There was a very famous poet who came to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) one day in Mecca, and he told the Prophet, "I have something better than your Qur'an." The Prophet (pbuh) told him to recite the poetry that he had, and the man did, reciting a poem about the famous Arab prophet Luqman.

After listening to the poetry, the Prophet (pbuh) said, "Those are indeed good words...And I have something better than it."

The poet was astonished to hear someone tell him, "I have something better," because that had never happened to him before. The Prophet (pbuh) then proceeded to recite Surah Luqman, which most eloquently describes the exhortations of the Prophet Luqman (pbuh) to his son. At the end of the passage, the poet conceded to the Prophet (pbuh): "Those are indeed good words." The poet was clearly defeated.

Throughout the ministry of the beloved Prophet (pbuh), scores of people attacked, cursed, smeared, and maligned the Prophet (pbuh), including his own uncle Abu Lahab. Frequently, The Prophet's (pbuh) response was the Qur'an; he was confident that the words of God he had on his side would always win the day - and they did.

Enter the Maclean's article of 2006 entitled, "The future belongs to Islam," in which an excerpt of Mark Steyn's book was published talking about the rise of Islam in Europe and how it threatened Western values. The article is the subject of a lawsuit before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, in which two members of the Canadian Islamic Congress say the magazine article stirs up hatred for Muslims and has violated a provincial hate speech law.

After reading the article, however, I came away thinking that maybe the Canadian Islamic Congress overreacted just a little bit. Surely the article is mocking toward Islam and Muslims, a typical rant by the right wing against the presence of Muslims in the West. Yet, the article was more a tirade against the social democratic state and its policies than a polemic attacking Islam.

Steyn wrote:

Age + Welfare = Disaster for you; Youth + Will = Disaster for whoever gets in your way...Islam has youth and will, Europe has age and welfare. We are witnessing the end of the late 20th-century progressive welfare democracy. Its fiscal bankruptcy is merely a symptom of a more fundamental bankruptcy: its insufficiency as an animating principle for society...Over on the other side of the equation, the modern multicultural state is too watery a concept to bind huge numbers of immigrants to the land of their nominal citizenship. So they look elsewhere and find the jihad. The Western Muslim's pan-Islamic identity is merely the first great cause in a world where globalized pathologies are taking the place of old-school nationalism.

This paragraph sums up the weakness of his argument vis-a-vie Muslims in the West. He makes sweeping generalizations about "Islam" and the "Western Muslim," and selectively chooses instances of crimes committed by Muslims in the West and generalizing it to the whole. And his qualification that "not all Muslims are terrorists" comes out obviously sarcastic and half-hearted. His article can easily be refuted.

He is of the opinion that the Canadian Islamic Congress should not have sued the magazine for publishing the article, but should have published their rebuttal elsewhere. He even pledged to help it get published in the Guardian newspaper if they dropped their lawsuit. Obviously, the CIC did not take up his suggestion. With all due respect to the CIC, I am inclined to agree with him.

Just as the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) told that poet who challenged him, "And I have something better," we can tell those who rant against Islam and Muslims that "we have something better than this." The truth is on our side, and if we can just learn to calmly, methodically, and peacefully contribute to the exchange of ideas - rather than take legal action against this publication or that - the world can see that we are on the side of right.

There will always be those who attack and smear Islam with lies, falsehoods, half-truths, and generalizations. All we have to do is respond with facts, not bombs, Molotov cocktails, burned embassies, burned flags, death fatwas, or even lawsuits.

If the publication in question does not want to give us "equal space," which may frequently be the case, then we can publish it elsewhere. In fact, why not publish said rebuttals in the burgeoning Muslim media - such as this forum or magazines such as Illume, Islamica, and others - which desperately need our support for them to grow and become first-rate players on the media scene. And you know what, the facts we have on our side are ugly, stubborn little things that will always ruin the beautifully crafted theories about our religion and our people that are simply not true.

While I understand the feeling that may have led to the lawsuit against Maclean's, the action was truly misplaced. It sends the message that Muslims are not proponents of free speech and the free exchange of ideas. While I agree that speech which incites violence and bloodshed against Muslims or any other group of people should never be tolerated, the Maclean's article by Mark Steyn- as writer Ali Eteraz said best - "could never, ever, never ever, rise to 'incitement'" under U.S. case law.

