Blaming the victim for Qur'an desecrations: Haroon Siddiqui Posted on: Monday, May 30th 2005
HAROON SIDDIQUI
Toronto Star
It is hard to believe but there are commentators who are berating those who protested the desecration of the Qur'an, not those who did the desecrating. This attitude of blaming the victims fits the tenor of the times. The colonial British and the French were also adept at holding the Indians and Algerians responsible for their own plight.
The pundits are being even more bizarre than the Bush administration, which skewered Newsweek for reporting the sacrilege, not those who committed it.
Even as the Bush administration continues its cover-up for presiding over one of the most shameful chapters in prisoner abuse, here is New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, reprinted in the Toronto Star no less, hectoring the Afghans and others for being stupid enough to take to the streets in dismay.
He is not alone, and he and the other new Orientalists are entitled to their views, as also their logical contortions to continue rationalizing the war on Iraq. But their myopia does cause concern.
Here are their arguments, with one person's response:Political opportunists in Pakistan and elsewhere hijacked the Qur'an incidents to whip up public fury.
Don't our politicians exploit every chance to advance their agenda and themselves, often at the expense of the common good? Aren't George W. Bush and other Republicans particularly adept at using religious and moral wedge issues?
Muslims should be up in arms about the killing of 17 fellow Muslims in the Qur'an protests.
Unlike the impression left of crowds lynching one another, most of those who died were killed in police shootings ordered by the pro-American governments of Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Hamid Karzai.
There has been plenty of criticism of that, which is not what Messrs. Friedman and others, shedding crocodile tears, are looking for. What they want is for Muslims to berate Muslims for being Muslim in a way not acceptable to America. Muslims must condemn "their culture of death," as demonstrated in the Qur'an protests and in suicide bombings, lately in Iraq.
Sure. But as a recent study by Robert Pape, professor at the University of Chicago, has shown, suicide bombings are not the exclusive preserve of Muslims. The Tamil Tigers, who happen to be Hindu, have been the leading user of that dastardly weapon.
More importantly, the Arab and Muslim world has had much to say, and with good reason, about America's "culture of death," as seen in the killing of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis in the last three years, and in the earlier deaths of an estimated 500,000 children in the American-led economic sanctions, and in American complicity by silence in Russia's butchering of more than 100,000 Chechens.
Why the soft-pedalling of such mass deaths but the frothy denunciations of the Muslim mayhem, which is minuscule by comparison?
All killings must be condemned. But honesty demands context and perspective.
Nobody mounts deadly demonstrations when the Bible or other sacred texts are violated.
This point has drawn two responses: the Qur'an plays a far more central role in the lives of Muslims than do the sacred texts for others, and, secondly, it's not the fault of Muslims if other believers, especially in the West, have lost their sense of the sacred (something the new Pope also complains about).
But that misses the greater principle: Having guaranteed freedom of religion, it is not for us to dictate how strongly some people might feel about their faith, so long as they operate within the rule of law.
The protests over the Qur'an episodes have been presented as the utterly incomprehensible actions of illiterate and irrational mobs. They are at one level. But on another, they are understandable — not justifiable but understandable — given the scandalous mistreatment of Muslims in America, Iraq and in Afghanistan, day after day, for more than three years.
Human Rights Watch, joining the international chorus of condemnation, confirmed this week that religious humiliation of Muslims has been widespread in American-run jails.
And Amnesty International, in one of its toughest reports yet, called Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our times."
Yet the media mostly ignored those reports. They were busy baiting Muslims.
One longs for the day in the future when we will be ready to look back at this dark period and hang our heads in shame.
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Haroon Siddiqui is the Star's editorial page editor emeritus. His column appears Thursday and Sunday. hsiddiq@thestar.ca
Muslims desecrate the Qur’an – daily Posted on: Wednesday, May 18th 2005
May 18, 2005
By Shujaat Wasty
The recent Newsweek report of the desecration of copies of the Holy Qur’an at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay resulted in many riots and protests in various parts of the Muslim world, particularly in Afghanistan, as well as in Pakistan, Indonesia and Palestine. The slight glimpse of unified Muslim anger sounded alarms for the Worldly Powers That Be, and intense pressure was placed on Newsweek to retract their story and to apologize. Of course, that is to be expected, as the principal enemy in this contemporary Crusade against Islam is the Truth – and those who dare speak it or support it.
The outpouring of emotion did show a glimpse that the spirit of Islam could possibly still be alive within the depths of the slumbering giant, also known as the Muslim Ummah. However, the first question that comes to mind is: considering this is a Crusade (as stated by Bush himself on numerous occasions) against Islam, was this really unexpected? What do people think happens during “interrogation”? Did people honestly expect anything different?
