constant and unchangeable.
Resurgence of Islam
It is an obvious truth that despite the global media’s organised propaganda against Islam, there is a great deal of curiosity and attraction towards Islam across the world. Even though hundreds of anti-Islamic books are hitting the market every day and huge activities are underway to wage propaganda war against Islam throughout the world, today Islam has emerged as the biggest “practiced religion” and “fastest growing faith” in the world.
It is worth mentioning here that there were efforts to abolish the religious identity of Muslims several times in history in many countries. However, it so happened that there was religious awakening and resurgence after sometime. We may see such examples in Russia and its adjacent countries which were once part of USSR, and European countries like Bosnia, Turkey and elsewhere. Today, hundreds of thousands of Muslim gather for Eid Prayers in Moscow, where Muslim identity was once eliminated. Hundreds of thousands of peaceful demonstrators turned up in recent protest in Turkey against blasphemy of the Prophet (pbuh). This was a proof for the allegiance of people towards Islam.
Today, thousands of Muslims gather for Eid Prayers in Moscow, where Muslim identity was once eliminated.
At the time of Ottoman Empire, Turks had a close connection with Arabic language. However, the successive regime of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, not only banished Arabic language, but also tried to eliminate Islamic identity. In spite of this, people of Modern Turkey are turning towards Islam in great number and showing keen interest in practice of religion.
In fact, global Muslims do not have an organised way of missionary activities to convey the message of Islam compared to missionary activities of Christians and other ideologies. There are a few individual ‘Dayees’ (preachers) performing their mission here and there. However, Islam is considered as the fasted growing religion in most of the non-Muslim majority countries. In the West during the last fifty years, the growth of Muslim population is more than 200%. Disturbed by this development, some of the western countries are thinking of banning minarets of the masjids and prohibiting niqab (veil) and hijab in order to discourage the spread of Islam.
On the other hand a considerable number of great personalities and celebrities from different fields are constantly coming to the fold of Islam. British singer, songwriter and Pop icon Cat Stevens, at the zenith of his stardom became a Muslim and is now known as Yousuf Islam, a popular Muslim activist. British journalist and war-correspondent Yvonne Ridley, best known for her capture by the Taliban in the battlefield of Afghanistan, accepted Islam after reading Quran, and now actively spreading her thoughts about Islam. Canadian scholar of linguistics Dr Thomas Ballantine Irving, not only accepted Islam, but also translated the noble Quran. Eminent French medical scientist Dr. Maurice Bucaille, who is known for his masterpiece “The Bible, The Qur'an and Science”, accepted Islam and proved the divinity of Quran through modern science. These are mere a few well-known names, among hundreds of prominent personalities who came to the fold of Islam in recent years.
British journalist Yvonne Ridley, best known for her capture by the Taliban in the battlefield of Afghanistan, accepted Islam after reading Quran.
Inspiring Personality
The personality of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) itself is a strength of Muslims. Western scholar Michel H. Hart’s masterpiece ‘The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History’, a book written after extensive unbiased research, declares Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as the most influential personality in the history. Sir Isaac Newton and Jesus Christ (pbuh) are placed in the second and third position respectively in his book. Newton was born in the 17th century AD while Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was born in the 7th century AD. According to Michal H. Hart, from 7th century to 17th century AD you will not find anyone who is as influential as Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Interestingly the researcher Michal H. Hart was neither a follower of Prophet (pbuh) nor a Muslim.
The history of Arabia and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is indeed astonishing. In the 7th century AD there were two super powers - the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire. Between these two mighty empires was the resource-less Arabian Peninsula, where there were only nomads, camels and less-educated people.
The same atmosphere was prevailing when Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was born. His life was full of challenges - born as an orphan, lost two of his care takers grandfather and uncle at an early age. He did not undergo any formal education and remained an illiterate. Until he was 40-year-old, lived like an ordinary man. He did not perform any extraordinary things in the society. However, he commanded great respect in Makah through his character, and was kwon among people as “the truthful” and “the honest”.
History bears testimony that Muslim rulers conquered the mighty Roman and Persian empires. It is an astonishing history and it appears to be a legend. Even today we can see the remains of Roman Empire in Syria’s Palmyra, which was one of the capitals of Roman Empire. Istanbul and Baghdad - two great cities of Islamic civilisation - also were capitals of the same Roman Empire.
The influential personality of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) played a major role in the spread of Islam. We can see the influence of his personality even today. Anyone who studies his history derives lots of influence from it. That is the very reason the enemies of Islam try to target the Prophet (pbuh) and malign his image in every possible way. In Islamic terminology this is called ‘Fitnah’, an act of spreading chaos on the earth. The Fitnah of intentional and organised blasphemy deserve a severe punishment.
