I'm quite troubled over the cartoon controversy in Denmark, not because of the cartoons themselves, which I agree are offensive, but rather, because of the absurd overreaction of Muslims worldwide. We haven't learned from the Rushdie affair - this is yet another instance where we've gone out of our way to make ourselves look stupid.

For anyone living under a rock, here's what happened. Four months ago, on September 30th, 2005, a Danish newspaper called Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in ways that many Muslims deemed sacrilegious. The newspaper claimed - quite foolishly, I think - that the cartoons were "part of an ongoing public debate on freedom of expression" in Denmark. There were a few protests by Muslims and meetings with the Prime Minister of Denmark, but things came to a head on January 10th, 2006, when two Norwegian papers published similar cartoons that were then circulated in the Middle East. Since then, the response has been stupendous:

There were street demonstrations and flag-burnings in the Middle East. Libya joined Saudi Arabia in withdrawing its ambassador from Copenhagen. Islamic governments and organisations, including the Muslim Council of Britain, issued denunciations and a boycott of Danish goods took hold across the Muslim world.

The Danish Government warned its citizens about travelling to Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Syria, and withdrew aid workers from the Gaza Strip.

Last night EU foreign ministers issued a statement in support of Denmark, and the European Commission threatened to report any government backing the boycott to the World Trade Organisation.

By yesterday governments across the Arab world were responding to public outrage. Libya closed its embassy in Denmark and the Egyptian parliament demanded that its Government follow suit. The Kuwaiti and Jordanian governments called for explanations from their Danish ambassadors. President Lahoud of Lebanon condemned the cartoons, saying his country "cannot accept any insult to any religion". The Justice Minister of the United Arab Emirates said: "This is cultural terrorism, not freedom of expression." In Gaza, gunmen briefly occupied the EU office in Gaza and warned Danes and Norwegians to stay away. Palestinians in the West Bank burnt Danish flags. The Islamic groups Hamas and Hezbollah and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood demanded an apology.

Supermarkets in Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen all removed Danish produce from their shelves. Arla Foods, a Danish company with annual sales of about $430 million in the Middle East, said that the boycott was almost total and suspended production in Saudi Arabia.

Those up in arms don't seem to understand that the newspaper is not government owned or produced. It is an independent newspaper, and as such the guarantee of freedom of expression allows it to do what it did. It may be in bad taste and it may be insensitive, but the newspaper has a point: freedom of expression allows individuals to express themselves in ways that may upset or offend others. Yes, that freedom is to be balanced with freedom of religion, but even so, adherents of any faith cannot expect that they will never be offended. That is the price we pay for the freedoms we enjoy. Some may claim this is a good time to bring out those old blasphemy laws, but I disagree. In fact, I would argue there are no justifiable grounds for blasphemy laws in liberal democracies.

In any case, why these Arab countries would see fit to demand that Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen apologize is beyond me. If one wanted to protest the publication of those cartoons, one could always cancel one's subscription to the newspaper. But to boycott products from the country? Burn Danish flags? Remove ambassadors to express one's displeasure? Those sorts of responses are just nonsensical. The government is not to be blamed for the idiocy of a private newspaper.

Why are we so exciteable anyway? Why even care what a newspaper thinks? The cartoons, horrendous though they may be, need not affect a Muslim's impression of the Prophet, for our tradition clearly shows him to be a man imbued with dignity, morality and goodness. The Prophet was ridiculed from the moment he started receiving revelation in Mecca more than 1400 years ago. The mockery - even the threats on his life - are well documented in the Quran and hadith literature. A few cartoons will do little to harm him - or us.

Some might argue that Islam bars any depiction of the Prophet. Even so, we Muslims cannot force other people to appreciate the Prophet the way we do. We live, for the most part, in free societies, and there are countless opportunities to share with others our own vision of the Prophet and to convince others that he is a man to be honoured and dignified. We can do so by living like the Prophet did, by behaving and speaking in the noble manner of the Prophet himself, and by showing ourselves to be the rightful followers of this blessed man.

The over-the-top reaction just shows me how much excess energy and strength the ummah retains worldwide. Frankly I wonder if Muslims are not doing a greater disservice to the Prophet when we close our eyes to the suffering and oppression in the rest of the world. There are bigger problems to tackle than the publication of 12 silly cartoons. Now, if we could only put our efforts to better purposes...

Wow...several of my posts were deleted from yesterday. Luckily I have them cached so I will repost a bit.

>>>

It is interesting, DrM, that you seem to address only those people that make ignorant(and therefore easy to rebut) comments.

