RESPECTING THE QUR’AN, AS WELL AS OTHER HOLY BOOKS

Ingrid Mattson, PhD
President
The Islamic Society of North America

Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician who broke with a mainstream national party to form his own extreme-right, anti-immigrant platform. Wilders has directed most of his hatred in recent years at Muslims. Wilders has called for the Qur’an to be banned and in the last few months has been promoting his “documentary” attacking the Qur’an. Wilders has intimated that the documentary will show a copy of the Qur’an being desecrated or destroyed.

Geert Wilders wants the Qur’an to be banned. Many Muslims want Wilders’ film to be banned. Wilders wants Muslims out of “his country” and to be denied the rights of other citizens to practice their faith. No doubt, many Dutch Muslims wish that Wilders would just go away (and Wilders has received threats of violence from some). Neither Wilders nor these Muslims will (or should) get what they want. Now what?

Many have looked to this situation only through the lense of the law. News articles have focused on threats made to Wilders’ life and the calls to ban his film. Of course, the threats are unacceptable and criminal. Wilders should be afforded the full protection of the law and those threatening violence against his person should be prosecuted.

As for the right of freedom of speech, Wilders’ film should be treated like other statements within Dutch law. The Netherlands, like most other countries, has certain restrictions on speech that is defamatory, libelous or insults a group of people based on their race or religion. The Dutch Prime Minister has publicly stated that if the film, once released, is judged to have violated the law, then his government has the duty to enforce their legislation. This treatment of Dutch Muslims as equal citizens under the law shows to the Muslim world that the Netherlands is not an enemy to Islam.

My plea is that we also need to look at this issue more broadly so we can find better ways of living together in a world in which there will always be people whose views and beliefs we find odd or even obnoxious. We should not justify or excuse extremism of any kind, whether they are racist and hateful attacks on the Muslim community or vigilante violence by Muslims against those who make such statements. What we should try to understand is why some otherwise ordinary people feel caught in the middle, and are sometimes attracted, in part, to the emotional appeals of the extremists.

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Muslims nations: Defame Islam, get sued!

Muslims nations: Defame Islam, get sued?
By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer

DAKAR, Senegal - The Muslim world has created a battle plan to defend its religion from political cartoonists and bigots. Concerned about what they see as a rise in the defamation of Islam, leaders of the world's Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols. It was a key issue during a two-day summit that ended Friday in this western Africa capital.

The Muslim leaders are attempting to demand redress from nations like Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and again last month, to the fury of the Muslim world.Though the legal measures being considered have not been spelled out, the idea pits many Muslims against principles of freedom of speech enshrined in the constitutions of numerous Western governments.

"I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy," said Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, the chairman of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference. "There can be no freedom without limits." Delegates were given a voluminous report by the OIC that recorded anti-Islamic speech and actions from around the world. The report concludes that Islam is under attack and that a defense must be mounted.

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مسلمانوں کو ہدف بنانے کے الزام میں کوئی صداقت نہیں: ہوم لینڈ سیکیورٹی

مسلمانوں کو ہدف بنانے کے الزام میں کوئی صداقت نہیں: ہوم لینڈ سیکیورٹی
عمران صدیقی
وائس آف امریکہ
March 7, 2008

اس رپورٹ کی ویڈیو

امریکہ کے ہوم لینڈ سیکیورٹی کے محکمے کے پانچ سال مکمل ہوگئے ہیں۔ وسیع تر اختیار کے حامل اس ادارے کا قیام امریکہ پر ستمبر 2001 کے دہشت گرد حملوں کے بعد عمل میں لایا گیا تھا۔ ہوم لینڈ سیکیورٹی کےبارے میں ایک عمومی رائے یہ ہے کہ یہ ایک سخت گیر ادارہ ہے جو دوسرے ممالک سے امریکہ آنے والے افراد ، بالخصوص مسلمانوں کو اپنا ہدف بناتا ہے اور انہیں طرح طرح سے پریشان کرتاہے۔ کئی ناقدین ہوم لینڈ سیکیورٹی کے رویے اور طریقہ کار پر نکتہ چینی کرتے رہتے ہیں۔

ہوم لینڈ سیکیورٹی نے اپنے بارے میں رائے بہتر بنانے ، حقائق کے اظہار اورشہری حقوق اور آزادیوں کے تحفظ کے لیےادارے کے اندر ایک شعبہ قائم کیا ہے۔ ڈین سدر لینڈ اور شارق ظفر اس شعبے سے وابستہ ہیں۔

ہوم لینڈ سیکیورٹی کی پانچویں سالگرہ پر وائس آف امریکہ سے گفتگو کرتے ہوئے انہوں نے اس الزام کی نفی کی کہ یہ ادارہ امریکہ آنے والے مسلمانوں کو بلاوجہ تنگ اور پریشان کرتا ہے۔ ان کا کہنا تھا کہ ہوم لینڈ سیکیورٹی ملک کی حفاظت اور اسے دہشت گردوں سے محفوظ رکھنے کے اقدامات کے ساتھ ساتھ ان افراد کے شہری حقوق اور آزادیوں کا بھی پورا تحفظ کرتا ہے جوملکی قوانین پر عمل کرتے ہیں ۔

سدر لینڈ اور شارق ظفر کا کہنا تھا کہ ہوم لینڈ سیکیورٹی کا ادارہ صرف دہشت گردی کی روک تھام کے لیے ہی کام نہیں کررہا بلکہ وہ قدرتی اور موسمی آفات میں شہریوں کی مدد بھی کرتا ہے۔

Original article

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Watch the full interview cuts on Humanity TV
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