Insults against Islam – A Muslim’s Response

ON 24 FEBRUARY 2014.

Insults against Islam: A Muslim’s Response

Insults and propaganda against Islam and the Muslims are nothing new. It is rather inevitable. From the very inception of Islam, Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam had to deal with the insults of the disbelievers and hypocrites. He was mocked, ridiculed, sworn at, and attacked verbally and physically. This is part and parcel of what it means to be a Muslim.

Allah Ta’ala states: “They desire to extinguish Allah’s Light with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His Light thought the disbelievers hate it.”

We, however, need to assess how we respond to these situations and analyse whether our responses are contributing positively or not.

Typical scenario: Mr A. publishes an article on the internet lambasting Islam and making a wholesale mockery of the august personality of RasulullahSallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam. His article goes mostly unnoticed until it catches the eye of one Muslim reader.

The Muslim reader is naturally incensed and hence forwards the article link to all his contacts encouraging them to wage a verbal jihad against this villain who dared to write against Islam. Those who receive this message are similarly incensed and hence they forward it to their contacts and onwards. The bombardment then commences in earnest on the comments section. Arguments, counter arguments, insults and threats fly back and forth.

The outcome: An article that did not deserve to see the light of the day and was bound to fade into obscurity is thrust into the spotlight. A writer who the world didn’t care about achieves celebrity status. The critical question is, whose efforts provided this outcome?

The Finale: Mr A. goes on to write, with his now celebrity status, another article about the intolerance and brutish nature of the Muslims. His stance against Islam and the Muslims is further entrenched and we have achieved nothing but providing free publicity to the said individual.

The moral: Good intentions do not ensure good results. A good intentioned person throwing water over an oil or electrical fire is more likely to burn the house down and himself in the process, rather than extinguishing the fire. Hence, good intentions do not automatically equal good results.

The correct approach: If the article stems from a well-established organisation or appears in your local newspaper, then by all means protest. But if it is the ramblings of some nobody, why give it impetus? The same with anti-Islam websites. It is very easy to setup a page on the Internet. It is very difficult to draw traffic to it. The most anti-Islamic site will die if it receives no hits. That would happen if you just leave it alone. But if you are out there telling everyone about it and asking them to do the same, you are in effect volunteering as their publicity department.

If you feel you really must to do something about it, then put pen to paper and write your own article. Promote and propagate the goodness that is Islam, not as a comment on someone else’s article, but in your own independent article. Switch on the lanterns of Islam and darkness will automatically recede.

Jamiatul Ulama (KZN)