Islamophobia is nota new term anymore for now it has been used excessively over the years to show "growing concern" about Islam and the threat it makes to the Christian world for Islam has now become one of the fastest growing religion in the world. More and more non Muslims are embracing Islam for the ultimately come to the conclusion that word of Qur'an is more closer to the Divine Truth that what is being preached in the churches and synagogues.
Thus it makes Islam an easy target for the hard core follows of other faiths to target Islam on one pretext or the other to debase Islam and Muslims, specially those living in the non Muslim countries and make their living difficult under tougher anti Islam environment. They know that Muslims get intimidated and provoked easily when the very personality of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is targeted. And in this regard, France is in the forefronts which by taking its Freedom of Speech law more often than not debase Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, by using social and print media.
Years ago, the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly magazine, left a very bad taste of France about Muslims living in France. And obviously this hurts Muslims not only in France but the world over to see demeaning caricatures of their beloved Prophet and get provoked.
When this happened, at that time while much of the (Christian) world rallied in solidarity with the publication, its irreverent cartoonists and their right to free speech, there were some saner rejections too. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, a U.S. organization that "defends the rights of Catholics," issued a statement titled "Muslims are right to be angry." In it, Donohue criticized the publication's history of offending the world's religiously devout, including non-Muslims. In fact his statement ended with a quote from U.S. founding father James Madison: "Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty, as well as by the abuses of power." In other words, we may be free to speak, but we have to appreciate the value of that right.
And when they express their anger, the French government takes sides of its writers and cartoonists and support them for they cannot be prosecuted under the Freedom of Speech law. In fact they have never shown concerns of such publications which are in fact the main cause of Muslims' sharp reaction and protests.
The hate for Islam in France is not a new thing. Back in 1890, a play screened in Paris also targeted Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And as reported in the history, the then Sultan of Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire took a very serious note of the insults being hurled on to Prophet of Allah and summoned the French ambassador to his court and showed his discontent in very blunt tone:
The publication of caricatures, burning of copies of Qur'an and hates speeches are now gearing up in many countries across Europe, specially Fence, Norway and Denmark. The very recent issue of a French teacher showing the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has further added fuel to fire, which ended up in sad event of murdering of the teacher by an 18 years old Chechen, who was instantly killed by police. While the Muslims condemned the act of the teacher, they also condemned the act of the young Chechen, for Islam does not allow killing people for difference of opinion. But at the same time, the people of France would understand the sentiments of Muslims and should not support those hurting their religion by pen or by tongue.
This time the reaction of the Muslim world is much sharper and instant than before and many a Muslim countries have banned French imports and taken of French made commodities off the the shelves. Turkey's president and prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, have severely criticized the French president who vowed to continue allowing caricatures and drawings and supporting French journalists and writers to continue with their anti Islam drive for he doesn't want to challenge the freedom of speech law of his country. Even the French non Muslims have started to tell Muslims to leave their country if they cannot respect their laws. But the point is why cannot the French people respect the sentiments of Muslims, which the largest single minority in France? Does it mean France is at war with its Muslim citizens?
Where this terrible state of affairs of intimidating and provoking Muslims will lead to? Cannot the non Muslims learn to respect the religious sentiments of Muslims rather than defending their right to freedom of speech. Instead of moving to the path of tolerance and religious harmony, I think the world is drifting apart more rapidly than before and the present wave of resurgence of Islamophobia will really hurt both Muslims and Non Muslims alike.
Where this terrible state of affairs of intimidating and provoking Muslims will lead to? Cannot the non Muslims learn to respect the religious sentiments of Muslims rather than defending their right to freedom of speech. Instead of moving to the path of tolerance and religious harmony, I think the world is drifting apart more rapidly than before and the present wave of resurgence of Islamophobia will really hurt both Muslims and Non Muslims alike.
After the incident, the French president went public and severely attacked Islam over the death of a French teacher, for showing cartoons of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) during a class on free speech. Not only this, just last month, he had refused to denounce the infamous magazine Charlie Hebdo after it decided to republish Prophet (PBUH) sketches, provoking French Muslims to react. When asked about his opinion on the matter, the French President said that he was in no position to deny the magazine its right of ‘free speech.’
Responding to the French president response, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan lambasted French President Macron for attacking Islam.
Khan said that Macron deliberately hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims around the world. PM Khan said that a real leader unites human beings rather than dividing them. This is a time when President Macron could have put healing touch & denied space to extremists rather than creating further polarization & marginalization that inevitably leads to radicalization. Instead, he encouraged Islamophobia by attacking Islam ‘rather than the terrorists who carry out violence, be it Muslims, White Supremacists or Nazi ideologists.’
Imran Khan also wrote to Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook asking for Facebook to place a similar ban on Islamophobia and hate against Islam that has been put in place for the Holocaust.
Here I may again refer to a quote from U.S. founding father James Madison: "Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty, as well as by the abuses of power." So let not French people, or any other non Muslim people and governments around the world misuse the liberty and freedom of expression for it may be endangered by the abuse of liberty and freedom laws. Let sanity prevail and let us not hurt feelings and sentiments, specially the religious sentiments, of others.
Meantime, the Turkish president too has expressed his dismay over the French president's response to the incident and has asked for sweeping boycott of French goods:
To know more about life of Muslims in other non Muslim countries, please visit our page: Islam and Life of Muslims in Non Muslim Countries
You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
You may also read our earlier posts on Islamophobia:
- Islamophobia and how to counter it
- How should Muslims react to instigative emotional excesses?
- Muslims in Non Muslim Countries - France
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