| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"Janithor" |
| Date: |
20 Feb 2006 03:47:42 AM |
| Object: |
Irshad Manji rulz |
x-no-archive: yes
http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/
I'm voting for her for President in '08.
----
At the World Economic Forum in January, I observed something revealing.=20
In a session about the U.S. religious right, a cartoonist satirized one=20
of America=92s most influential Christian ministers, Pat Robertson. In th=
e=20
audience, chuckling with the rest of us, was a prominent British Muslim. =
But his smile disappeared the moment we were shown a cartoon that=20
ridiculed Muslim clerics.
Since then, a fierce fight has erupted between the European Union and=20
the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Months ago,=20
the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published cartoons that showed=20
Islam=92s messenger wearing, among other things, a turban-turned-time=20
bomb. Although the paper has apologized, the controversy has=20
metastasized: A Norwegian magazine and French paper recently re-printed=20
the drawings, as have other broadcasters and publications while covering =
this story.
In response, Muslim rioters torched Scandinavian missions in Syria,=20
Lebanon and Iran. Bomb threats have hit the offices of more than one=20
European newspaper. Various Arab countries have recalled their=20
ambassadors from Copenhagen. Chechnya has banned Danish humanitarian=20
workers from its borders. Boycotts of Danish products have swept across=20
supermarkets in the Arab world, and Muslims as far away as India and=20
Indonesia are pouring into the streets to burn Danish flags =96 which=20
feature the cross, among the holiest of Christian symbols. Early in the=20
furor, thousands of Palestinians shouted =93Death to Denmark!=94 Copenhag=
en=20
evacuated Danish citizens from the Gaza Strip and sternly warned=20
nationals in the West Bank to get out as well. Muslims themselves are=20
getting pummeled in the riots: four died in Afghanistan alone on=20
February 7. More will perish now that some Scandinavian NGOs are=20
suspending tsunami relief efforts thanks to security problems.
To judge the root problem here, let us first determine how the cartoons=20
became an international incident. Last September, these comics ran=20
beside a story about the hurdles encountered by a Danish author in=20
finding someone =96 anyone =96 to illustrate his children=92s book about =
the=20
Prophet. Every artist he approached declined the job out of fear of=20
having to contend with Islamist extremists.
As if on cue, two of the people who produced these drawings received=20
death threats in October 2005. We Muslims love to lecture about the need =
to assess touchy matters -- such as offensive Koranic verses -- =93in=20
context.=94 The context in which the Muhammad cartoons first appeared=20
suggests that frustration, not malice, was the motive
Regardless, the cartoons met with howls of protest from Danish Muslims.=20
Ten ambassadors of Muslim countries issued a letter demanding that=20
Denmark=92s prime minister punish Jyllands-Posten. Apparently, it didn=92=
t=20
occur to them that in a free society, media are generally independent of =
government. The paper continued to operate. Thus, the controversy=20
continued to simmer.
Then a group of Danish imams took the cartoons to the Middle East.=20
Complaining of press bias, they distributed the drawings =96 and=20
fabricated a few of their own to ensure that unrest would be sown. One=20
of the extra sketches, for example, portrays the Prophet with a pig=92s s=
nout.
All hell soon broke loose. From missionary manipulation, the imams=20
achieved in the Arab world what they couldn=92t accomplish from exercisin=
g=20
their democratic freedoms in Denmark.
But it=92s not just the Danish imams who choreographed this passion play.=
=20
Arab elites also got in on the game. Why wouldn=92t they? Such=20
controversies provide convenient opportunities to channel anger away=20
from daily crimes. No wonder President Lahoud of Lebanon insisted that=20
his country =93cannot accept any insult to any religion.=94 That=92s rich=
=2E=20
Since the late 1970s, the Lebanese government has licensed Hezbollah-run =
satellite television station al-Manar, among the most viciously=20
anti-Semitic broadcasters on earth.
Similarly, the Justice Minister of the United Arab Emirates has said=20
that the Danish cartoons represent =93cultural terrorism, not freedom of =
expression.=94 This from a country that promotes its capital as the =93La=
s=20
Vegas of the Gulf,=94 yet blocks my website =96 muslim-refusenik.com -- f=
or=20
being =93inconsistent with the moral values=94 of the UAE. Presumably, my=
=20
site should be an online casino.
Muslims have little integrity demanding respect for our faith if don=92t =
show it for others. When have we demonstrated against Saudi Arabia=92s=20
policy to prevent Christians and Jews from stepping on the soil of=20
Mecca? They may come for rare business trips, but nothing more. As long=20
as Rome welcomes non-Christians and Jerusalem embraces non-Jews, we=20
Muslims have more to protest than these cartoons.
None of this is to dismiss the need to take my religion seriously. Hell, =
Muslims even take seriously the need to be serious: Islam has a teaching =
against =93excessive laughter.=94 I=92m not joking. But does this mean th=
at we=20
should cry =93blasphemy=94 over less-than-flattering depictions of the=20
Prophet Muhammad? God, no.
For one thing, the Koran itself points out that there will always be=20
non-believers, and that it's for Allah, not Muslims, to deal with them.=20
More than that, the Koran says there is "no compulsion in religion."=20
Which suggests that nobody should be forced to treat Islamic norms as=20
sacred.
Fine, many Muslims will retort, but we=92re talking about the Prophet=20
Muhammad =96 Allah=92s final and therefore perfect messenger. However,=20
Islamic tradition holds that the Prophet was a human being who made=20
mistakes. It=92s precisely because he wasn=92t perfect that we know about=
=20
the so-called Satanic Verses; a collection of passages that the Prophet=20
reportedly included in the Koran. Only later did he realize that those=20
verses glorified heathen idols rather than God. According to Islamic=20
legend, he retracted the idolatrous passages, blaming them on a trick=20
played by Satan.
When Muslims put the Prophet on a pedestal, we=92re engaging in idolatry =
of our own. The point of monotheism is to worship one God, not one of=20
God's emissaries. Which is why humility requires people of faith to mock =
themselves -- and each other -- every once in a while.
Here=92s my attempt: A priest, a rabbi, and a mullah meet at a conference=
=20
about religion, and afterwards are sitting around discussing their=20
different faiths. The conversation turns to the topic of taboos.
The priest says to the rabbi and the mullah, "You guys can't tell me=20
that you've never eaten pork."
"Never!" intones the rabbi.
"Absolutely not!" insists the mullah.
But the priest is skeptical. "Come on, not even once? Maybe in a fit of=20
rebellion when you were younger?"
"Okay," confesses the rabbi. "When I was young, I once nibbled on bacon."=
"I admit it," the mullah laughs (not excessively). "In a fit of youthful =
arrogance, I sampled a pork chop."
Then the conversation turns to the priest's religious observances. "You=20
can't tell me you've never had sex," says the mullah.
"Of course not!" the priest protests. "I took a vow of chastity."
The mullah and the rabbi roll their eyes. "Maybe after a few drinks?"=20
the rabbi teases.
"Perhaps, in a moment of temptation, your faith waned?" the mullah wonder=
s.
"Okay," the priest confesses. "Once, when I was drunk in seminary=20
school, I had sexual relations with a woman."
"Beats pork, huh?" say the rabbi and the mullah.
Clearly, I=92m as impure a feminist as I am a Muslim. The difference is, =
offended feminists won=92t threaten to kill me. The same can=92t be said =
for=20
many of my fellow Muslims.
What part of "no compulsion" don't they understand?
.
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
