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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
2/20/06, Opinion-Editorial, printed in The Broadside Online (George Mason University)
“Why Depictions of the Holy Prophet Offend Muslims Around the World ”
By Luqman Tahir Mahmood
As far as depictions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, go, the reason that they are strictly forbidden in Islam is because Muhammad came to rid the world of idol worship and associating partners with God. We see nowadays that there are images and idols that are worshipped, where people limit God to some sort of physical sphere.
This troubled Muhammad that people should start worshipping him or his image so much that he never let anyone draw a picture of him. One has to also take into account the time period, for at that time, portraits and images were created to be worshipped.
Of course, this does not mean that people cannot imagine what Muhammad looked like, because there are vivid verbal descriptions of Muhammad written in books which contain the sayings of his companions.
How can anyone call the controversial cartoons examples of journalistic integrity when they are so far away from the truth?
Muhammad is loved due to his love and sympathy for humanity, and this was the love and sympathy that turns the worst of enemies into friends. It was this love that conquered the hearts of the Quraysh of Mecca that he forgave them all despite their utter cruelty to him and their opposition to the religion that God revealed through him.
In my life, I have never heard of anyone loving a despot. There are universal values which engender love in one’s heart, and these values are found in the God that all religions describe.
When a person adopts qualities such as compassion, mercy and grace, these qualities then draw others nearer to that person. Muslims believe that Muhammad reached the limit of every good quality and that is why Muslims love and revere Muhammad so much.
When people flout free speech, they should first take into mind the sensitivities of people. Muslims are not supposed to disrespect Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Krishna or the founder of any religion, because according to the holiest book of Islam, the Holy Qur'an, we are taught there has not been a place on Earth for which a messenger has not been sent. Due to this teaching, we believe that most religions’ founders were true in their claims and that Islam holds the verities of every revealed religion into one. So not only do we respect the founders of each of these faiths, but we love them and accept them as well.
How, then, can anyone say that these cartoons constitute free speech when the freedom is only on one side? We are bound to respect all other faiths and dare not utter a word against their religious founders while it is allowed for others to attack us as they please?
Muslims can tolerate any kind of abuse against our own selves, but to utter a word against the person whom we believe to be the best of creation shatters us. Why is this?
It is because we Muslims believe that Muhammad is the link to the One God and that without the intercession of Muhammad, we cannot reach the reality of God.
What hurts me more than these cartoons is the actions of Muslims in the world as well. If they had real love of Muhammad, they would follow in his footsteps and do what he did. There were many who ridiculed our beloved Prophet, but he never responded to them. Instead he showed true morals such as love and compassion.
At that time, the ridicule heaped upon Muhammad was forbearance and patience because those who mocked Muhammad one day could turn out to be his greatest lovers the next. Therefore, the stand of every Muslim in the world should be to show the true colors of Islam by good character and morals; then no artist or author would ever raise one’s pen to insult the Founder of Islam, peace and blessing be upon him.
Understanding and tolerance between people of all religions can only come about through dialogue, so I call upon all my fellow co-religionists to form together and share their beliefs with one another so that the culture at George Mason University will forever remain free of every kind of intolerance and ignorance.
Copyright 2011 Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya USA. All Rights Reserved.
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