We can be pro-Muslim and pro-free speech, because - just as the Prophet (pbuh) said - "we have something better than this."

excellent anaylsis! I dont know why our Muslim leaders are so ignorant about how the media works. Trying to sue a media outlet for publishing an article is not going to do anything. free speech is free speech - if you dont like it, then go back to your own so-called "muslim" countries where they don't even let you practice Islam! Muslims need to "fight back" with their own articles, their own movies and their own media! support Muslim media like Illume and others! Stop complaining and start doing something!!!

The only good thing to come out of all this is that Mark Steyn is clearly rattled. He's the sort of gutless and spineless character who loves stoking fires but then hates being forced to watch the damage they cause. And don't ever expect him to take responsibility for the hatred he generates.

Among the many bad things to come out of this is that he now will have even more readers and sympathisers. Today they might merely defend his right to speak but by tomorrow his message of hate might grow on them.

If Macleans were the only major magazine or publication in Canada (typical Canadians, naming a magazine after toothpaste!), I'd say this litigation were warranted. But it clearly isn't.

Then again, at least CIC is doing somthing to protect the reputation of Muslims. Down under where I live, our Muslim peak bodies are wasting community money fighting each other in court.

Canadian law is quite different from U.S. law in this manner, and the author Ustaz Hesham did not go into much detail about the alleged legal basis of the Canadian Islamic Congress's actions. I also live in the United States, and the CIC's actions are strange to me since there are no "human rights commissions" in the U.S. which would hear these kinds of complaints. I recommend listening to the following episodes of "The Agenda with Steve Paikin", a type of Bill Moyer on U.S. public broadcasting.

What is Wrong with Mark Steyn's View of the World?
http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=7&bpn=779214&ts=2008-05-19 20:00:45.0

Ezra Levant | Free Speech, Hate Speech, and Human Rights Commissions
http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=7&bpn=779110&ts=2008-01-21 20:00:48.0

People can watch these to get a better idea of the CIC's actions. I don't know enough about the situation to say for certain that the CIC's actions are right or wrong here, but I think it's naive to think that a letter to the editor or a column in Islamica can reverse the damage feature articles in a wide circulation magazine can do.

The liberal model of the free press leading to truth is breaking down because of the proliferation of news outlets. In the United States, for example, people who watch Fox News have been polled and they still believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction at the time of President G.W. Bush's invasion. See http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0807-05.htm. And while it may be comforting to think that the whisper of truth in one small corner of the room will eventually overcome the din of falsehood, I suspect that the whisper of truth has to be coupled with civic actions such as lawsuits and boycotts.

http://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com

Ayman, I think you have missed the point. Here is this fellow with absolutely no qualifications and credibility sprouting silly fatwas on European demography. And here we are giving him a bigger platform. And turning him into a martyr for free speech. Strategically stupid.

These 3 young kids ended up looking silly. One of them commenced arguing with a very reasonable (if not favourable) host.

Mark Steyn has been writing this trash for years. Get used to it.

http://madhabirfy.blogspot.com/2008/06/flippant-thoughts-on-comrade-steyn.html

I seriously hope these guys know what they are doing. They are clearly smart and intelligent, and are committed to human rights. But I fear they have won the debate and lost the war.

What now needs to be done is that Steyn's 'arguments' need to be addressed.

A good point the kids made was that, had they not made their human rights complaint, they would never had received a venue in mainstream media to deal with Steyn's arguments or Macleans' refusal to print any but the most moronic articles on issues related to Muslims.

The problem is that they have made the litigation and its alleged threat to free speech the issue.

Reading this I wonder why only Muslims have this problem of being attacked everywhere they go. Why don't the Buddhists and the Hindus complain like this? Seems like Islam is a non-violent, scholarly religion which is being unfairly targetted by evil people.

Weisskopf's right. I never hear about Sikhs insisting on permission to wear ceremonial bangles at school. And when was the last time a Jewish leader complained about alleged unfair criticism of Israel in the media?