According to Quran, “Fitnah (Creating Chaos on the earth) is worse than committing a murder,” (2:191). Because, Fitnah leads to the loss of innocent lives and destruction of prosperities. The result of the latest Fitnah of blashphemy against the Prophet (pbuh) was also the same: A country lost eight jetliners, lost an Ambassador in Libya, many diplomats were killed, a large number of innocent people lost their lives in many courtiers and chaos erupted around the world. A legal action against the person who initiated the mockery in the initial stage, would have been averted all these chaos!
Honour of the Prophet (pbuh) Protected
The honour of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), has been protected through various means. Quran says that Allah Himself will protect the honour of His Prophet. He also protects the honor through Muslim community and through Islamic Sharia.
Allah says in Quran, “I am sufficient for you against the people who do mockery” (15: 95). Through this verse Allah has given a guarantee that He will protect the honor of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In another verse Allah says “And we have raised high for you (Muhammad) your repute” (94: 4). Before the birth of Prophet (pbuh), “Muhammad” was an unknown name. Today we can see millions of people identify themselves with the name ‘Muhammad’ all over the world. Every time when the mu’addin (prayer caller at masjid) says the adaan (prayer call) in the microphone saying, “I bear witness that Muhammad (pbuh) is the messenger of Allah”, the name of the Prophet (pbuh) raises high in the sky. There is no minute in a day when this announcement is not proclaimed since time varies from country to country.
Quran exhorts the Muslim community that Prophet (pbuh) should be more dearer to them than any other things in their life. “Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight ... are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings about His Decision (torment)” (9: 24). Accordingly for a true Muslim, the most dearest thing in his/her life is love towards Allah, His Prophet (pbuh) and striving in the way of Allah.
Shariah, the rules and regulations of Islam, also protects the honour of Prophet (pbuh). It prescribes capital punishment for blasphemy. This can be seen during the conquest of Makkah, when the Prophet (pbuh) forgave all unbelievers of the conquered land including his blood thirsty enemies. He forgave staunch enemies of Islam like Abu Sufiyan and made a declaration that whoever takes shelter in the house of Abu Sufiyan will be forgiven. Ikrima, another staunch enemy of Islam too approached Prophet (pbuh) seeking asylum. When he was arriving from distance Prophet (pbuh) said: “Ikrima is coming towards us as a believer and migrant, hence do not abuse his father”. In spite of the fact that Ikrima’s father Abu Jahal was the bitterest enemy of Islam, the Prophet (pbuh) did not let anyone abuse him. He forgave every individual and declared: “there will be no revenge on any of you today.” However, he did not forgive four individuals who committed blasphemy and they were executed.
How to React?
If enemies of Islam utilize media to attack Islam, the best refutation could be through media itself. There are various media through which we may refute in an effective way. Though peaceful and timely demonstrations also sometime convey the message to the masses and governments to take necessary action, killing of the innocent people in the pretext of protest is not permissible in Islam, which strictly prohibits killing of innocent people, destroying public properties or cutting the trees even during wars. Even in their reaction and protest, Muslims should carry a message that through they are upset and angry they prove to be peace-loving people and always protect values promulgated by the final Prophet (pbuh).
Islam strictly prohibits killing of innocent people, destroying public properties or cutting the trees even during wars.
There are two things that Muslims can do in order to respond to the blasphemy. One of them is swift reaction which is spontaneous. The second one is well-thought out pro-action. Muslim community is good at reaction but seldom we see any efforts done by Muslims which can be considered as pro-action.
Reminding Muslims about the proactive approach Qur’an says, “So they who have believed in him (Prophet), honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him are the victorious’ (7: 157).
Therefore Muslim community should be proactive by taking care of the four important responsibilities that they constantly have towards Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), which is believing in him, respecting him, helping him and following him.
Helping the Prophet (pubh) is nothing but spreading the message which he had conveyed. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the last Prophet and after him prophet hood is terminated. But the prophetic mission, which is transferred to his followers, is not terminated. Today every fourth person in the world is a Muslim. Among them some are living peacefully in peaceful countries, where as some are living with difficulties and challenges, deprived of their freedom and rights. It is the responsibility of every individual Muslims particularly those who are living in peaceful societies to convey the message of Islam to maximum people so that the peace reaches the entire world.
Qur’an says, “Their intention is to extinguish Allah's Light (by blowing) with their mouths: But Allah will complete (the revelation of) His Light, even though the Unbelievers may detest (it). It is He Who has sent His Apostle with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, that he may proclaim it over all religion, even though the Pagans may detest (it)” (61: 8,9).
Surly, Islam has all the qualities and requisites to become a predominant faith, if supported by plan and efforts by Muslim community as Quran says, “Man will not get anything other than what he strives for and you will surely see the fruit of your striving” (53: 39,40).
The writer is a multilingual personality of Mangalore origin currently residing in Kuwait, having several years of experience in journalism, teaching, public speaking and social service.
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