Dishonoring the Holy Quran
The Holy Book of Islam has been disrespected by non-Muslims for ages. PHOTO: REUTERS
I heard about ‘International Burn a Quran Day’ through Facebook, as invitations to join pages against the event kept coming in. The first thought that occurred to me was ‘Oh no – here we go again!’
Yes, it’s not the first time that the Holy Book of Islam is being disrespected by non-Muslims. During the post-9/11 ‘War Against Terror’ campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, non-Muslim soldiers burnt and flushed Quranic scripts, to make Muslim prisoners angry and force them to retaliate or get a reaction out of them, find a reason to beat the prisoner up. It was also an insulting act, tragic for a holy book of any religion to get burnt and disrespected in front of its follower.
After the 9/11 attacks, the Council of American-Islamic Relations has been distributing thousands of copies of the Holy Quran amongst the local Muslims and non-Muslims. This year, as per a New York Times’ report, CAIR a group of activists who are pro-Islam, even wishes to present a copy of the Quran to President Obama as a gift for his speech during an exclusive Muslim dinner at the White House.
On the other hand, there is a group of activists working as a church against everything that they consider is against Christianity. It is a non-denominational church, that gives you reasons to burn the text, one of which is that the Holy Quran does not say Jesus is the son of God. This is, of course the major difference between the two religions, otherwise Islam could have been another denomination of Christianity.
The thing is, it is not only Muslims, but non-Muslims are also protesting or speaking out against the event . Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think there are non-Muslims and then there are the anti-Muslims. Amongst the anti-Muslims, there are Muslims and non-Muslims who disrespect Islam and it is this group that creates circumstances that go against a religion which talks of peace and Ikhlaaq.
In short, the Holy Quran has been a victim of anti-Muslims all along and in this case they burn it and humiliate it.
We as Muslims must protest against the anti-Muslims.
I consider events like the international burn a Quran day or drawing sketches of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a menace between religions and a cheap publicity stunt by those who want to be in the news. All I know is that according to Muslim belief, Allah has ordered protection of the Holy Quran. I am saying that we should protest, but we should also not consider Christian communities around the world as people working against Muslims and Islam all the time.
Protests should be peaceful, maybe like the ones on Facebook. We should not make the same mistake that was made after 9/11 attacks, because of a single group, a whole religion was made a victim of a terrible never ending war. This was wrong and cannot be mended easily.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune.
anti-muslims among muslims? which ones?Recommend
very well written Allah bless you,taking the courage to write this otherwise most of the Mummy Dady blogger have no sense of such issuesRecommend
@Abid.Our ‘more loyal than the King’..LIBERAL FUNDOS.And still they will have the cheeks to trace the cause of the incident to the Taliban/AlQaeda…and give the NonMuslim(Christians in this case)’FUNDAMENTALISTS’(They will never be called the ChristianISTS)a safe passage. And then we brush the “Clash of the civilizations”theory under the carpet…because Hazrat Bush ‘clarified’ his PROPHECY.Good work Tehreem,may the Lord of Jesus(peace be upon him)bless you.Recommend
I agree with you Tehreem. A peaceful protest is always efficacious as the Anti-Muslims (as you put it correctly) derive pleasure from igniting fury among Muslims by carrying out sacrilegious acts and we do nothing but set our own belongings ablaze. But one of my concerns remain unanswered and I am still not convinced whether banning a particular website would help or not? Suppose FB is banned for the purpose of protesting, what if the same occurs on some other website? How many times would we be banning websites?Recommend
Refined Column!
I agree with you Tehreem.
And I like the way you distinguished b/w Non Muslims and anti-Muslims. We must realise that not every non-muslim is anti Muslim.Recommend
Well, the West is only burning books not people! That distinction goes to our own homebred Islamic extremists. To be fair, lets talk both sides of this picture. Unfortunately, tit-for-tat is human nature, even for civilized humans!
AhmedRecommend
I just hope Muslims across the world and especially in Pakistan dont start persecuting Christians as a reaction. This game is going to get dirtier by each passing day.Recommend
The Anti Muslims among the muslims, are the Muslim, who are afraid of the Principals of Islam and by wearing the dress of modernization they do not leave a single chance to de-motivate and insult the Muslims.
These Muslim Anti Muslims can be found in your plitics and your society and they also are being used by the Anti Islam Non Muslims to get their targets up.
As the history says, Islam from the tenure of Hazrat Usman (RA) till today is being hited by the “Anti Muslims among the Muslims”
I am proud of being Muslim and I love to Practice Islam, Do You ?