> I think the Evangelicals just got some TV show cancelled for its content through a boycott. Guess it ok for them to take action, but not us.

Christian extremists are just as embarassing to normal Christians as Muslim extremists are to you. Many, MANY people are up in arms against the Christian-right trying to limit speech based on content(did you know they are now trying to regulate satellite radio just because of Howard Stern?).

I would like you to address my comments from a previous post before you accused me of being Ben's alias.

Where should free speech end(with respect to blasphemy)? Under your rules, would it be illegal for one to say that Buddists are wrong for practicing the wrong religion? Would I be breaking the law if I were to say that YOU, DrM, were wrong to follow the teachings of Islam? Would YOU be breaking the law to say that it was wrong for me to worship Jesus?

In each of the previous statements, a statement is made that degrades each religion. Where is the line drawn? (And before you go ranting about me being an Islamophobe, I do NOT believe it is wrong for anyone to follow the teachings of Islam)

As for the TOPIC AT HAND, there are Arab-Muslims calling for a Jihad because of the cartoons.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=15652

Do you think THAT is an over reaction?

Mullah Krekar in Norway has stated "The War is On" saying that the cartoons were a declaration of War against Islam.

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/747

Is HE over reacting?

<<<

And while it is clear that some people hear are trolling, not all of us new visitors are. You should take advantage of our presence here looking for answers.

"Happy is the one who doesn't
follow the counsel of the wicked
or take the path of transgressors
or sit in the company of the scoffers"
Psalm 1:1 (Zabur)

Yet, the same God revealing himself in the Tawrat - which all religions of the book are supposed to believe - offers the first human couple a choice (Genesis 2&3;).
Humans created "in the image of God" i.e. with freedom, responsibility & creative potential, have to chose between trust & disobedience. The humans choice has consequences. But God still shows mercy, carries on pursuing them with his prophets, wooing them back to Him.

For those thinking freedom of speech should be subdued in the name of respect and deference, check what happened to the friends of Job (a prophet in Islam, honored by Jews & Christians). Job asked tough questions, got mad at his Creator, even tried to put God on trial. To his friends, his questions about evil, God and all were blasphemy so they shifted blame on Job. In the end, God came to meet Job & rebuked the psedo-religious friends for shoving problems under the carpet.

If one is a true Christian, I have no worries. As a follower of the Massih that even his enemies recognized without transgression (Faithful Muslim will agree with Christians on this one) they strive to imitate Him. He had great Godgiven power (healing, calming storm), sometimes hardf words but never shouted back at his scoffers. Even if practice is challenging, the Injeel commads to "bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who harm you or persecute you" (e.g. Matthew 5:44).

Yes, things grieve the heart of God. But for His reputation or the one of whom or what is held holy, who are we to be less patient that Him?
O Muslims, although the quote is not in the Qur'an (but the Hadith), isn't As-Sabur (the Patient) one of the revealed 99 beautiful names of God?

Not just individuals, but communities worldwide should benefit from a God-allowed freedom to ask, doubt, even oppose or rebel in this life ... and maybe touched by the Holy One, who is "The most Gracious, the most Compassionate".
King Dawood inspired, called Him "most Gracious and Compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast loving-kindness".
(Psalm 103:8, Zabur)

May we reflect Godís patience and kindness in our dealing with even enemies. Then only will we walk on the straight path, the path of those He bestows favor upon, not anger, and not of those who go astray.
Amin

On a more moderate note, I've just registered on this site as I thought an informed discussion might be educational. One thing that regular users might take note of is that I'm an English atheist (that's not just non Muslim, it's non Muslim, non Christian, non Hindu etc) and when I registered I ticked the box that said don't display my email. What I asked for, in essence, was don't identify me in any way. Ask yourselves why I felt this way and ask yourselves, if the most moderate person you'll ever meet feels that way, what is it you're doing that is both alienating yourself and creating a climate of fear (and hence resentment) all over, I assume, western europe? And why do you think that the widely reported chants of yesterdays demonstration ("UK, 7/7 is coming your way") don't just scare people but create an aggressive response that the the juvenile chanters don't seem able to see coming? That is, why are you damaging the society that I helped create and that welcomed you?

Hamal, what is the point?

>>I assume, western europe? And why do you think that the widely reported chants of yesterdays demonstration ("UK, 7/7 is coming your way") don't just scare people but create an aggressive response that the the juvenile chanters don't seem able to see coming? That is, why are you damaging the society that I helped create and that welcomed you?<<

Why are you complaining? You start a fire and complain fo being trampled. You go out of your way to offend as many people as possible and go crazy some juvenille with a stupid sign. This is a distraction away from the fact this hateful vicious is being reprinted and fire up people even more. What kind of hypocritical and hateful society is this?
Dont pee on my leg and tell me its raining, mate.

