After violent protests worldwide, American Muslims take peaceful approach
A screen grab from the video “Mercy in 5″ which was made in response to the anti-Islam film.
Following the release of a low-quality, poorly made video, which was disrespected the Holy Prophet (pbuh), Muslims, mostly in Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia went on a protesting spree. Most of the protests were violent. In Libya, a protest which led to an attack that allegedly killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and then later after some more Muslim countries expressed their outrage, back in Pakistan; tyres were burned, people were beaten, and a few killed.
None of those countries, protestors, or officials had a single thing to do with that video. But as is usual in the Muslim world, Muslims and then some pay the price. There was no outrage and no protests against the violent protesting that took place.
In the US, however, Muslims addressed the situation differently. First, the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR) condemned the attacks on the US embassy in Libya and at the death of US Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Then, at an event hosted by Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA), New York-based political and Muslim leaders from major Islamic organisations gathered to address the issue of civic engagement among the Muslim communities across the country. In addition, the notorious Youtube video, posters in New York that compare jihad to savagery and Islamophobia were also debated upon.
“The recent situations – I cannot say anything except that I agree with President Obama, the movie that was produced by a convicted felon – is not just an insult to Muslims but to Americans as well. To demean and spread hate is not freedom of speech – that is something else,” said Dr Sayeed ur Rahman Chowdhury, the national president of MUNA, who did not limit his speech to just those who were anti-Islam.
“Extremism and terrorism cannot be in Islam. Extremists and terrorists have their own religion – it is not Islam, Judaism, or Christianity. We have to find a better way to respond. My point here is to find a better way. We must be visionary not just reactionary.”
Dr Sayeed was not alone. Last week, a series of unexpected protests and proactive responses have taken place across the United States, including a video from Pakistan.
The reaction video, “Mercy in 5” first showed up on Facebook by production house Muhammadi.me. The video is about five minutes long and just spoke about the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and the deeper meaning of his actions.
“My video “Mercy in 5” was in direct response to the insulting film “Innocence of Muslims”. I partially saw the trailer of that movie before Youtube was banned in Pakistan and found it to be utterly repulsive. At the same time I realised that the film was so badly made that it would have no credibility in the eyes of neutral audiences. And it is these neutral audiences who would now be seeking to know the real Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),” said Muhammad Ibrahim, 44, the founder of Muhammadi media company. Ibrahim is originally from Karachi but currently resides Islamabad.
“I started this organisation in 2007 with a focus on spreading the love for Prophet Muhammad (May Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) and discovering his role, contribution and presence in our lives.”
“We used Facebook to launch our video since we could not post our video on Youtube because of the ban. But Youtube was important to us because that’s where the insulting film was being shown and our response had to be there! So we asked people who saw it on Facebook to upload it on their Youtube accounts and many of them did!!”
While Ibrahim was busy making the video, different Muslim organisations in the Europe handed out gift bags with the Quran and booklets explaining Islam and the Holy Prophet (pbuh).
All the while, an organisation in New York won the argument to post advertisements that said the following, “In Any War Against the Civilized Man and the Savage, Support the Civilized Man. Support Israel, Defeat Jihad.”
The posters caused an uproar in New York. The day they were posted – protestors went into the subway and some were arrested.
Not everyone that protested was arrested, the International Action Center, an organisation working towards fighting bigotry all across the United States set up a protest during the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) meeting, the division that manages New York’s underground subway system.
Although the MTA did fight the placements of the advertisements in federal court but lost in court to Pamela Geller, who runs campaign against “Islamization” in the US, said that it against the freedom of speech to stop the advertisements.
Most recently, the infamous filmmaker and convicted felon “Sam Basile” or “Nakoula Basseley Nakoula” who made the Youtube film and has more than dozen aliases, was arrested in Los Angeles, California for violating is probation for a 2010 fraud conviction. Nakoula, 55, is an Eyptian born Coptic Christian, who has been known for his bank fraud schemes in the US. Nakoula has been released on a $10,000 bail and has gone into hiding since, according to different reports.
A few days after the filmmaker’s arrest, back in New York at the MUNA event, Brooklyn Congresswoman, Yvette Clark made a strong point to hundreds of Muslims in the audience, “ When we are there and we are ready to blow the whistle and no one is there – it diminishes the impact. Together, we will triumph. ”
The author is a former Dawn.com staff member, now based in New York.
As long as there are ‘religious’ laws, or rather laws defined by a religion, Pakistan will not have free speech. I know I’m not making much sense. It’s because I’m trying to avoid writing ‘Blashpemy Laws.’ See what happens when we have to stumble around, afraid we might say the wrong thing and then get into trouble? This is not freedom of speech. But, of course, you all know that.