Regards
Shakil Ahmed
Karachi.Recommend
since some of the actions of muslims are even unacceptable to Islam and the Muslim community. due to difference of religion any thing positive favoring muslims cannot be expected from those who do not believe in GodRecommend
well of course.. it is very tease-able to every Muslim…we know that the propaganda against Islam flourishing day by day ..but ist we have to realize the facts…. propaganda , objection was too much in the period of our prophet PBUH …non Muslims killed true believers,anti Islam movement was on peek ..but lets check the behavior of our beloved PROPHET PBUH.. very peaceful, very elegant, very soft..due to their behavior HE won the hearts.. now just look at present time.. A Stupid person has made cartoons.. we are select violent protest. we burn our house himself.. we destroy our own home himself..did MUHAMMAD PBUH and HIS sahabas done that ?? no .. so their is need to clarify west .. we must have to show the right and real way of Islam to them… if we protest ..if we adopt violence .. than obviously the image of Islam will be negative.. on the other hand.. Allah said on Quran that HE have duty to live and protect the Quran HIMSELF forever.. so no protest is required.. patients is the key to pours positive image… however the governments of Islamic country must have to wright officially to them to plz stop that.. it will create panic.. these days ..the world is become war zone.. who is responsible.. lets have a look .. islam is the most peace full relegion but why every terrorist belongs to Muslims .. ? the fact is that majority of ULMA ,religious leaders are responsible for that.. they spoil the feelings and emotions of common men saying that the west is kafir , we must launch jehad.. etc this is why all world observes mis understanding about Islam .. so we must have to change our-selves.. in Pakistan .. i am sure after some days it will be huge protest rally .. the protesters will burn tires.. block roads , chants slogan against USA, burn flags of western nations.. than obviously the violent culture of islamic ummah will be increase.. so we must be change.. remove the word “protest” use the word “clarify”
thanksRecommend
The best protest against the people blasphemous to the Quran is to reform ourselves in the true Islamic spirit.Recommend
Around the world, muslims thing themselves to be the only pious and holy creature having the right to heaven.. moreover i dont thing there is anyother religion whose followers provoke others as much as muslims do… Muslims treat non-muslims as second class human beings (and not even humans in many cases)
So get yourself sorted out before trying to change the other person.Recommend
Excellent !!
The perfect approach..this article needs to be circulated.
Hats off Girl !!Recommend
You’ve raised an excellent point. People often assume that all Americans are evil and anti-Islam. So far, I’ve seen two media personalities speaking out in defense of Park 51, and neither are affiliated with Islam in any way. Plus, every religion has been persecuted against in some form or the other throughout history, whether it be in England, or in Germany, or just against the Muslims.Recommend
You cant deny that bible and other holy books are burnt in our streets.. i havent seen anybody hate Jews as much as we “so-called” Muslims do so all they are doing is just return the favorRecommend
Thank you readers, I really appreciate your comments. Very encouraging indeed. Remember, out of all the things, Pakistan is also blessed with people who think. We don’t need to fight but we can always argue logically. And then, of course express peacefully. What Pakistan is going through right now, can be any nation’s worst nightmare but you can always wake up and the nightmare will be over.Recommend
Tehreem you haven’t answered my query yet?Recommend
Very sane approach and discussions here . May this becoome the seed of a popular movement.Recommend
@ Sarah B. Haider
In my opinion, and this is purely subjective, banning a website does not make a difference as far as website revenues are concerned. When Facebook was banned, I was one of those who argued the most against it. But later, I realised that it was a protest of its own sort. We could have banned a particular page but that would not have counted as a protest. Facebook is a social networking site, so banning it could be considered as a protest. As far as sites that are not social networks are concerned, let me assure you, banning them would not change a thing. Plus, I can live with a blocked website, rather than having people breaking public property in the name of a protest. :)Recommend
@ Shakil Ahmad “I am proud of being Muslim and I love to Practice Islam, Do You?”
Wow! Ain’t someone touting his horn of piety a bit too loud? Humility calls for turning the knob of your arrogance and self-righteousness several notches down.Recommend
let me correct u .
there are muslims who are strong, weak, and don’t know jack about their own religion/deen and this is what determines our individual faith(imaan).
there are non- muslims: ahley kitaab( people of the book) jews, christian, since they are of monotheistic faith.
then there ARE THE kufaars whom will never stand shoulder to shoulder in the saaf to make bond of acceptance to ISLAM and whom have riteousely declared legiance with those that will do anything to bring down the word of allah( one god) which thorough the last prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was settled in to finalize the practice of islam with the way of living, this is to say all the prophets since the bigiinning of time FROM Adam peace be upon him have been the same message to show the people how to live acccording to the rule adn order, THIS ORDER is waht allah wants for his creation adn it continues all the way on for all the societies as they evolved and grew in time.
we all fall away from the morals of life , we r human this is why we have faith in one creator whom has given us th elight to be in this world inorder to spread good and that may we reject hell and lead into paradise(jannah).
if they wish to burn the koran, lets call it the QURAN how it is intended to be adn if u are to as a muslim to stand up and protest then good alhumdullillah but do it the way a muslim is suppose to. this depends now on whcih one of the definintions you and me fall into.
do i turn the other cheek? do i ignore it? do i make a petition to OBAMA and ask for a will to say hey can u pklease tell that kkk lookin gran master turned pastor to please not burn my holy book.
honestly i can say that this is a act of kuffirism, a person filled with jahaalat( ignorance) but we must not reaact to this ONE man’s action or retort that has the WORLD corner to corner filled with this UNEEASE a quezy filleing of eerie. WHAT DOES THE WORLD EXPECT NOW, eid mubarak and happy end to ramadan? only allah hu alim.
let the kaafir do its unjustact adn let a muslim stand his/her ground.
ALLAH HU AKBAR
ACT RIGHT MUSLIMRecommend
The burning of the Quran is a big deal?? Was it a big deal when they burned the American and British flags in their country? How dare you come to America and Great Britain and push your religious beliefs on everyone else. As they say. When in Rome. And the building of the Mosque anywhere close to Ground Zero in New York?? My gosh!! They might build it but I am sure it wont stay there long. Americans can only be pushed so far.Recommend
@malu:
Late in reading this, but you just contradicted your own constitution several times in that comment (assuming you’re an American). Shame. You should try reading it sometime, it’s a wonderful document. If you’re an American as I am, try honoring our nation’s values.Recommend