If this has come as a surprise, then the next question is: are we really that blind to reality? Apologists and those that wish to curry favour from the Crusaders often give the explanation that the word “Crusade” was used by Bush in “modern linguistic terms of warfare for justice”. Not only is that a horrifyingly inaccurate definition of what the Crusades really were, but the entire mechanism of attacking Islam in its geographical heartland and elsewhere, targeting libraries, mosques and religious artifacts, trying to strip Muslims of their honour, and attacking them physically, psychologically and on virtually every level is trivialized. Anyone who has somewhat studied history and other social sciences with an open mind cannot stop short of recognizing the Crusade.
These occurrences should be less of a surprise to Muslims than anyone else; Allah (swt) has already revealed in the Holy Qur’an that the enemies of Truth and humanity will do exactly that which they have been doing and are doing until today. He (swt) has mercifully also provided the solution to this major problem...which leads to the core issue: the true desecration of the Magnificent Qur’an occurs on a daily basis by none other than Muslims themselves.
Physical objects are but that, yet the spirit is reality. The enemies of Truth are expected to act in the barbaric fashion of destroying or disrespecting physical copies of the Holy Qur’an like they’ve done many times in the past; however, Muslims are the ones that disrespect the very spirit of the Holy Qur’an by ignoring it, by not adhering to its teachings, by abusing it as a cultural article of benediction.
On one hand, people are too intoxicated in the blissful nature of this illusionary world; we are so caught up with the insignificant matters of our everyday lives, completely submerged in the filth of our own greed of achieving materialistic gains, that we do not have the “time” to give any attention to the Blessed Qur’an. We keep it on our shelves in our homes, concealed within nicely-decorated covers, to be taken out – at the most – on occasions of marriage or death.
Many will recite it in Arabic with horrible pronunciation and never take the time to understand its meaning with the intention of applying it in our lives, while others will refuse to recite it in the beautiful language it was revealed in as a reactionary misdirection of their deep-rooted resentment towards the Arab people. Many others see it as a cultural nuisance which must be completed once to make the parents proud and earn respect within a social sphere, and have a big bash to celebrate the relief of “getting it out of the way”.
On the other hand, people who may have an inclination towards religion have been led astray by ignorant, uneducated mullahs with their social and cultural-based rulings that are not congruent with Islam, and the propagating of made-up tales that would make even Hans Christian Andersen green with envy. This has contributed to the general feeling of confusion and anger, which is subsequently directed at any person who may fit the appearance of having religious knowledge, including legitimate scholars.
Nevertheless, one cannot blame the mullahs either as the Holy Qur’an is there for all of mankind, therefore the responsibility is upon each and every one of us to turn to it. On the Day of Judgment, each one of us will have to answer for ourselves; blaming others will not be allowed nor accepted.
Ignoring the Glorious Qur’an is truly an insult to the life and efforts of the final Messenger of Allah (swt), Muhammad (saw). He did not leave a stone unturned in his attempt to bring us the message of Truth through the Qur’an. He and his companions suffered an incredible amount of hardship and sacrificed more than we can imagine so later generations, us, can have the Truth. Is this how we show our gratitude?
Most importantly, it is an insult to Allah (swt) to have His glorious words ignored. He (swt), out of His infinite mercy, blessed us with the Miracle of Miracles to help no one but ourselves. Is this how we show our gratitude?
Though the emotions and protests that resulted upon hearing the news of the Qur’an desecration are valid and can definitely be appreciated, things must also be put into proper perspective. The fact of the matter is that the responsibility of the covenant of being the Chosen People is not being fulfilled by Muslims, thus the horrible global situation of today. To know and understand Islam, the Holy Qur’an must be understood and given its due respect.
As the 2nd Caliph of Islam, Hazrat Omar ibn al-Khattab (ra), stated “We are a nation whom Allah honored by Islam, so however we might seek honor by any means other than that by which Allah has honored us, Allah, then, will certainly humiliate us”.
And verily, he was one who adhered to the Qur’an, whose character and words were truthful...and was one of the most honourable of mankind of all time.
FURTHER READING:
al-Jazeera. "HRW: US Islam abuse genuine"
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/907FDC5E-3AB4-4351-8FFA-B222F629E168.htm
Ivins, Molly. "Don't Blame Newsweek: Despite sloppiness, Newsweek didn't fabricate Koran story"
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0517-34.htm
Don't Blame Newsweek: Despite sloppiness, Newsweek didn't fabricate Koran story Posted on: Tuesday, May 17th 2005
by Molly Ivins
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0517-34.htm
As Riley used to say on an ancient television sitcom, "This is a revoltin' development." There seems to be a bit of a campaign on the right to blame Newsweek for the anti-American riots in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Islamic countries.
