Monday, February 20, 2006

Close up on gutter view!

So, as it happened, a few hours before his trial, renowned British historian David Irving retracted today, his denial of the Holocaust.

For those who don't know him, Irving was arrested in Australia under a warrant issued in 1989 for denying the Holocaust in remarks 17 years ago. Some people say tha he risks a 1-10 year prison sentence for denying the Holocaust under Austrian law. Yes!! This was his sole crime..believe me!!

Just to recap a bit, the commonly used figure for the number of Jewish victims is six million. However, this figure is questioned by some historians and intellectuals, chiefly French author Roger Garaudy.

Irving's book, Hitler's War, sparked widespread world controversy when published in 1977 for saying that the Nazi German ruler did not know about the mass killings of Jews until 1943 and that he never ordered the Holocaust. In 2000, the British historian lost a high-profile libel case in London against US historian Deborah Lipstadt, who had called him a "Holocaust denier, anti-Semitic and racist."

Irving's retraction, is however seen as a desperate attempt to avoid a jail sentence.

In another case of 2003, a French court jailed Jean Plantin, editor of a magazine called Akribeia, for publishing works that called into question the scope of the Holocaust. Flemming Rose, the culture editor of Danish mass-circulation Jyllands Posten, which published cartoons mocking Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), was sent on an indefinite leave one day after he told CNN he would consider publishing Holocaust cartoons.

So what does this all mean? Where is the much talked about freedom of speech.

The world has come be "stinking in gutters of hypocrisy" in the last decade.

Or maybe, we now have a quite "close up" view of it.

Monday, February 13, 2006

1400 year old's relevance...

"(O Muslims!) You shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and
you shall certainly Hear much that will grieve you, from those who received the Book before you and from those who worship many gods. But if you persevere patiently, and guard against evil,-then that will be a determining factor in all affairs."
Quran 3:186

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Comments on the danish caricatures controversy

We may all find ourselves in situations that require a very quick response, particularly when something that we value or cherish is violated. This could cause anger or a flight of temper. But the Prophet always handled such situations with exemplary ease, ensuring that his approach benefited all people present, and all Muslims. He did not abandon his gentle approach, even in the most infuriating of situations. Today, we cannot imagine that anyone would deliberately urinate inside a mosque. If we were to face such a situation, what would our immediate reaction be? Perhaps we will be more angry than the Prophet’s companions were when a Bedouin did that in front of them. But what was the Prophet’s reaction?

Anas ibn Malik reports: “God’s messenger was sitting in the mosque with some of his companions when a Bedouin urinated inside the mosque. The Prophet’s companions said: ‘What is going on?’ ‘What are you doing?’ The Prophet said to them: ‘Do not interrupt him.’ He subsequently called the man and said to him: ‘These mosques are not the place where one can throw any dirt, urine or stools. They are meant for reciting the Qur’an, glorifying God and prayer.’ He then called for a bucket of water and he poured it over the urine.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Nassaie, Malik and Ahmad).


This is a situation which is certain to infuriate any onlooker. It certainly made the Prophet’s companions angry and we can imagine that some of them were about to rush to the man to stop him or confront him. It's not specifically mentioned that the man did it unknowingly or on purpose.

Same cases confront Muslims year after year. Have we learnt any lessons? Publication of Satanic Verses in UK, News of desecration of Quran at Gitmo, A Hindu religious procession passing right under the mosque on or during Friday prayers in India and the recent danish caricature of Prophet, are just a few of such provocations.
So, how should we respond.

Here a a few of the chosen comments from across the news sites that I gathered and liked...Read on, especially the link to the 'Article' at the end.

