When looking at the current world’s map you can’t help but notice that North Africa, the Middle-East and some other Asian Muslim countries stand out garishly as top war zones, or conflict areas. When you try to connect dots, find a common pattern between all of these countries, the only logical connection you find is their religion, Islam.
Now for someone unaware of the details of this religion and its teachings, it is only normal to believe that Islam is a religion of torture, violence, dictatorship and so on. But should we hold him, or any other person who believes the same, responsible for such belief only because he deducted a certain conclusion based on some true facts he witnessed or heard about? Or should we blame ourselves, Muslims, for the bad publicity we gave our religion? For abetting violence through our actions and reactions? For tarnishing the reputation of a religion that was once a miracle to mankind?
I asked myself these questions over and over after the staggering events that accrued all over the Arab and Muslim world after the release of the putrid movie which main aim was to sully our beloved prophet’s ( PBUH ) reputation. I was curious enough to watch a few minutes of the YouTube Trailer to see what the fuzz was all about. A low quality , low budget movie , led by some unknown actors , whose lines appear to be dubbed into an anti-Islam propaganda , using only green screen graphics with effects only equivalent to a 1970 pornographic movie. I felt insulted, as would any Muslim who sees such a diaphanous, insubstantial production. However to be completely honest, I didn’t feel that same anger reflected on the streets of Cairo, Benghazi or Khartoum. Not because I am an infidel , or a “ kaffir “ as some extremists would jump and say as soon as they read that part , but only because having read the entire life of prophet Mohammed ( PBUH) , I knew that what they tried to portray was nothing like Mohammed. That same prophet many philosophers and great thinkers praised , that same man that now 1 billion and half people follow , that sturdy leader that installed the true foundations of a true democracy 1400 years ago. Henceforth I couldn’t quite grasp the nascent reaction that followed the release of this clip which has appeared to be uploaded since 2011 but only coming to surface at this time, when the Arab world is experiencing a huge internal strife, between the abolition of dictatorships and the inauspicious process of building new democracies. Once again, one cannot help but raise the question: Aren’t we the ones to blame? Are the attacks on the US consulate in Libya, the US embassy in Egypt and the German embassy in Sudan justified only because a member of their community has expressed his extremist opinions through a bewildered clip? If yes then the United States and Germany have all the rights to defend their people terrorized and assassinated in Libya, Cairo and Khartoum.
It is undoubtedly understandable that such a provocative attack on the main figure of a 1 billion people religion should not go unpunished. The people behind this film , and it doesn’t matter who they might be , whether they are Israeli , American or Egyptian Copt , should be brought to justice and should realize that their liberty stops when the liberty of others begins. However we are obliged to condemn as well the Libyan murderers who conducted the attack on the US consulate, killing the US ambassador, Chris Stevens, a Peace Corps member and a former English teacher in our Atlas Mountains of Morocco. An innocent man who lost his life as a consequence of the idiocy of some venal goons. A life which he dedicated to the development of the Middle East and the MENA region as shown here in this footage uploaded by the US embassy.
I took the liberty of asking a few people all over the social networks about their opinion on the matter, and they pretty much all agreed to the fact that once again, we’ve been duped into falling into the same trap: Reacting violently to violent accusations.
Translation : I saw a big part of the trailer and it affected me , I couldn’t watch more. It was disgusting and hearthbreaking. However I do not approve of the reaction of the muslim world. Our religion is a religion of peace .. Why so much violence ? Anger does not justify all.
As it clearly appears, it is a common thinking that the reaction of the people in the streets of our Arab cities remains quite unfathomable, and remotely related to our Prophet’s way of behaving. There is a saying in Arabic that says about the love we have for Mohammed “ يا من تَدَّعِي مَحبَّته أين أنت مِن سُنَّتِه “ which could be translated to English as: “Ô you who pretend to love him, Are you at least following his teachings? “. Because as a matter of a fact, many people of our Muslim world do not act as Muslims, do not behave as the prophet has shown us and told us to behave. The reply I often get to this is that , belief and faith are located in the heart , thus one could not know if the person is in fact a person of faith or not. However as our teacher , Dr Tariq Ramadan , has once said in a conference I attended to “ Saying that faith is in the heart , is like saying to a teacher the day of the test , that knowledge and answers are in your brain , and head. They are consequently useless if not reported”?
Islam besides being a religion is a way of life, a certain guide book that allows you to live with a certain decency and respect among your fellow people. Never has Mohammed (PBUH) killed an ambassador, or a messenger, as this was a clear sign of war. Never has Mohammed (PBUH) attacked people over personal grudges, or as a reaction to the many insults he received. Never has the army of Mohammed (PBUH) fought unarmed people. So what are we exactly standing for? Whom are we representing? Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) for those who don’t know him was known for his staggering equanimity. For his wisdom and calm in dealing with important matters.
This ambivalence of the current Muslim world is worrying. If you meditate at the life of Mohammed you’ll realize that unlike other prophets that preceded him, he had no miracle that changed events. He had no ship that allowed him to survive a flood, he did not resuscitate the dead, and no sea was cut in half for him to pass through. He had some little miracles to prove his prophecy but his true miracle were his people “أمة اقرأ “ Population of knowledge and hard work. The Muslim world has experienced his golden ages while under the teachings of Mohammed (PBUH). Back when Muslims were first at everything: Science, mechanics, engineering, architecture, medicine, war strategy …
However today, the Muslim world is the least productive. We rank last at education, health, science/Inventions, and politics. We are involved in all the conflicts around the globe; we are targeted by every little force. The chaos we live in today is only a direct consequence to our foolish actions, our social hypocrisy and our lack of common sense.
No Muslim will allow the image of Mohammed to be tarnished, hence what we should actually do is work. We should co-exist as he did with the Jews at the medina, or as Omar did with the Christians in Jerusalem. We must strife hard against ourselves and our numerous flaws before tackling our enemies. We need to be behaving as we were taught to behave, with honor, humility, honesty. We must prove to the world that this religion is indeed a religion of peace and harmony.
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