Uh, people, I hate to tell you this, but the story about Americans abusing the Koran in order to enrage prisoners has been out there for quite some time. The first mention I found of it is March 17, 2004, when the Independent of London interviewed the first British citizen released from Guantanamo Bay. The prisoner said he had been physically beaten but did not consider that as bad as the psychological torture, which he described extensively. Jamal al-Harith, a computer programmer from Manchester, said 70 percent of the inmates had gone on a hunger strike after a guard kicked a copy of the Koran. The strike was ended by force-feeding.
Then came the report, widely covered in American media last December, by the International Red Cross concerning torture at Gitmo. I wrote at the time: "In the name of Jesus Christ Almighty, why are people representing our government, paid by us, writing filth on the Korans of helpless prisoners? Is this American? Is this Christian? What are our moral values? Where are the clergymen on this? Speak up, speak out."
The reports kept coming: Dec. 30, 2004, "Released Moroccan Guantanamo Detainee Tells Islamist Paper of His Ordeal," reported the Financial Times. "They watched you each time you went to the toilet; the American soldiers used to tear up copies of Koran and throw them in the toilet. ..." said the released prisoner.
On Jan. 9, 2005, Andrew Sullivan, writing in The Sunday Times of London, said: "We now know a great deal about what has gone on in U.S. detention facilities under the Bush administration. Several government and Red Cross reports detail the way many detainees have been treated. We know for certain that the United States has tortured five inmates to death. We know that 23 others have died in U.S. custody under suspicious circumstances. We know that torture has been practiced by almost every branch of the U.S. military in sites all over the world -- from Abu Ghraib to Tikrit, Mosul, Basra, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
"We know that no incidents of abuse have been reported in regular internment facilities and that hundreds have occurred in prisons geared to getting intelligence. We know that thousands of men, women and children were grabbed almost at random from their homes in Baghdad, taken to Saddam's former torture palace and subjected to abuse, murder, beatings, semi-crucifixions and rape.
"All of this is detailed in the official reports. What has been perpetrated in secret prisons to 'ghost detainees' hidden from Red Cross inspection, we do not know. We may never know.
"This is America? While White House lawyers were arguing about what separates torture from legitimate 'coercive interrogation techniques,' the following was taking place: Prisoners were hanged for hours or days from bars or doors in semi-crucifixions; they were repeatedly beaten unconscious, woken and then beaten again for days on end; they were sodomized; they were urinated on, kicked in the head, had their ribs broken, and were subjected to electric shocks.
"Some Muslims had pork or alcohol forced down their throats; they had tape placed over their mouths for reciting the Koran; many Muslims were forced to be naked in front of each other, members of the opposite sex and sometimes their own families. It was routine for the abuses to be photographed in order to threaten the showing of the humiliating footage to family members."
The New York Times reported on May 1 on the same investigation Newsweek was writing about and interviewed a released Kuwaiti, who spoke of three major hunger strikes, one of them touched off by "guards' handling copies of the Koran, which had been tossed into a pile and stomped on. A senior officer delivered an apology over the camp's loudspeaker system, pledging that such abuses would stop. Interpreters, standing outside each prison block, translated the officer's apology. A former interrogator at Guantanamo, in an interview with the Times, confirmed the accounts of the hunger strikes, including the public expression of regret over the treatment of the Korans."
So where does all this leave us? With a story that is not only true, but previously reported numerous times. So let's drop the "Lynch Newsweek" bull. Seventeen people have died in these riots. They didn't die because of anything Newsweek did -- the riots were caused by what our government has done.
Get your minds around it. Our country is guilty of torture. To quote myself once more: "What are you going to do about this? It's your country, your money, your government. You own this country, you run it, you are the board of directors. They are doing this in your name. The people we elected to public office do what you want them to. Perhaps you should get in touch with them."
Desecration of the Qur’an: Who are the Real Culprits? Posted on: Friday, May 13th 2005
By Yamin Zakaria
The physical book (Holy Qur’an) may have been desecrated by the belligerent infidels in Camp X-Ray but the much larger desecration of the Qur’an is the flouting of its laws and values by the entire Muslim community (Ummah)! This is has been occurring for the last one hundred years or more and it continues without feeling any sense of shame or guilt as if this is the norm.
However, the large proportion of the blame falls on the various criminal regimes occupying the positions of power within the Muslim countries. Because, only those in power have the means and the responsibility to ensure that the society is governed by the Sharia Laws derived from the Qur’an and by inference include the Sunnah [1].
