Time to understand Muslims

The recent statement of the mufti of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims to Pope Benedict XVI that he would consider "any attack on a Christian as an attack on all Muslims”, needs to be highlighted. This is not a bold statement but a true view of Islam.  Muslims are guided by Quran, which is the holy book of Islam and it is the most read book in the World today.  I have not come across similar statements from any other religious leaders of the world.  

The production of the film titled “Innocence of Muslims” by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula under the alias name Sam Bacile with the sole intention of provoking and inciting Muslims is highly condemnable.  Muslims love their Prophet (PBUH) more than their own selves.  Hence anything against prophet (PBUH) is bound to inflame the passions of Muslims.  Nakoula, being an Arab knew very well the reaction of Muslims to his film.  Since he made the film with bad motive, he should be convicted for premeditated Murder of innocent victims and destruction of properties throughout the world.   Along with him all the people who are associated with the film like by funding, acting and promoting should also be prosecuted. On this controversial issue the Islamic view in nutshell is very clear and the Quran clearly guides all the Muslims by its verses.  The Holy Qur’an says: “Revile not ye Those whom they call upon Besides Allah, lest They out of spite Revile Allah In their ignorance.” [Holy Qur’an 6:108].  Hence Muslims do not indulge in such acts as has been committed by this man and his friends. There may be guidance in almost all the religions of the world about not ridiculing other religions and communities, which should be highlighted and propagated to avoid such incidents in future. There is a greater responsibility of the religious leaders and community leaders in educating their flocks about the mischief mongers on the fringes, out to cause trouble in the society.

On the violence post movie, again there is a clear-cut guidance from Quran. No amount of unjust policies of America, no amount of discrimination and no amount of hate mongering will ever allow the Killing of any innocent human being as it is against the teachings of Islam.  According to the Qur’an, killing any person without a just cause is as big a sin as killing the whole humanity and saving the life of one person is as good deed as saving the whole humanity. This beautiful guidance is the best guidance anyone can produce on protecting the lives of human beings.   If all the humanity follows this beautiful guidance then the whole World will become a better place to live in. 

No doubt there has been demonization of Islam and Muslims, even-though the Muslims are the worst victims of terrorism and discrimination throughout the World.  Even the common Islamic words like Jihad and Kafir has been misused to create hatred and resentment among non-Muslims.   The root cause of all the major problems is moral corruption and not due to any religion. The energy spent on hating a particular religion or community should be spend on understanding that religion in right perspective or at-least in understanding own religion or ideology. One of the good features of human beings is that more than ninety nine percent of the human beings behave humanely irrespective of their religious or ideological affiliations, unless provoked and manipulated. Understanding the true Islamic view will dispel many myths surrounding the Islamic terminology, Islam and Muslims. It is the duty of religious heads, preachers, community leaders, different governmental and non-governmental organizations and media to understand the problem and address the issues causing provocation, manipulation, friction and declining moral values in the world. 

By Mohammed Sadullah Khan, based in Riyadh is a Faculty Member and Freelance Writer and can be reached  at mosakhan40@gmail.com