It's only Muslims who do this. We should follow Weisskopf's views and start throwing these Islamic troublemakers into concentration camps.

actually weisskopf- it is because no one is paying any attention to them-
the first tiny whiff of any perceived criticism of hinduism has drawn out rajan zed who has organized a nationwide boycott of the movie the love guru-
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/

what seems to be completely ignored here is that such articles as published in macleans- and mr steyn's book speak to the majority-

publishing feel good articles in publications that only muslims read (personally i ahve no use whatsoever for the fluffiness of islamica) isn't going to change any minds-

immigrant muslims must do what every other group of immigrants has done when coming to foreign shores-

engage and care about the society you are in-

i'm a muslim, and am inclined to be symapthetic to other muslims-
but i cannot help but notice that there are no interests in- or activities geared toward building ties in this society-

not these fake public relations efforts that i am always seeing proposed-
but actual activities such as outreach in communities-
even muslims that come here from other shores dont get help from other muslims- but from catholic charities-

there are no charity groups in america- no programs by muslims to even take care of their own-
of course people will be upset if they perceive an influx of people who are not helping themselves but adding to the burden of the existing social service infrastructures!

if muslims were providing services to those in their own community- (let ALONE all those in their community as the christians have been doing) then they could point to those efforts and accomplishements instead of proposing prettily worded articles-

facts are not going to do it-
it didnt work for chinese buddhists- it didnt work for irish catholics it didnt work for eatern european jews-

actively contributing to and committing to their adopted society is what did it-
caring for their own people did it-

muslims seem to be unique in (america) for planning on getting what they can and moving back home with pockets of cash-
when they get here they realize how hard americans actually have to work-

when muslims start to think of THIS as their home, they will be at least started on the road to assimilation-
america has pleny of people petitioning to be included and yearning for assimlation-

assimilation does not mean one loses one identity- but it means one recognized the pluralism that exists here- with a desire to enhance their new home- and add to the community at large-

why should muslim immigrants expect to be viewed differently- when they view their own inclusivity to this country differently than other groups that have come and settled before them?

get busy developing our own institutions of charity and social services- THEN worry about writing appeasement public relations propoganda-
when there is such a cavernous disconnect between the words and the actions- it is only perceived as empty apologist literature
stop writing and do something

I agree with what MrsA is talking about in terms of giving back to the society we are living in and Alhamdullilah many immigrant Muslims are taking the example of their indigenous brothers and sisters (at least here in the Bay Area) and are setting up charities, programs and events that help out those in need- whether Muslim or Not.
the one point I disagree is with using the term- Assimilation- Which is a very dangerous word! Musims should actually strive for integration into American society- that is we work to become an integral part of American culture, politics and media - while still maintaning our Islamic identity. We should neither isolate ourselves like what has happened in parts of the UK nor should we assimilate and lose our moral and religious ideals!

While some of you have said Muslims are no different than Sikhs, and Mrs A has pointed out some of the things Muslims can do, nobody bothered to understand what I said: Why is it that only Muslims are singled out for such harsh treatment in the press?

I used Hindus or Buddhists as examples because they are somewhat more numerous than Sikhs. As for protests about 'the love guru' surely that is not in the same category as the article the author is referring to? If the argument is that nobody criticizes those other religions because they are overly sensitive and retaliate quickly - ergo everyone is scared of them - where as Muslims just lie down and take it, that does not wash either. There is something deeper at work here and sarcasm is not the answer.

As for all these 'activities' etc., and the horror of 'assimilation', Muslims do a lot more of it than the other religions. Again I ask you: why aren't other communities who are not doing anything out of ordinary being accused of 'not assimilating'? Eg., Hindus and Buddhists? I cannot remember any 'meet the Hindus' event or 'Buddhist buddies' programs! But I do know of a lot more 'come meet you neighborhood Muslim' type programs.

from a practical standpoint weisskopf- consider the possibility that those who own the meida and control the lobbies and pursestrings may not have the best interest of muslims at heart-

irfan- iused that word deliberately-

when it ceases to frighten muslims they will feel connected to their adopted society- and for our children- it will be their own society and there won't be any reaction to the word at all-

now, take me, i couldnt possibly be more indoctrinated as an america- i'm so thoroughly brainwashed that i can still sing (words and all) jingles from commercials i saw 40 years ago-

and yet somehow ive not only maintained but developed in my social void a muslim consciousness-

i really believe it is that universal and powerful enough to not be subsumed by any other cultural identification-
im really glad the repsonse was so mild-
ithought my post may be taken harshly-

so what are the names of the charities in san fran and do you know of any activists in new york who might utilize my energies?