Part and parcel of the implementation of the Qur’anic laws and values means providing security for the Muslim Ummah. Far from providing security these regimes have become the biggest source of insecurity for the ordinary Muslim citizens. Below are four pertinent examples from many, highlighting this point of desecrating the Qur’an.
a) Saudi Arabia (Hijaz and Najd) and the other Gulf States
When the gruesome butchering of the Muslims took place in Gujarat, India, by the ‘vegetarian-cannibals’ there was hardly any response from the rest of the Islamic world. The regimes in the oil-rich Gulf States including Hijaz and Najd had the leverage to immediately remedy this situation by threatening to expel the Hindu workers. It would have worked as the migrant workers make huge contributions towards India’s balance of payments.
However, the criminal Arab regimes continued with business as usual. Moreover, the real tragedy is; - part of the wealth that flows from the Middle East to India end up financing the Hindu extremists that are targeting Muslims and Christians alike.
There are plenty of other examples that shows desecration of the Qur’an from the heart of Mecca and Medina, a pertinent one is the exhibiting of racism. Many of the government scholars preach about equality between the Muslims but yet a non-Saudi Muslim male cannot marry a Saudi girl by law. Thus, clearly prohibiting what Allah (SWT) has permitted. Surely, is this is an act of innovation (bida) as well as desecrating the Qur’anic values?
b) Iraq
Despite the gruesome events at Abu-Ghraib and the carnage in Fallujah there was virtually no response from the regimes in the Muslims countries. The so-called ‘Arab-unity’ looks to be going towards a permanent state of disunity and its only usage to date has been to isolate the non-Arab Muslims. Far from helping, they continue to allow the US forces to use their lands, air space and even provide the precious commodity of oil as fuel for the planes and tanks to butcher the fellow Muslims.
While the gruesome carnage continues, many of the influential Scholars continue to remain silent and even cooperate with the crusader infidels, propelled largely by sectarian interests. Ironically, betraying the house of the Prophet like the past betrayal was committed when Imam Ali and Imam Hussein marched for justice.
c) Pakistan
Parvez Musharraf claims he is “deeply dismayed" over the report that copies of the Qur'an were desecrated at the American jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. If Parvez Musharraf was genuinely dismayed, it should have led him to make the complaint to the US immediately after the report was published in Newsweek. Instead, Parvez Musharraf conveniently reacted to the riots in Afghanistan and considering the possible repercussion on the domestic public opinion.
What about the daily desecration of the Qur’an by the vulgar abuse hurled at the Prophet (SAW) from the main stream Western mass media with tacit approval from the head of the state, the Abu-Jahal (Bush) and Abu-Lahab (Blair) of today? Yet, Parvez Musharraf with the other cronies still continues to insist that the US war on terror is not a war on Islam and take pride in embracing the modern Abu-Lahab and Abu-Jahal.
Furthermore, did Parvez Musharraf ever express even an ounce of that sorrow for the thousands of Muslims killed in Afghanistan by the bombs and bullets of the US forces launching their attack from the soil of Pakistan?
Now remind me again, was Pakistan not created in 1948 to provide sanctuary for the Muslims, so isn’t the real dismay is how Pakistan is being used as a doormat by the US, shedding of the blood of the Muslims! Parvez Musharraf committed treacherous acts and continues to do so, that desecrate the Qur’an in a far greater way than the soldiers did at Camp X-Ray.
d) Afghanistan
Hamid Karzai, a US-based oil man, is making excuses for the US forces instead of issuing condemnation for the vile acts of Camp X-Ray. But then again how can he do that as hypocrisy also has its limits. He is the man who has been constantly shielding the Americans while they continue to commit their crimes against Muslims in the region. Who can forget the gruesome massacre in the Mazar-e-Sherif and in the fort of Qala-e-Jhangi where Taliban prisoner were executed en masse? Hence, there should have been many riots when the Qur’anic laws and values were desecrated by spilling the blood of the Muslims which is worth more than the Kaba (in Mecca) and its surroundings.
Conclusions
Another clear violation of the Qur’an that is applicable to all of the aforementioned cases is that, it explicitly forbids aligning with the non-Muslims against fellow Muslims. The Muslims are prohibited to fight one another and by greater reason by aligning with belligerent infidels to fight fellow Muslims to full fill their agenda. It is an act of apostasy; - deserves capital punishment and the wrath of the Muslim Ummah!
Indeed, the Qur’anic injunction makes it very clear for the obligation upon the rulers to provide security for the Muslims in general and especially to those who are insecure in places like India, Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan etc.
