Though French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo claims that ‘comic’ book biography of the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has been edited by ‘Muslims’ and is ‘halal’, it has every reason to receive condemnations and in the worst case scenario, violent reactions from across the world.
Followed by outrage against amateurish film ‘Innocence of Muslims’, Charlie Hebdo had set the Muslim world ablaze through its ungainly caricatures. Yet its publisher Stephane Charbonnier could tell an international wire service: "I don't think higher Muslims could find anything inappropriate."
The reaction to the publication so far has been muted while an earlier anti-Islam film ‘The Innocent Prophet’ launched has been completely un-noticed since its mid-December launch.
Imran Firasat, who claims to be a former Muslim from Pakistan, collaboration with another anti-Islam American pastor Terry Jones, to produce the film in Spain.
The world has not lately seen angry Muslims taking to the streets despite several attempts to provoke them, all this at a time when Islamists are winning the elections, or leading uprisings against decaying tyrants in the Middle East.
Leave aside mocking cartoons, any depiction of the Prophet (peace be upon Him) is declared offensively invariably by all schools of thought in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqah).
The provocations recorded in 2011-2012 are not unique in nature. After Danish and Norwegian newspapers followed by other European publications displayed 12 cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) in 2005 and early 2006, embassies and businesses were set a light besides 200 lives being lost in the riots.
Though chain of events brought to the fore sensitivities of Europe's growing minority, yet no lesson was learnt.
In 2009, Yale University Press surveyed two dozen experts on Islam, terrorism and diplomacy whether it should use the cartoons in a forthcoming book. The university found out that none of the interviewee advised re-publication of the cartoons. The Yale respected their wisdom and refrained.
Yet there is no dearth of editors, film-makers and writers who simply don’t care. Salman Rushdie can be one case in point while this other ‘former Muslim’ Imran Firasat is the most recent example.
“I don’t feel as though I’m killing someone with a pen. I’m not putting lives at risk. When activists need a pretext to justify their violence, they always find it,” said Charbonnier, publisher of French publication told journalist, after people of 20 nations vented anger and violence at varying degrees.
Unlike mullahs in the Muslim world, whose intellectual grooming and societal exposure can be rated as minimal, the ethno-religious anarchists in the Christian world generally are no ordinary folks living on charity. However, the violent reaction of Muslims in the wake of such provocations feeds into the notion of clash of civilizations.
Stigmatizing the other qualifies as one of the primitive forms of ignorance. Since the industrial revolution and decline of Muslims, the West has portrayed them as rivals, repressive and medieval. Europe did away with clergy long ago and boasted of superiority over the Muslim, finding religious beliefs as well as personalities their most vulnerable spots.
Muslims, on the other hand, have stereotyped the Christian west as colonizers, devoid of moral values. Even today, in most Muslim societies, white western women are considered loose and non-believers in Christianity and the values it preaches.
With the fall of Soviet Union, Islam was characterized as the next threat to the world order, stereotyping of its followers became an accepted norm in political as well as social arena.
As the world increasingly saw Muslims as threat to global peace and prosperity and war were waged in Afghanistan and Iraq, an optimist rose from an unlikely region to introduce the phrase ‘alliance of civilizations’ in 2005.
Owing to two-year long efforts of Spanish Premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the UN Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC) had won mandate against extremism and to galvanize dialogue on issues of religion, race and culture.
Five years later, the UNAOC might have become globally recognized, its achievements are far too limited than ambitiously envisaged. Over the last decade, Europe has continuously slid into the hands of far-rightists who ban religious slaughter in The Netherlands, impose fine on veiled car driving by Muslim women in France and forbidding circumcision in Germany. Equally ironic is the fact that the US which could spend an estimated $135 trillion on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq too pays little attention to radical Evangelical Christians led by the like of pastor Terry Jones.
One cannot help believing here that the world has no institutions to bring such radicals to the table and generate a healthy dialogue. Though the UNAOC has so far held four international fora, the last one being in filthy rich Qatar, the mega events have become a way to show-off the host nation’s wealth and ambitions than anything more global. The ongoing event in Austria, on the contrary, may hardly bring together the necessary gray matter. Faced with serious economic difficulties, both UNAOC and the Austrian government are working to continue the ritual. Though the agenda focuses all the right issues, lack of follow-up on the previous forum and tangible goal setting for the next one remain missing links.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and European Union (EU) are the other global institutions with the desire and mandate to forge peace and co-existence. Despite its long history and much-trumpeted ambition of fighting Islamophobia, the OIC has failed to take the issues head on, partly due to its headquarter being in Saudi Arabia and partly owing to lack of consensus within the key members.
Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has made use of the organization’s clout in helping resolve conflicts in Somalia and the Philippines but the OIC has done little to speak for the rights of minorities in its member-states, a step that can become a major CBM with the West. Moreover, the representative body of 1.5 billion Muslims leaves much to be desired on Islam and the West front.
Simultaneously, the EU’s record is equally dismal. Marred by the notion of freedom of expression, the body has yet to effectively take up the question of immigrants’ integration.
The role Hollywood has been playing in stereotyping the image of Muslims qualifies due recognition. The entertainment empire can be more effective than collective action by OIC and EU. Owing to its sheer impact and financial strength, a focused strategy to sensitize directors, actors and producers about cultural, religious and racial stereotypes can transform abundant negative energy into constructive output worldwide.
Clichéd it has become to emphasize the role of media in opinion-making yet enough has not been achieved in practical terms. For example, Quran burning incident in Afghanistan was never covered by The New York Times unless the revenge attacks took the toll on the NATO troops, namely Americans.
May it be UNAOC’s Vienna Forum or OIC and EU-funded roundtables for thought leaders, their efficacy and success can be gauged through prevalence of tolerance and respect for the others’ choices. The institutions leading the cause for peaceful co-existence first need to address their own stereotypes from within.
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