The status of our prophet (peace be upon him) is higher than any other human’s status. No human being deserves the honor, love and respect that our prophet (p) deserves. Allah says: "The prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves"
Loving the prophet (p) is a necessary part of eman. Beliving, in him, following and defending him is a part and parcel of being a Muslim.
Allah tells the prophet to say in the Quran: “If you say you love Allah, then follow me only then Allah will love you”
The only way to attain Allah's love is to love the prophet and follow him. Lives of Sahaba demonstrated this as well. Even at cost of their own lives, they defended the prophet:
We love our prophet for many reasons, for what he came with, for Allah choosing him, Quran coming to him, and because he embodied the perfection of humanity, the noble characteristics, the best embodiment of being a good human being.
But people mocked him throughout time and opposed him.
In his lifetime he showed how to deal with his opponents.
Quran and Seerah are filled with verses and incidents.
Allah says: "Turn away from the ignorant who make fun of you"
Regarding those who mock him, “Go ahead and overlook a beautiful overlooking” Ie, don't stoop to their level.
Allah also says: return harshness with good, and you will find the one who hates you will in fact end up loving you.
It is true, there were a few (maybe a handful) of incidents where some people combined their rejection of Islam with also being a political threat. Doing things which are harmful to the state, so not just personal ridicule but also a strategic threat. For them, no denying, the law was handed to them and they were punished. However, the general rule the prophet demonstrated was the rule of mercy and forgiveness
Knowing this reality of the prophet and his mercy, and the laws of religion/sharia, these people, who also have criminal backgrounds, became angry and killed these cartoonists and their staff. Had they known the reality of Islam, this should not have happened.
Killing such people and murdering them goes against the religion of Islam and the Sunnah (lifestyle/teachings) of our Prophet (p). Those that thought they ere defending the prophet ended up harming his image and the prestige of Islam and ended up causing much more damage than any potential good they think they would have done.
There is not a single scholar in the whole world of any Islamic methodology who says a single lone Muslim can become the Judge, Jury and Executioner and go around killing people. Especially, in a land that never claims to be ruled by Islam. Even in an ideal Islamic state, one would go to the courts and Judge, not take it upon themselves. So in a state that is not Islamic, you cannot take a book of Islam and cut and paste to try and apply it there. This is ignorance and cowardice. The people who have done this harmed Islam much more and there is zero benefit in such acts! Such actions have no place in Islam.
As we condemn this violence, and dissociate ourselves from their actions and proclaim that we have nothing to do with their fanaticism, we also have to point out that this violence is not occurring in a vacuum.
Also, simply by pointing out some of the reasons that lead to this attack, we are not justifying or sympathizing, but just like in America when a mass shooter goes on a shooting rampage in a school or a theatre, the media begins to talk about his childhood, what happened, why did he flip, etc, similarly, we also want to talk about these people overall, their personalities, what are the social, economic and political circumstances? Not to justify, because, these people have damaged our religion more than anything the cartoonists could have done, but simply to explain and clarify that it is indeed a two way street.
They say this is about the freedom of speech, but we ask is it really about the freedom of speech? Can we ignore the power dynamics, the socio-political circumstances? This cartoon was a catalyst, and underneath there was a lot of fuel ready to be sparked up. What happened wasn't just because of the cartoons. If there were no other circumstances and the cartoons appeared, nobody would have been killed. Even though, yes, we have the right to be angry and offended, we do not have the right to get physical or harm! We have every right to be angry and offended, just like if you think it is your right to offend, then it is our right to be offended and express offense. But not harm.
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