Islam Prohibits Collective Punishment
Access for a few moments to a computer, yeah! I came across this excellent article concerning the caricatures.
Islam Prohibits Collective Punishment
There is an ocean of difference, between seriously addressing the insulting caricatures slandering Muslims as terrorists and painting Islam with one hateful brush by associating this great religion with terrorism and the hysteria of extremists that seems to be portrayed in the media as if it were an accurate representation of mainstream Islam.
From almost one billion and half Muslims in the world, thousands protesting in Cairo, hundreds in Yemen, thousands in Gaza, hundreds in Iran, thousands in Indonesia, hundreds in London, thousands in Beirut, hundreds in Damascus, thousands in Pakistan, hundreds in Kuwait, hundreds in Iraq, none in Saudi Arabia, none in Libya, none in the Sudan, none in Jordan, none in Tunisia, none in Oman, none in Algeria, none in Malaysia, and none in Morocco, etc. etc. Almost all pictures of protesters are zoomed in on someone burning badly painted Danish flag, someone stepping on a flag, some screaming faces, or some angry few with guns or machetes running in some aimless direction, seemingly willing to kill anyone the may encounter. That is the picture through which Westerners were told, by the media, how Muslims react when their religion is insulted.
There is obviously a picture that the media is trying to paint of Muslims being masses of ignorant, emotional, irrational, unreasonable idiots who call for the punishment of an entire nation for the actions of a few. There will never be a shortage of such idiots in any nation, Denmark included, and the media will continue to exploit them due to its endless hunger for sensationalism. What adds fuel to the fire is the fact that Arab and Muslim dictatorial regimes are leading the hysteria against Denmark for obvious reason; it focuses attention away from their failures.
There can be no doubt that the caricatures were insulting, and those who made the decision to publish them should be dealt with in a rational, legal, and civilized manner. They can be taken to Court for inciting hate against an identifiable group (i.e. Muslims). They can be sued for damages of hundreds of millions of Euros by Muslim groups and associations in Denmark and elsewhere. They can be driven to isolation through a calculated approach of exposing them for who they are; ignorant individuals who are filled with hate. Their hate can be countered by a campaign of educating the public, in Denmark and elsewhere about Islam and Muslims. There are several ways of dealing with this situation in a calm, calculating, and effective manner that would have yielded positive results. To say that taking to the streets, burning flags, damaging buildings, destroying public and private property, causing the death of people in Afghanistan, inciting violence against Danes and other Europeans, and calling for a collective punishment against the entire nation of Denmark is an overreaction, would be the understatement of the century.
That overreaction, to put it extremely mildly, is far more damaging to Islam and Muslims than the caricatures that caused it ever were. Islam introduced to humanity the sophisticated concept of rejecting Collective punishment. Muslim scholars all throughout the history of this great religion argued against it. The Quran states in Ayah 18 Surat Fatter 35:
“Nor can a bearer of burdens bear another’s burden,”
thereby making it clear to all Muslims that collective punishment is absolutely prohibited. To each his/her burden, and no one carries the burden of others. Yet, in a clear defiance of God’s direct, explicit, and unambiguous command, some Muslims call for a collective punishment of an entire nation for the actions of a few of its citizens. That type of hysteria must be rejected outright by Muslims, and must never be allowed to stand as representing the manner in which Muslims react when insulted, no matter how big such insult might be.
Cooler heads must prevail, and Muslim intellectuals and sober thinkers must, with reason and calm arguments, seize the agenda back from the hands of the extremist few who appear to have convinced the media that they were successful in hijacking Islam. We can start by demanding from those dictatorial regimes in some Arab and Muslim countries that are leading this “Newly Found Jihad” against Denmark and its cheese producers to leave the Danes alone, concentrate on providing the badly needed health and social services for their own citizens, embrace democratic reforms in their own countries, and improve the lives of their own nationals.
Monzer Zimmo
Internet source unidentified
Islam Prohibits Collective Punishment
There is an ocean of difference, between seriously addressing the insulting caricatures slandering Muslims as terrorists and painting Islam with one hateful brush by associating this great religion with terrorism and the hysteria of extremists that seems to be portrayed in the media as if it were an accurate representation of mainstream Islam.
From almost one billion and half Muslims in the world, thousands protesting in Cairo, hundreds in Yemen, thousands in Gaza, hundreds in Iran, thousands in Indonesia, hundreds in London, thousands in Beirut, hundreds in Damascus, thousands in Pakistan, hundreds in Kuwait, hundreds in Iraq, none in Saudi Arabia, none in Libya, none in the Sudan, none in Jordan, none in Tunisia, none in Oman, none in Algeria, none in Malaysia, and none in Morocco, etc. etc. Almost all pictures of protesters are zoomed in on someone burning badly painted Danish flag, someone stepping on a flag, some screaming faces, or some angry few with guns or machetes running in some aimless direction, seemingly willing to kill anyone the may encounter. That is the picture through which Westerners were told, by the media, how Muslims react when their religion is insulted.
There is obviously a picture that the media is trying to paint of Muslims being masses of ignorant, emotional, irrational, unreasonable idiots who call for the punishment of an entire nation for the actions of a few. There will never be a shortage of such idiots in any nation, Denmark included, and the media will continue to exploit them due to its endless hunger for sensationalism. What adds fuel to the fire is the fact that Arab and Muslim dictatorial regimes are leading the hysteria against Denmark for obvious reason; it focuses attention away from their failures.
There can be no doubt that the caricatures were insulting, and those who made the decision to publish them should be dealt with in a rational, legal, and civilized manner. They can be taken to Court for inciting hate against an identifiable group (i.e. Muslims). They can be sued for damages of hundreds of millions of Euros by Muslim groups and associations in Denmark and elsewhere. They can be driven to isolation through a calculated approach of exposing them for who they are; ignorant individuals who are filled with hate. Their hate can be countered by a campaign of educating the public, in Denmark and elsewhere about Islam and Muslims. There are several ways of dealing with this situation in a calm, calculating, and effective manner that would have yielded positive results. To say that taking to the streets, burning flags, damaging buildings, destroying public and private property, causing the death of people in Afghanistan, inciting violence against Danes and other Europeans, and calling for a collective punishment against the entire nation of Denmark is an overreaction, would be the understatement of the century.
That overreaction, to put it extremely mildly, is far more damaging to Islam and Muslims than the caricatures that caused it ever were. Islam introduced to humanity the sophisticated concept of rejecting Collective punishment. Muslim scholars all throughout the history of this great religion argued against it. The Quran states in Ayah 18 Surat Fatter 35:
“Nor can a bearer of burdens bear another’s burden,”
thereby making it clear to all Muslims that collective punishment is absolutely prohibited. To each his/her burden, and no one carries the burden of others. Yet, in a clear defiance of God’s direct, explicit, and unambiguous command, some Muslims call for a collective punishment of an entire nation for the actions of a few of its citizens. That type of hysteria must be rejected outright by Muslims, and must never be allowed to stand as representing the manner in which Muslims react when insulted, no matter how big such insult might be.
Cooler heads must prevail, and Muslim intellectuals and sober thinkers must, with reason and calm arguments, seize the agenda back from the hands of the extremist few who appear to have convinced the media that they were successful in hijacking Islam. We can start by demanding from those dictatorial regimes in some Arab and Muslim countries that are leading this “Newly Found Jihad” against Denmark and its cheese producers to leave the Danes alone, concentrate on providing the badly needed health and social services for their own citizens, embrace democratic reforms in their own countries, and improve the lives of their own nationals.
Monzer Zimmo
Internet source unidentified
posted by Miriam | 12:50 PM
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