Hence, all the regimes have the obligation to act in their capacity to ensure that security is provided. The Prophet (SAW) clearly said that the blood of the Muslims is worth more than the Kaba (in Mecca) and its surroundings. Yet, if the Kaba was violated it would cause riots but if another massacre of Muslims took place it would simply get ignored!
Apart from the regimes, the ordinary Muslims must take responsibility for the desecration of the Qur’an as they continue to allow their rulers to conduct over them in this way. Even more bizarre are those who in the name of Islam are violating the Qur’anic injunctions. As an example in the recent UK general elections many had no problems in helping to re-elect politicians who were pro-war, in favour of shedding Muslim blood. Why, because they get their grant money to build plush Mosques and schools. They are in fact worshipping over the graves of the Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan for which they have become complicit.
Of course the desecration of the physical book is symbolic and designed to provoke the Muslims and cause maximum offence. Perhaps, the Afghanis and Iraqis should also retaliate by symbolically urinating on a banner that reads democracy! But why there is no anger displayed when the fundamental teachings within the book are flouted day and night. The reaction in the streets of Afghanistan and the silent anger that flows through our veins must be channelled so that we ourselves do not become complicit in the real desecration of the Qur’an by flouting its laws and values. Particularly, ignoring or remaining passive to the shedding of the blood of the innocent Muslim men, women and children from Palestine to Philippines.
Faith and Policy: Robertson spreads ignorance about Islam Posted on: Saturday, May 7th 2005
Saturday, May 7, 2005
By Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi
http://www.detnews.com/2005/editorial/0505/07/D08-174131.htm
On ABC last Sunday, televangelist Pat Robertson once again showed his love to America's Muslim community by saying he wouldn't like to see Muslims rise to top positions in the government and the judiciary.
Robertson and his colleagues have been spreading disharmony among our communities for a long time. He is engaging in the politically motivated demonization of Muslims and the Islamic faith, and assassinating the integrity and character of Prophet Mohammad.
May God guide the heart of Robertson and his followers, so they won't meet the Lord with this unacceptable ignorance about Islam, the religion Jesus taught.
To judge another tradition or nation and call it an enemy just because it doesn't agree with the greed, arrogance and political desires of people like Robertson would send a wrong message to the Islamic world. Rather than addressing the real issues, Robertson promotes the "clash of civilizations" theory initiated by Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington.
Our world is crying for healing and harmony. The medicine prescribed by people like Iranian President Khatami and late Pope John Paul II is to search for the common dignity of the human family, look and listen to everyone with the light of love and faith, and dedicate the days in this short life to the mission of peace, justice and salvation for all populations.
This is the original legacy of the heavenly prophets. Abraham came to teach us total submission to the will of God. Moses showed us that it was possible for a sincere and courageous shepherd with a small stick to fight the Pharaoh of his time despite his military and might. Jesus demonstrated the victory of love and forgiveness over ruthlessness and revenge. Mohammad was sent to manifest God's Wisdom to a society suffering from absolute ignorance.
There was some variation among those redeemers of mankind based on different times and places, but no place for division, discrimination, racism or prejudice in their teachings.
When some evangelical Christians call the Quran evil, they are also insulting Christianity and Judaism since these three religious traditions share the same essence. It is hard to fully understand the Hebrew and Christian Bible without studying the Quran.
For someone who reads the Quran with a healthy heart, there remains no doubt that this is a call for love, piety and spiritual guidance. It is totally unfair to call this a book of hatred and terror. For 13 years, Mohammad and his followers were tortured, persecuted and expelled from their homes before the permission for jihad against oppression and aggression was issued. Jews and Christians who lived in the first Islamic state in Medina were guaranteed protection of their lives, property and religious freedom.
The culture of war and violence must be replaced with dialogue and peace (salaam). The major jihad is the internal struggle for the sake of purifying the soul. Oppression, injustice, poverty, racism and corruption are against human rights and must be stopped. Taking one innocent life equals the destruction of all of humanity.
It's unfair that Robertson ignores the contributions of the Islamic civilization to Western civilization, and denies the contributions of the Muslim community to our country. As Karen Armstrong wrote: "If Islam is so bad, how come it is growing so fast in the West?" The fact is that Islam's rational approach to religion is very compatible with American values.
Religious differences must be discussed with wisdom and sincerity. As Robertson continues his attacks on our holy prophet, I like to finish with this Quranic verse:
"Their intention is to extinguish God's light by blowing with their mouths. But God will complete his light regardless of the rejecter's reluctance." (61-8)
Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi heads the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights. Send letters to The News at 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226 or (313) 222-6417 or letters@detnews.com.
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