Irfy, your comment: And when was the last time a Jewish leader complained about alleged unfair criticism of Israel in the media?

Are you serious? Jewish leaders (Alan Dershowitz, Daniel Pipes, etc.) and lobby groups (AIPAC) are the quickest to criticize and complain about ANY criticism of Israel in mainstream US media!

As a Media Activist for the past 12 years, I have seen many, many times when Pro-Israeli and Jewish stories are printed in the paper, shown on TV or movies and also on the radio - and likewise, whenever there is any small criticism of Israel - they quickly attack it and cry "Anti-Semitism" so that people are afraid to say anything at all against Israel.

Other groups do also get attacked in the media (Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, Hindus, etc.) but they are quickly rebutted by the Activist organizations for those groups (NAACP, Asian American Journalists, etc.). Since the current political climate is "Anti-Islam" and "Anti-Muslim" in the West, most of the time, the mainstream media does not care, even if Muslim groups (such as CAIR and MPAC) complain (although this does not mean we should stop complaining).

Muslims need to start being Pro-Active (and continue the current "Reactive" approach), because if we dont speak for ourselves (no one can speak for us), then things will continue to get worse and worse. Go back and look at the history of what lead to the rise of Nazism in Germany - it started by small critcism of the jews (Cartoons in the papers, etc.) and eventually lead to the concentration camps.

Mrs. A - the organizations in the Bay Area which help both Muslims and Non-Muslim communities area: Rahima Foundation, Hidaya, Islamic Relief, and majority of the Masjids have programs such as feeding the homeless, etc. at least once a month (SBIA, MCA, Masjid Al-Islam, etc.). I can send you more detailed information if you are interested. Let me know.

err...IrfanR...your namesake in Australia was being facetious I think...or am I wrong again Mrs A?

O burning hell! in all thy store of torments
There's not a keener lash!
Lives there a man so firm, who, while his heart
Feels all the bitter horrors of his crime,
Can reason down its agonizing throbs;

Burns wrote that of men...I wonder if that applies to Muslims too..

>> so what are the names of the charities in san fran and do you know of any activists in new york who might utilize my energies? <<

Lord help these charities......

well yes, lord help them hajibaba-

thank you irfan- i have contacted them but i am in new york buy one never knows- im in their database-
yes- i would be very happy to receive any further info you could forward to me-

thank you

by the way- great poem there weisskopf

well if IrfanR would like to forward something i'm still waiting- i filled out the applications for the orgs listed but haven't heard anything at all- just a confirmation email and that was a week ago-

Salaams
Most of those orgs I listed are local organizations in the Bay Area, so if you are in NY, I'm not sure how you would be able to participate in their programs, except with making donations. Islamic Relief is a national organization though. They should have a chapter on the East Coast. If you contacted them already, then give them a few more days to get back to you. If not you can call them up. Their website is http://www.irw.org

I agree that as a community our behaviour is not cohesively enshrined within the example of the Prophet SAW. While we always strive to the example of our Prophet SAW, we seem to ignore one fundamental thing ... its the 21st Century and the society is intitutionally western. Within the context of the current social system, we do and should act within the boundarys of Human Rights, mutli-cultural dialogue, globalisation, environmentalism, nation states etc. This is our platform.

To give something better to the environment requires our understanding of what the environment needs in the first place. We are still woefully ingorant (most of the world is) of how western society operates as it does.

The free press is not so free as it is accessible. They operate a rights based system of law that has developed into a complicated and interdependent social model. The politics is as much tied to practical realities as any other nations, but since the rules are clear and developed for hundreds of years, there can be little or no internal division. And since they are in possession in so much global resource (intellectual mostly), westerners maintain the economic infrastructure of this system very easily. Its not magic, but deeply entrenched social structure. We're in it. There's no avoiding it. We should learn from it.