You’ve all heard the news by now. A Somali Muslim has tried to kill a Danish cartoonist who drew a cartoon of prophet Mohammad.
Muslims must condemn acts of violence in their name in the strongest possible terms in order to send a clear message to fellow followers, and the rest of the world, that even the most offensive speech (writing, cartoon, film…) does not justify killing or physically harming anyone.
The Mohammad cartoon, Salamn Rushdie’s Satanic Verses and the like are offensive to Muslims. But violence, especially murder, is the HIGHEST offense.
Demonstrate, write, blog, draw your own cartoon in response to whatever that has offended you. But when you lift a finger against this cartoonist or that writer and try to go as far as ending his or her life, you no longer have a moral or legal leg to stand on. You become a criminal/murderer.
Islam is widely perceived by the rest of the world as a religion that condones or even incites violence whenever one of its “sacred” tenants or icons is ridiculed, or even questioned. If this attitude does not change, if Muslims themselves do not condemn violent retaliation, they will continue to be looked upon with fear and suspicion.
In the Islamic Republic today, there are many examples where the law of the land calls for capital punishment for those who say the “wrong” thing. Currently there’s a growing chorus calling for the execution of protesters and opposition leaders whose “crime” has been to question the results of a fraudulent election or to challenge the authority and legitimacy of the supreme leader. Judiciary officials have threatened to put a number of people to death to deter others who dare to speak out and protest. In other words the continuation of violence and murder in the name of Islam.
