[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Clash of the Uncivilized: Insights on the Cartoon Controversy
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Clash of the Uncivilized: Insights on the Cartoon Controversy
By Imam Zaid Shakir
As the crisis that has emerged in the aftermath of the publication
of the infamous cartoons that claim to depict the Prophet Muhammad, peace and
blessings of God upon him, escalates, we would do well by stepping back and
attempting to analyze the situation as dispassionately as possible. By doing
so, as Muslims, we can hopefully formulate a more productive and meaningful
response, and avoid being exploited by either side in the ongoing conflict.
Saying this, I do not mean to imply that Muslims are not justifiably angry over
the caricatures. However, I would agree with those who argue that responses
that involve wild outbreaks of frenzied violence are inappropriate, and they
only affirm what the cartoonist is trying to imply. Namely, that Islam is a
religion that encourages obscurantist violence and terrorism.
The current crisis shows the extent we Muslims are vulnerable to
media manipulation, superficial shows of piety, and counterproductive
one-upmanship militancy. If we start with the issue of media manipulation, it
is clear that Western and Eastern media outlets played a large role in stirring
up Muslim, and now Western sentiments. When the crisis initially broke in
September, it was barely a blip on the media radar. Few outside of Denmark even
knew of the cartoons. The Danish Muslim community, appropriately, by and large
ignored the story. [1] It was only after a campaign undertaken by a delegation
of Danish Muslim community activists to stimulate greater interest in the issue
that the crisis reached the proportions we are currently witnessing. These
activists traveled throughout the Muslim East trying to draw attention to the
issue. When the issue was popularized by Iqra and other Arab satellite
channels, and the cartoons were reprinted by several European papers,
the crisis deepened. In light of that reality, it would be hard to deny the
role the media has played in sparking and now perpetuating the crisis.
A question we must ask is if these cartoons, which are an example
of hundreds of other anti-Islamic slights occurring daily in Europe and
America, were not brought to the attention of Muslims by the media, would we be
undergoing the current brouhaha? - Clearly not. That being the case, what does
this say about our strategic vision? What does this say about our level of
political maturity? And what does it say about our ability to engage in
meaningful proactive work? The answers to these questions are obvious. We get
angry about Israeli troops breaking the bones of Palestinian children, as long
as it is in the media. When it disappears from our television screens, our
interest vanishes with it. We raise millions of dollars for those affected by
the Tsunami, as long as the images of death and destruction are beamed into our
homes by the media. However, when the coverage shifts to other issues, the
donations dry up. As for those crises that do not make the news in a
big way, such as the ongoing famines in Mali, Niger, and the Horn of Africa,
we are hardly stirred to action.
Furthermore, we go on living our lives oblivious to the ongoing
abuse of Islam and our Prophet, peace and blessing of God upon him, until it
becomes a major media event. At that point based on urgings issued by parties,
the origins of their dubious agendas unknown to us, we are expected to drop
everything and hastily rush into the fray. In many instances, our ill-conceived
actions only make the situation worse.
Sometimes, those actions may constitute superficial shows of piety
emanating from the mob hysteria underlying them. In the mob we are empowered,
and find it easy to confront our opponents, defy the rule of law, behave with
wanton abandon, or engage in other acts which under the proper circumstances we
may view as supporting Islam. In terms of more constructive mass actions, such
as emerging into the streets by the tens of thousands to protest the brutal,
authoritarian regimes that make a mockery of the prophetic ideals of justice,
mutual consultation, and service to the oppressed and downtrodden of society,
we come up terribly short. Similarly, there are no credible grassroots efforts
towards forming effective anti-defamation organizations to bring constructive
legal action against transgressing organizations and individuals, on a
fulltime, proactive basis. As individuals, we find it difficult to support the
Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, by adornin
g ourselves with his lofty character traits, or reviving His Sunnah in our
daily lives.