Dr M,

Referring to the UK protests outside the Danish Embassy, which is the original message I posted, from which I have seen not one direct constructive comment made....Please remember that not one UK publication showed these cartoons, so why the extemist behaviour from these British Muslims. The police were rightly taking photographs of these people, who were, (including their children might I add) calling for death and beheadings to pretty much anyone who was non muslim...listening to your tone on this forum, this behaviour begins to make sense to me. If you do not possess the emotional and intellectual maturity to make a decent, reasonable and intelligent response, then why bother to write at all? At the end of the day, no matter which way you look, where the UK is concerned, we ALLOW British Muslims to practice their religion, with grace and respect, in no way whatsoever do British Muslims have any right to dictate how the great British public, will live their lives. Here lies the fallacies of your arguments (if you can call them such). Britain is Britain, what it stands for, what is written into every line of our history, is DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, and TOLERANCY. There you have it, we tolerate and allow Muslims and other religions to freely practice their faith, this is how it should be. But when a religion takes to the streets, and incites religious hatred, this is where the law of Britain comes into play, this is why the Police were photographing the miscreants who were shouting this most offensive of abuse with the madness of a durge of drunk ali babas at a virgins wedding. Whatever you may think, or whatever you may say....you can keep on until the very last breath leaves your body, this behaviour, by the very law of our land, will not be allowed, under duress of arrest, trial and prison. In the most extreme cases, some will be deported, and be stripped of their UK citizenship.
The kind of behaviour that we are seeing, is totally detrimental I believe to the majority of Muslims who live in the United Kingdom.
You are only damaging yourselves, you can never win here. Believe me. I rest easy.

And as for the 'racist europeans' that you so steadily assure us of, like you say 'fools who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones'...well, Dr M, you must live in a very large glass house, with a mountain of stones!! I am white British, my wife is Black French Caribbean....I pity your home insurance company!!! Peace!

>>I am white British, my wife is Black French Caribbean....I pity your home insurance company!!!<<

I pity your wife, she doesnt know she married a selective racist hypocrite.

my word Dr M, your glass house just keeps getting bigger and bigger doesn't it!!
Please, go ahead and make my day....make an even bigger fool of yourself...we and the wife are laughing here....my wife says...'I never heard of a mixed race couple being racist!!'...we have come to the conclusion that you must be past your bedtime...off to bed little one!!

Thomas, you are the man!!! What a great link....says it all indeed, and it is very disturbing indeed....it does kind of harp back to some neolithic primitive age....very scary indeed...I wouldn't want to have that kind of behaviour tattooed on to me because of my religious belief...I feel sorry for the majority of Muslims who have to suffer this!

You have to check out the movie 'first, they came for' at this link, scroll down halfway and you'll come to it...Thanks again Thomas, it really just about wraps it up doesn't it.. .http://www.michellemalkin.com/

Shahed, what kind of "debate" is possible with people like Timothy?

Absolutely none Liaquat Ali, I worked that one out last night ;)))

Hmm, I just checked Timothy's "innocent" messages above. See how he suddently switched gears.

I just wonder what kind of mental illness these missionary types have. They continue using centuries-old polemics against Allah, Qur'an and Muhammad.

Sick, really sick. Tsk, tsk.

With all due respect Ali, proof me wrong. I am a type a guy that likes to dig for the truth. If you can proof me wrong, I will be glad to agree.

Tell me, when did the world first hear of Allah?

In which language?

You can probbly figure out from my name that I am not an arab

Timothy, Liaquat Ali, so this doesn't turn into a huge off-the-topic flame fest, why not email each other and summarize your relevant points when your done rather than clutter the message board with numerous shorting postings?

I have no problem engaging with Timothy thru email. Timothy, please send me an email at

If you want to go to a different platform, please let me know. In the meantime, please check out http://www.qaiu.org

We do offer free Arabic-English Lexicon. :)

You know what I find amusing about the missionaries Liaquat? The fact that they lie, obfuscate, and make it up as they go along all the while pretending to be benign. They may be entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.
Their carping points have little to do with the topic at hand, instead using the forum to spread their hateful, evil, regressive views about Muslims. Incase you didnt hear, the lunatic Pat Robertson just called for Hugo Chavez to be assassinated, again. Great timing I must say.
Doesnt matter really because the racist criminal bastards are going to learn the meaning of the word "boycott."