By Houda Al Mouatassim Bilah
Morocco World News
Marrakesh, September 13, 2012
Numerous attempts have been made over the last decade by “ignorant” non-Muslims to mutilate the image if Islam, Muslims and Prophet Mohamed peace be upon him, varying from fake rumors and stereotypes to disgracing caricatures to even movies as the one that was recently aired on American soil and broadcasted on YouTube.
The movie in question - “Muslims’ Innocence”- is produced and directed by an American Israeli named Sam Bassil and aims at offending Islam and Muslims. And as a response to this kind of provocative act, hundreds of Muslims around the Middle East decided to demonstrate in front of American Embassies to deplore such offensive act.
Unfortunately, peaceful demonstrations soon turned to barbarian protestations in several countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya where some protestors over stepped their boundaries by hurting US Embassy employees either verbally or physically, to the extent of using lethal weapons which led to the death of a US Ambassador and three other Americans in the Libyan city of Benghazi last Tuesday.
Attacking US embassies and asking for their emblem to be put down as took place in Casablanca shows how impulsive yet shallow the demonstrators’ response was. Did they not consider the serious consequences that their barbarian conduct will bring about to Muslims around the world? Did they not know that their hostility will give Muslim haters a good reason to start a more serious war against Islam and Muslims? Did they stop for just a second to predict Obama’s counteract after plainly mistreating American employees and America in general, especially at such a critical time where the elections in America are so close?
Questions should be asked and reflected upon before deciding to follow our impulses in such delicate matters, since we will find ourselves trapped in a vicious circle where Muslims are the “terrorists” and everyone else is the “victim”
As Muslims, we all condemn portraying Islam and our Prophet as immoral. But what such aggressive protestors apparently fail to grasp is that we must never respond to violence with violence, since the latter will never come to an end and casualties and hatred will only escalate.
Peaceful yet effective ways of answering to such offences do exist and will help raise people’s awareness and admiration of Islam, not the other way around. One of the many ways to make that happen is to produce more and more movies, TV series, and documentaries about the greatness of Islam and prophet Mohamed peace be upon him, as an Egyptian actor suggested wisely recently. Another easy yet valuable way can be to follow the Teaching of Islam that urge us to answer hatred with love, violence with peace, and evil with good, as Allah Said in the Holy Quran: “And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel (evil) by that (deed) which is better; and the thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity (will become) as though he was a devoted friend”, “Repel evil with that which is best”, and “They who restrain anger and who pardon the people- and Allah loves the doers of good.” This is one of the many verses that guide us through the violent events that Islam has been witnessing in recent years.
I would like to conclude by pleading all Muslims, whose boiling blood prevents them from reacting rationally, to take a few moments to consider the most sensible way to react to those mocking Islam along with the outcome that your actions will result in. Only then can radical change be made and can voices of truth be heard.
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