READER COMMENTS

One of the things that are very offensive and which hurt the dignity of nations, and indeed become a cause for dissension and popular anger, is mocking religions and making fun and deriding any form of religious creed. The Islamic world and the Muslim Community, and indeed Christendom and the Copts all over the world denounce the offensive film about the Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and they have stated that this is an idea that is devoid of any culture or civility or any form of freedom, whether it be of opinion or expression. First of all, how could we portray the Messenger of Allah in a film to be viewed by people? The Messenger of Allah cannot be represented by anyone in acting. Secondly, how could we depict the Messenger of Allah as a womanizer and portray him as a hedonist who adores women? And the question that intelligent thinking people should be asking is how could a messenger from Allah the Exalted and the Magnificent come to people without having a good moral character, and indeed having the highest morals in the whole world? This film unfortunately shows the lack of general knowledge and culture, even about religions. We, as Muslims, believe in Jesus and Mary, and we believe in all the messengers and prophets that were sent to humanity, and even more than that, we respect all the creeds and beliefs of all nations in the world, even those that are not monotheistic. In fact, it is our duty to invite them to monotheism only. The Messenger, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, lived together with the unbelievers in the beginning of his life and his call, and he did not ridicule them. Rather, his stance was as if he were saying to them how could you worship idols that cannot bring anything good or bad? How can you pray to so many idols instead of to Allah the Exalted and the Magnificent alone? How could you worship idols made of dates and other statues and then eat them? How could that happen? And the Messenger of Allah used to invite them to Islam with utmost compassion, and indeed he would explain the faith to them and the principles of monotheism and patience in the face of trials and patience until the will of Allah the Exalted and the Magnificent is done, as he is the knower of the unseen and the future, and he has power over everything.

Peaceful demonstration is one of the features of a civilized nation, and it is also a sign that a nation is advanced, and we see that in many of the western countries while we do not see it in the Arab countries. Why? Because the western countries guarantee freedom for their people, just like they guarantee all their human rights, and they deal with them as human beings whose humanity is respected, and the government provides all the means that allow the western man to live freely and democratically. This leads to freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, and also the awareness and understanding of the demonstrators that the property of the state should be preserved, and that they should not set fire to cars and destroy buildings as we saw happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and all the Arab countries where the Arab revolutions have taken place.