Violent Newspaper Protest 'Unjustified'
By: Umair Ahmed

The news of firebombing of a satirical French newspaper's office flies in the face of tolerance and forbearance Prophet Muhammad taught and practiced. The satire was offensive and injurious to Muslims and even freedom of speech cannot mask the prejudice behind it. Violence, however, is absolutely unjustified. Muhammad's life is replete with examples of tolerance in the face of worse incidents. For example, Habbar bin Al-Aswad attempted to murder Muhammad's daughter in a vicious attack. Pregnant at the time, she miscarried and later passed away due to those very injuries. In response, Muhammad forgave Habbar and even offered to allow him into the fold of Islam. Instead of responding with force it would do well for the perpetrators of these attacks to take a page out of Muhammad's life.