Islam was blazing a trail of curiosity in Denmark and I think he presumed this would make great sales.
He invited artists from all over Europe to illustrate the Prophets (pbuh) picture and was intrigued that no one would draw Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) pictures. All Muslim artists declined, without explanation.
This is where in my humble opinion the Muslims have failed. Allah Subhanawataala when He wants a nation to learn about Him, Subhanawataala or about His messengers he puts a seed of curiosity in. the people of that nation.
It is then entirely the responsibility of the local Muslims to take that seed to fruition with ehsaan. A sincere and concerted effort to deliver the word of Allah and His promise of The everlasting Gardens of Peace (Darus Salaam) to those who are unaware of this beautiful faith, in the best method of communication available.
In this instance the intelligentsia of the Muslims were apathetic and then as the Muslim world stirred in rage, sat back and watched in horror as the cartoons were mangled and mauled and depicted in a very disgusting manner. What happened was that some zionist newspapers assisted by some atheist Islam haters took the cartoons and went to town with them with extreme pornographic license.
While this was happening thanks to the Internet, word reached the poor, uneducated and simple class of people all over the Muslim world. These people who cannot read a word usually have memorized the Quran in its original Arabic, They live by it as taught by the few who know the meaning of it.
These simple people revere the word of God in the Quran and take to heart when Allah Subhanawataala says “atiullah wa atiyyul Rasool” and another part in the Quran and I paraphrase……”he (pbuh) does not make up things himself he says what I command him to”.
Drawn by the love of God and his messenger Muhammad pbuh to Madinah: Courtesy:http://www.flickr.com/photos/noushadali/3370685296/
Those who love and revere the Prophet (pbuh) also know that they are not allowed to worship him and the fastest way to change love to worship is to make an idol that one can visualize and become attached to its physique.
Thus making pictures idols or statues of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him are strictly forbidden.
As the Muslim intelligentsia of the west and Muslim countries looked the other way at this infraction of decency against our beloved Prophet Muhammad pbuh, The common people did the only thing that they could do, i.e. they took to the streets and picketed the respective embassies that represented the countries from which the cartoons had originated.
These Muslims in foreign lands have no access to the western people. Thus they could not protest in words how offended and hurt they were. They had no way to communicate to the western people who without instigation were making and publishing denigrating cartoons of the beloved & most revered personality linked to their faith.Muslims all over the world took this to be deliberate act of hostility aimed at them personally, their faith and their country.
What is islam: courtesy:http://www.flickr.com/photos/45121730@N05/4387963980/
Meanwhile the educated Muslim class in the United States remains apologeticand wants to ignore this act by the Cartoon publishers who continue to “push the envelope”.
It thus becomes incumbent upon each and every Muslim living in the west to sit down with a friend and explain why the cartoons are unpalatable to the Muslims and any decent human being would refrain from denigrating a part of our Deen and our icons that we hold very dear to our heart.
The Muslim intelligentsia of the west faces a major problem here: They are ill equipped to discuss why people should not draw Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) for the following reasons:
- They do not have the understanding or the references of the detailed tafseer of the Quranic injunction that commands Muslims to protect their icons and spiritual symbols.
- They themselves (with some exceptions) do not demonstrate nor radiate the spirit of Islam and look and behave like any other American Johnny, and are thus uninspiring to their western colleagues as symbols of honesty and integrity.
- They are obviously covering their behinds when they ask their fellow Muslims “to ignore the cartoons and they will go away” attitude, and this is well recognized by the western hounds who love the smell of blood of the weak, journalistically speaking.
- Meanwhile they vehemently oppose the masses of the rest of the Muslim world, which further alienates them from their faith and their Muslim brethren who are demonstrating their anger, anguish and disgust at the desecration of the symbol of our faith: our beloved Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him who was sent as a Messenger of Allah to all of the worlds as “A mercy to mankind”.
So what is to be done?
This is a major challenge thrown to the Muslims of the western world…… not by the Jewish publishers of the Danish cartoons but Allah Subhanawataala Himself.
It seems to me sometimes, that it is a clear demarcation line that either the Muslims in the west will survive by studying, believing and practicing their faith in a manner that they can suitably explain it to others or they will join the long line of hypocrites awaiting the seventh depth of Naar. There is no other option for the Muslims of the west…………..is there?
The First Amendment to the American Constitution:The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights.The amendment prohibits the making of any law “respecting an establishment of religion”, impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.Originally, the First Amendment only applied to the Congress. However, in the 20th century, the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies the First Amendment to each state, including any local government.
A quote from a young person in a conference in the USA, where the first amendment was being discussed:
Taken from: http://asqfish.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/the-challenge-to-muslims-people-want-to-draw-pictures-of-prophet-muhammad-pbuh-what-can-you-do/“Your first amendment ends where my first amendment begins”ADDENDUM TO MY MUSLIM READERS: Please do not look at the disrespectful cartoons, the brain has a way of storing images that is unerasable and it will hurt your efforts in the development of taqwa.
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