On the other hand, as mentioned above, it is all too easy to get
swept up into the mob hysteria generated by the crowd, and then engage in
outrageous actions that only affirm the offensive claims of the transgressing
cartoonist. It is as if we are saying, "We'll show the Kafirs our Prophet,
peace upon him was no terrorist! We'll defame the symbols of their religion [2]
burn their embassies, murder their unsuspecting innocents, and behead the
bloody cartoonist if we get our hands on him." [3]
This brings us to my third point, that of counterproductive,
one-upmanship militancy. It is during these crises that all Muslims are
supposed to drop everything and join the latest "Jihad" fad. Those of us who
urge restraint are mocked as not being militant enough, or ridiculed as cowards
who are afraid to "stand up to the real enemies of Islam." No differences in
understanding, interpretation, or strategy are allowed, because there is only
one correct approach, the one stumbled upon with the aid of modern,
sensationalizing media.
Such a reactive, haphazard approach is counterproductive for a
number of reasons. First of all, it destroys the basis for proactive work based
on the existence of a strategic vision. As long as the enemies of Islam know
that they can mobilize the Muslims to chase after an unimaginable number of
distracting issues, divide our ranks by those issues, and diffuse our energies
through their debate and the pursuit of their resolution, they will possess a
trump card that will affect our ability to unite and work more effectively
towards creating and implementing an agenda capable of effecting meaningful
change in our circumstance. It also blinds us to the underlying agenda that
reckless spontaneous action might be unwittingly serving.
For example, it is interesting that these events have come to a
head in the immediate aftermath of the stunning landslide victory of Hamas in
the Palestinian elections. That victory has rekindled, both in the East and the
West, the debate around the implications of supporting democratization in the
Muslim world when the biggest winners will be Islamic parties and movements.
There are secularists in both the West and the Muslim world who advocate ending
the democratizing experiment on that basis. However, they know that denying the
democratic will of the Muslim peoples cannot be done without the support of the
masses of people in Europe and America. These masses, especially in Britain and
America, are increasingly wary of their governments' nefarious agenda for the
Middle East. However, the frightening images of crazed crowds rampaging,
looting, and burning provides a powerful justification for the extreme,
repressive policies being advocated by the far right for d
ealing with Islam and Muslims, both domestically, and internationally.
Democracy in the Muslim world, they argue, will bring the advocates of mob rule
to power.
If brutal draconian measures, such as those employed to end the
democratization process in Algeria in the early 1990s, are employed elsewhere,
the Western public will be psychologically prepared to accept those measures,
because of the fear that has been created around the "Islamic" alternative.
That fear can not only be used to justify denying the democratic will of the
Muslim peoples, it can also be used to justify denying their legitimate
strategic ambitions. A recent editorial in the Jerusalem Post links the
fanaticism of the cartoon protests to the lawful nuclear ambitions of Iran. It
states, "If anyone wants to appreciate why the West views with such suspicion
the weapons programs of Muslim states such as Iran, they need look no further
than the intolerance Muslim regimes exhibit to these cartoons, and what this
portends."
This crisis has also occurred in the immediate aftermath of the
appearance of the latest "Bin Laden" tape, intensified warnings of an imminent
major terrorist attack in the West, something "on the scale of 9/11," and it
coincides with the escape of the alleged mastermind of the attack on the USS
Cole from a Yemeni jail. The fear associated with the latter two events,
combined with the images of hysterical protesters, work to create a climate
that can support unprecedented measures if another major terrorist attack were
to occur in the near future -whoever the perpetrators may be.
In addition to the setbacks on the psychological front, the current
crisis indicates just how bad we are losing in the Jihad of ideas. It is not
without significance that the ultimate objective of Jihad is linked to ideas.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God upon him, was asked about a
man who fought to display his bravery, another who fought out of fealty to his
tribe, and a third who fought to show off. Which had fought in the Way of God?