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* Freedom of speech is everybody's right, But there should be limits.
Everyone has their own intensity about their own faith and it should be respected. You cannot make a fun about any religion.We should respect each other.[Mr Muralee.N.V]
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* We are big time hypocrities. I am wondering what this says about us Muslims globally. We are willing to stand up to small Denmark, but think nothing of throwing our money at nations who have not just published some stupid cartoons, but are actually occupying, bombing and destroying Muslim lands? Does anyone see the hypocrisy here? [Anonymous]
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* Regarding the rucus made about a cartoon issue in Denmark, at the risk of being misunderstood, I think it is ‘much ado about nothing’. Why?
Well, great men and prophets cannot be belittled by puny men. In fact, most prophets in history have been vilified but their stature remains intact because of their actions and their wisdom.
Next do we really want to make celebrities out of these insensitive people? But that is exactly what we do. Who had heard of this cartoonist outside Denmark before the protests? In a well organised society there is always a legal mechanism to fall back on. The aggrieved party can do that and fight a battle in court against the cartoonist. I am sure there must be laws against insulting people’s religion in Denmark, and it is this path that is the most effective. [From Gabrielle Dube]
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* The protests in the Middle East have proven that the cartoonist was right. It's falling straight into that trap of being depicted as a violent people and proving the point that, yes, we are. [Tarek Fatah]
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* If we want to ban Danish products because of some cartoons in a Danish newspaper isn't that the same as saying all Arabs had a part in 9/11? [Thomas Maarup]
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* But before blaming others on insulting the Holy Prophet (PBUH), I would like to call upon the whole Muslim population of the world. I would like to ask them, what have we reflected out of the teachings of the Holy Prophet. A true Muslim is said to be the reflection of the character of the Holy Prophet. Are we not lacking that character which can show the world the true picture of the teachings of Islam.
The time has come for all the Muslims of the world to gather their heads and find out the root of the problem which is giving our enemies a chance, to speak against Islam and the Prophet of Islam. Let us show the world that we are the followers of the best religion ever preached. [From Mr Syed Abu Turab]

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I WAS pleasantly surprised to learn about the mass boycott measures taken against Danish products by the public in the Middle East. The Muslim community is finally learning to leverage its market potential to influence outcomes rather than resorting to violence and death threats. However, we need to fine-tune our reaction a tad bit more to affect the guilty party. Boycotting Danish dairy products to punish a Danish newspaper is like boycotting the use of Microsoft Windows to punish Coca Cola. Secondly, as a staunch believer in free speech, I believe that using our economic and social clout is the way to hinder future attacks against our beliefs as opposed to creating laws barring hate speech or resorting to violence and death threats. I do not question the right of the particular newspaper to print any material, however offensive it may be to me, and on the same token, I reserve the right to campaign against the newspaper and punish it by hitting where it hurts most - in the pocketbook. No amount of insult and mockery of Islam would lower its status one iota. So the reaction should be based not on anger and emotion but on calculated strategy and farsightedness. [— Raza Rizvi, Houston]
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WITH great disappointment and sorrow do I, as a Danish citizen, read the comments from Arab people in the newspapers. There is a huge degree of naive misunderstanding here — I have often travelled to Arab countries and respect the Arab people and Islam. However, I have to react when people claim the drawings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be a Danish thing. It is one stupid editor and one draftsman, and not the 5 million other Danes living in Denmark. We do not judge all Muslims in the world by the doings of Osama Bin Laden. In Denmark, we do not burn the Quran and break down holy Islamic buildings. We know that these fundamentalists are a minority and therefore we do not judge the caring and loving Muslims living in accordance with Islam. So please do not judge the five million Danish people based on the actions of just two people. [— Martin Merstrand]
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I AM a Danish Muslim woman who reverted to Islam in 1990. You all speak about the Danish as one people. We have more than 5000 Muslims of Danish birth who did revert to Islam. We all hate what has been done to our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). But to say all Danes are the same or ignorant, is a big mistake.
Allah didn't make Islam, Arabic or African or Asian. Islam is for all nationalities. There are Muslims in all countries. Everybody in the world should respect all other religions. [— Aisha, Odense, Denmark]

And Finally....THE Best of all...

Intellectual Terrorism