Asalaamu alaikum-
I've learned much over the past couple of days with this "Draw Mohammed Day" tragedy. And one thing I've learned is that as Muslims we can sometimes be our own worst enemy.
As I've posted in another thread, who is it that has done the most advertising for this "event"? It wasn't the four or five thousand heartless kufar who laughed at the idea. It was the millions of Muslims who went insane over it. Yes, its a tragedy and an offense to us, but do you think our beloved Prophet himself - salallahu alayhi wa salaam - would have reacted the same way? They put camel entrails on his back while in sujood and he never retaliated.
Go ahead and remove your Facebook account in "protest" (trust me, Facebook probably won't notice as our profiles aren't revenue generating). But I think a better - and more Islamic way - for us to respond is to use today as da'wah, letting our non-Muslim friends know why this is such an affront to us and maybe also dropping in a little of the Sirah as well. But taking to the streets in righteous indignation and talking about death and destruction does nothing more than perpetuate the impression that Muslims are a powder keg waiting for a spark.
I started out the same way when this first came to my attention: standing from the rooftops, fist raised, yelling my anger at anyone who would listen. Then I realized who I was yelling at: my family, my coworkers, my friends. What kind of role model did I just set? So I backed up and apologized, and then explained to them why the Prophet s.a.w. was important to us and why we do not allow images of him s.a.w. and you know what? They understood and they supported me!
Maybe its just me, but I find that being instructive, informative, and patient earns much more respect than being constantly angry and defensive.
May Allah forgive me if I've said anything wrong here - it is entirely my own opinion, and Allah knows best.
Ma salaama
Daniel
I've learned much over the past couple of days with this "Draw Mohammed Day" tragedy. And one thing I've learned is that as Muslims we can sometimes be our own worst enemy.
As I've posted in another thread, who is it that has done the most advertising for this "event"? It wasn't the four or five thousand heartless kufar who laughed at the idea. It was the millions of Muslims who went insane over it. Yes, its a tragedy and an offense to us, but do you think our beloved Prophet himself - salallahu alayhi wa salaam - would have reacted the same way? They put camel entrails on his back while in sujood and he never retaliated.
Go ahead and remove your Facebook account in "protest" (trust me, Facebook probably won't notice as our profiles aren't revenue generating). But I think a better - and more Islamic way - for us to respond is to use today as da'wah, letting our non-Muslim friends know why this is such an affront to us and maybe also dropping in a little of the Sirah as well. But taking to the streets in righteous indignation and talking about death and destruction does nothing more than perpetuate the impression that Muslims are a powder keg waiting for a spark.
I started out the same way when this first came to my attention: standing from the rooftops, fist raised, yelling my anger at anyone who would listen. Then I realized who I was yelling at: my family, my coworkers, my friends. What kind of role model did I just set? So I backed up and apologized, and then explained to them why the Prophet s.a.w. was important to us and why we do not allow images of him s.a.w. and you know what? They understood and they supported me!
Maybe its just me, but I find that being instructive, informative, and patient earns much more respect than being constantly angry and defensive.
May Allah forgive me if I've said anything wrong here - it is entirely my own opinion, and Allah knows best.
Ma salaama
Daniel
? How many Muslims don't pray, or follow the sunnah, how many go against the sunnah, what abiut all the innovations and shirk that Muslims do. Ahhh I could go on and on. But no time. It is the Muslims that gave an evil image of Islam, the prophet saw and Allah, and not the kuffar.
wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