He replied, peace and blessings of God upon him, "The one who fought to make
the Word of God uppermost has fought in the Way of God."[4] Is the nature of
the current campaign working to make the Word of God uppermost? Every Muslim
needs to ask that question.
As Muslims, we are carrying the Word of God in an increasingly
secular, militarized, and alienated world. What it means to carry that word is
not an unknowable abstraction. We carry it by following the concrete example of
our Noble Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings of God upon him. In carrying
the word, he endured unimaginable abuses and he persevered through them because
he was inspired by a grand vision. That vision was to see his people saved by
the life-giving, life-affirming message of Islam. No greater illustration of
this can be given than the story of his expulsion from the city of Ta'if, after
the arrogant leaders of that town unleashed the fools, slaves, and children
against him.
In the aftermath of that onslaught, the Prophet, peace and
blessings of God upon him, humbly raised his hands towards the sky and prayed:
O, God! Unto you alone do I plead my lack of strength, the paucity
of my efforts, and my humiliation before the people. O, the Most Merciful of
all! You are the Lord of the oppressed, you are my Lord. Unto who have you
dispatched me? To a distant host who receives me repugnantly? Or to an enemy
you have authorized over my affair? If you are not angry with me, I care not.
It is only your goodness I seek to be covered with. I seek refuge with the
Light of your Face, through which the darkness is illuminated and all the
affairs of the world and hereafter are rectified, that you do not cast your
anger down on me, nor cause your wrath to settle upon me. There is neither
strength, nor power but with You. [5]
Two significant events are then related after this prayer was
uttered by the Prophet, peace and blessing of God upon him. First of all, when
presented with an offer by the Angels that God crush the city of Ta'if, the
Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, refused saying that perhaps from
the offspring of the offending hosts, there would emerge those who would
worship God. This incident is well known. A lesser known incident associated
with the journey to Ta'if occurred when the Prophet, peace and blessings of God
upon him, was preparing to reenter Mecca, in the company of his companion Zaid
bin Haritha. Zaid asked, "How can you reenter their presence when they have
expelled you?" The Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, replied, "O,
Zaid! God is bringing about through these events you have witnessed a great
opening. God is most capable of assisting His religion, and manifesting the
truth of His prophet."
One of the most disturbing aspects of the current campaign to
"Assist the Prophet," for many converts, like this writer, is the implicit
assumption that there is no da'wah work being undertaken here in the West, and
no one is currently, or will in the future enter Islam in these lands.
Therefore, it does not matter what transpires in the Muslim East. Muslims can
behave in the most barbaric fashion, murder, plunder, pillage, brutalize and
kidnap civilians, desecrate the symbols of other religions, trample on their
honor, discard their values and mores, and massacre their fellow Muslims. If
any of that undermines the works of Muslims in these Western lands, it does not
matter. If it places a barrier between the Western people and Islam, when many
of those people are in the most desperate need of Islam, it does not matter. If
our Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, had responded to those who
abused him in Ta'if with similar disregard, none of the generation
s of Muslims who have come from the descendants of those transgressors would
have seen the light of day.
These campaigns of desperation also implicitly display a lack of
confidence in God's ability to protect his religion and defend the honor of His
Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him. We should do what we can do
within lawful limits, and then we depute the affair to God. When we despair of
help from God and find ourselves with limited strategic resources, we sometimes
press forward with the most desperate tactics imaginable, taking little time to
assess the compatibility of those tactics with Islamic teachings, or their
long-term implications for the cause of Islam, especially in the West.
There are certainly more constructive and productive ways to defend
the honor of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him. Why are we
calling for a "Day of Outrage" when our Prophet has instructed us repeatedly
not to become angry? There are surely times when we should become angry for the
sake of God. However, under the current circumstances, are anger and outrage
appropriate responses? Why not a "Day of Familiarization," where we teach
people who the Prophet was and what he really represents, peace and blessings
of God upon him? Why not a "Day of Sunnah," where we all vow to revive a Sunnah
we have allowed to slip away from our religious life. Such a day could also
include the Sunnah of showing concern for ones neighbors? We could visit them
and tell them about Islam and our beloved Prophet, peace and blessings of God
upon him.
