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The cartoons are awful! They’re insulting and stereotypical. They are clearly a product of crass ignorance and misinformation. As Muslims, we need to raise our voices and register our displeasure, nay, anger at the insensitivity of Dutch provocateurs whose sole aim was to anger the Muslim community and prove to the rest of the world that the stereotype fits 100%.
And we’re playing right into their hands. Our flag-burning - stone-throwing barbarism drives their point home more eloquently than their distasteful cartoons, portraying Muslims as blood-thirsty savages ever could.
As Muslims, we should know that the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh)’s life was marked by terrible treatment at the hands of the disbelievers. He was insulted, the innards of a camel were placed on his back during Salaat, thorns were strewn in his path, he was stoned in Taif… Even his family was not left in peace.
To this very day people write blasphemous things about his blessed person. But the question I ask is, “Does it change his greatness in the least? Does it lessen our love for him at all? Does it diminish his high rank in the sight of Allah even a little?”
The answer to all these is a resounding no. If anything, it serves to unite Muslims under a common banner, that of Love for The Prophet (pbuh) and only increases our love for him. For once, we are all working towards a common goal. But at this crucial time, we must ask ourselves, “What would the Prophet (pbuh) want us to do?”
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Throughout the Blessed Prophet (pbuh)’s life he opted for a display of superior character even with his enemies. On the occasion of the conquest of Makkah, a companion exclaimed, “Today is the day of revenge,” to which the blessed Prophet (pbuh) replied, “Today is the day of mercy/forgiveness.” He (pbuh) said this to a people who stopped at nothing to discredit him, who called him a madman; possessed; power-hungry liar, even though in their hearts they knew that this could not have been further from the truth. Why, they even tried on more than one occasion to end his life. He said to them as his brother Yusuf (pbuh) said to his own brothers who had cast him in a well and wrenched him away from a father so dear to him, “There is no blame on you today. May Allah forgive you.”
Now compare this with a poorly drawn, distasteful cartoon. This display of sublime character was what attracted even his most bitter enemies to Islam. Would our actions do the same?
The litmus test of love for the Prophet (pbuh) has always been how much of his Sunnah we bring into our lives. How much do we know about his blessed life? Do we know the names of his children? Do we know the names of his wives? Do we?
Are we living our lives with Islam as our cornerstone? This was, after all the very message for which the Prophet in whose name we are protesting, marching and calling for boycotts, endured such great difficulties. How many Surahs in the Quraan aren’t there where Allah consoles His beloved, reminding him that Moosa (pbuh) and other prophets too met with similar difficulties in their quest to spread the truth?
Do we read this Quraan? Do we know of the great weight that would descend on the Prophet (pbuh) during its revelation? Do we know of the time that revelation came to him while he was mounted on his camel? Do we know that the camel struggled with the weight of the words that were descending on his blessed heart?
So yes, we love our Prophet. We recognize his struggle. We would readily lay our lives down to protect his honour - perhaps, as readily as we rise to perform the five daily prayers; as readily as we recite the Quraan and make an all-out effort to understand it; as readily as we learn Islamic knowledge; as readily as we teach our children to perform their Salaat; as readily as we enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil.
Yes , we really love our Prophet (pbuh).
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