Its sad to see people killing their own people in the name of Islam. I am a proud muslim and I can tell you this is not what my religion is about. The so called religious scholars who are calling this violent demonstrations should be held responsible for the deaths of these innocent people. These “scholars” have made a mockery of my religion, which is all about peace.
according to me this matter is very important for all Muslims
When a person destroys another person’s property and gets away with that, he will repeat it again. When there is consequence for an action it is a different story. If governments over there protect individuals and property these kind of violent protests will not happen and may turn into peacful ones. And there is nothing wrong to protest, it’s every person’s right.
They can’t afford not to be peaceful since the US is a non nonsense country.
Don’t spread lies please ! Most protests were peaceful, not violent.
The reaction shown to the video also has a very strong socio economic aspect. in all those countries which are relatively stable with high education level and better economic conditions such as turkey and malaysia, the protests were pretty much peaceful. On the other hand countries like Pakistan, afghanistan they turned violent. events like these always serve as triggers for much deep rooted social and economic problems in our societies.
In America, Muslims are also bound to obey rule of law, like any other American. They do not have any other choice but to be peaceful. May we become a nation under “rule of law”
Muslims in America are always very quite- unlike their brothers in Europe. It has to do with the fact that Americans were very critical and in-tolerant to Islam. Muslims in USA will never resort to violence. Not in the near future when their population is below 2%.
Two things:
The author says:
“back in Pakistan; tyres were burned, people were beaten, and a “FEW KILLED”.
That shows how callous Pakistanis are about their peoples’ lives, given that nearly 30 people were killed there!
“American Muslims took a peaceful approach”
That’s b ‘coz right or wrong, unlike in Europe, and India, Muslims are clearly viewed with suspicion here in America, if NOT by the Obama administration per-se, but by the general public, FBI, CIA, the Police and law enforcement. None of them would have tolerated violent acts or even mass protests given that there was no popular support for either the movie or the movie maker by the American people, even though Americans generally do not consider Prophet Mohammed as a man of peace, or someone who espoused high moral values.
The United States of America with all its flaws and follies remains the ONLY country in the world where religion is practiced without fear of persecution. The level of respect afforded to Muslims in USA has no parallel, even in their own respective countries. Surprised that Muslims in USA have taken the moderate approach? Don’t be….. For all of us who migrated here on our free will accepted our adopted country by taking the following pledge: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all”.
God Bless America.
Saudi Arabia is a typical example how islam is intolerant and extreme. American muslims have no other option. Otherwise they will be in jail
It is extremely unfortunate that some Muslims react to Islamophobia in a manner that is in contrast to the true teachings of our Prophet(pbuh) and Islam.We do more damage to our religion than the enemies of Islam.Our responses must always be peaceful and constructive.Had we supported the efforts of the likes of brother Muhammad Ibrahim in every conceivable way rather than the violent protests…..which are in essence abhorrent and repugnant, the results and impact on the world would have been much more beneficial.Respond to hate with mercy,justice and propagation of the true message of Islam….the true religion for mankind
Muslims are peaceful in non-Muslim countries.
I have never read Dawn before but I thought it was a reputable newspaper. Why is this article written so poorly?
Only if the So called Muslims in Pakistan and other countries learn a lesson or 2.
Quite honestly most of us Muslim Americans didn’t even bother to take a public stand on this issue. We let our national organizations condemn it publicly through available media and moved on with our lives. In private gathering; yes most of us did talk about it and we all agreed to simply ignore the movie, as it was not the first one and will not be the last. In one social gatherings one friend who claimed that he saw the movie; all friends who were present simply jumped on him for doing so. Some one mentioned that prior to the violent protests the number of Youtube visitors who saw the movies was in meager 100s, however, subsequently jumped to thousands. Most of my decent Christian Americans’ friends felt that the movie was an example of bad taste and poor judgment. It didn’t even blemish one iota of dignity and respect of our honorable Prophet Mohammed; Peace be Upon Him.
as a practising muslim,i find most of these arguments hypocritical. my best friend is ahmadiyan and they are considered less than a human being far less a muslim. the very reach of islam to the subcontinent was based on violent conversions my grand parents came from lahore before partition and the hate their parent experienced to convert to islam. mind you the atrocities exist in pakistan to this date.i love my granparent and i remain a muslim but this type of torture is wrong. the truth sets us free. if it werent for akbar the great the brutality of converting the hindus in the sub-continent would have continued.perhaps our faith is now reaping what they sow. as individual we must put things into perspective and respect all humanity. if i were in pakistan and voiced these sentiments i would be lynched by a mob. we must wake up and educate ourselves in the virtues of tolerance and self respect. what has happened to all the ancient hindu tenples in bangladesh and pakistan most grazed to the ground. the bengali language was the language of the hindu gods this is why butto wished to remove it. what happened to his life. today where is pakistan and most of the muslim world a hotbed for self destruction. most of my friends are hindus, gentle people who walks the walk of religion by finding your true innerself. khuda hafiz religion should never be forced because god give us a free will.. we condemn the hindus for having a pantheon of gods and why not, who are we as ordinary mortals to question the multiplicity of the divine. if we dont understand our roots we are finished as a race of people.