Whatever we do, as Muslims in the West, we may be approaching the
day when we will have to "go it alone." If our coreligionists in the East
cannot respect the fact that we are trying to accomplish things here in the
West, and that their oftentimes ill-considered actions undermine that work in
many instances, then it will be hard for us to consider them allies. How can
one be an ally when he fails to consult you concerning actions whose negative
consequences you will suffer? No one from the Muslim east consults us before
launching these campaigns. No one seeks to find out as to how their actions are
going to affect our lives and families. The confused incompetence of the Muslim
countries around the issue of moon-sighting, a situation that has painful
consequences for Muslims here in America is bad enough, the added pressure
generated by these reoccurring crises is becoming unbearable for many.
We have a generation of Muslim children here who have to go to
schools where most of them are small minorities facing severe peer pressure.
During these crises they do not have the luxury of losing themselves in a
frenzied mob. Their faith is challenged and many decide to simply stop
identifying with Islam. Is that what they deserve? If they are largely lost to
Islam, what is the future of our religion here? We have obedient, pious Hijab
wearing women, who out of necessity must work, usually in places where they are
the only Muslims. Should their safety, dignity, and honor be jeopardized by the
actions of Muslims halfway around the world?
I reiterate that I am not saying these cartoons, and other
denigrations of our religion and our Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon
him, should be totally ignored. Imam Shafi'i stated that anyone who is angered
and does not respond; he is a jackass. However, our responses should be weighed
on the basis of a strategic calculus we construct. Their timing should be
determined by that calculus, not by media sensationalizing. They should be
undertaken in consultation with those who will be directly affected by the
responses they generate. And their long-range implications should be deeply
considered.
In conclusion, one should not see the ongoing crisis as a clash of
civilizations. Phenomena as deep and complex as civilizations cannot be thrown
into conflict overnight by media-driven campaigns. A clash of civilizations
would also involve the overwhelming majority of people identified by a
particular civilizational nexus. The current crisis is the result of a
regrettable incident that has been exploited by an uncivilized minority of
provocateurs both in the West and the East to advance their conflicting
agendas. As long as that exploitation continues, the crisis could aptly be
called the clash of the uncivilized.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] We say appropriately because the measured response of the
Danish Muslim community killed the story. Certainly part of the defense of the
Prophet's honor is to keep these images out of the media. The initial response
of the Danish Muslims did just that.
[2] The Danish flag prominently displays a cross, the symbol of
Christianity. Hence, every time a Danish flag is burned or trampled on, the
symbol of Christianity is desecrated. A similar transgression against Islam
would occur if the Saudi flag, which contains the Name of Allah, and the
declaration of Tawhid La ilaha illa Allah were burned or trampled. The question
here is has the entirety of Christendom transgressed against the Muslim people
in a way to justify an attack on the symbol of their faith?
[3] Protestors in Britain this past Friday threatened suicide
bombing attacks in European cities, and the beheading of the offending
cartoonists. Insightfully, the British Muslim youth protesting wearing a mock
suicide bomber's vest turned out to be a convicted heroin and crack dealer, out
on parole. It is a lot easier to mobilize the Muslim youth for the anti-cartoon
Jihad than to deal with the rising rates of incarceration, mental illness,
failing schools, dysfunctional homes, and the drug addition and alcoholism that
are ravaging the British Muslim community.
[4] Al-Bukhari, no. 7458, and Muslim, no. 1904.
[5] This prayer and the incident precipitating it are related in
the various books of Prophetic biography, both ancient and modern. It is quoted
here from Dr. Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti, Fiqh as-Sirah (Beirut: Dar
al-Fikr, 2001/1422), pp. 150-151.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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