Dear editor,
There’s nothing more inflaming to the souls of Muslims worldwide than insulting the Prophet Mohammad or desecrating the Holy Quran.
Islam bars any depiction of the Prophet, even a respectable one, for fear it could lead to idolatry. When France showed the insulting cartoons that ridiculed the Prophet, France argued it was free speech.
However, why no one in France screamed for free speech in 2008 when Charlie Hebdo fired one of its cartoonists for mocking former President Sarkozy’s son for converting to Judaism before he could marry a rich Jewish woman and that he married her only her money? That was the same magazine that published the 12 cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in 2015. The cartoonist sued his employer and was given hush money.
When Christians in Pakistan demonstrated against the movie “The Da Vinci Code” as they felt it was offensive to them, Pakistan banned the movie. This was done out of respect for the feelings of the country’s Christian minority and that Islam does not tolerate the degradation of any Prophet.
The Prophet commanded his followers to do good and to avoid evil acts. He set examples for others to follow, illustrated by the following:
Reach out for those who ignored you, give to the one who deprived, and forgive those who oppressed you.
He is not a believer whose stomach is filled while the neighbor to his side goes hungry.
Allah will cover up on the Day of Resurrection the defects (faults) of the one who covers up the faults of the other in this world.
He ordered his followers not to do the following during war: Not to kill children, women, the elderly, sick people, or injured soldiers or prisoners and to leave monks and those in places of worship alone.
Mahmoud El-Yousseph
