By AW Siddiqui
The Innocent Prophet is an anti-Islamic movie. It’s another addition in the long list of anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim propaganda items, created by Imran Firasat, a Pakistani married to an Indonesian Budhist, who now lives in Spain.
The movie is promoted by US pastor Terry Jones, best known for his plans to burn Quran on the ninth anniversary of 9/11, and has become notorious for anti-Islam publicity stunts [1].
The pair described themselves as 50/50 partners on the film. Imran Firasat, no doubt, has chosen the best partner to promote his creation, which is going to make him rich and famous quickly. That could well be the idea of the pair. Islam and Muslim haters will soon be lining up for their interviews and media appearances.
Firasat claims to be an ex-Muslim who became somewhat notorious in Spain for an attempt to ban the Quran. He thinks that Muslims around the world don’t understand prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as well as he does. He also claims to have gained his information about the topic by reading translations of the Quran.
He claims that he was rejected by his family for marrying a Budhist, and tortured by Pakistan police. One may wonder why Pakistan police spared Imran Khan for marrying a Jew but decided to torture Firasat for marrying Budhist.
Whether or not Firasat is lying about his situation in Pakistan, which he may have used to obtain an easy asylum in Spain, it’s obvious to see that he has a personal vendetta against his native country, and the Muslim world.
Regardless of what Firasat and Terry Jones are promoting, their effort is not new. There were Firasats and Terrys in Prophet’s (pbuh) time too, and there have been many more after that. What have changed recently are the intensity, techniques, and the means of communication.
According to the Time magazine of 16 April 1979; in a span of 150 years, from 1800 to 1950, more than 60,000 books have been written against Islam/Muslims. That is more than one book per day. After 9/11 it reached to an epidemic level – perhaps multitude of books, articles, opinions, news items, videos and movies every day [2]. And it’s not just the Christians, Jews or non-Muslims who have produced these items, there are ‘Muslims’ too.
But there is nothing surprising when I see the volumes of the material produced against Islam, because there have always been battles between Truth and Falsehood, Good and Evil, and, Justice and Injustice. The volumes of propaganda material that have been created are the testimony of these battles. The good news, however, is that when the battle intensifies, Islam benefits. That is, perhaps, Allah’s way of sequencing things.
Every time the battle intensifies, more non-believers revert to Islam. Every intense battle brings more Muslims closer to their religion.
The question, however, remains; should Muslims be the silent spectators of these propaganda onslaughts, or should they respond. And if they do need to respond, then how?
Following are some of the practical ways Muslims, and fair-minded non-Muslims, should respond to situations like ‘The Innocent Prophet’;
1. Provide clarification to the media by writing to the editor, and oppose the item that was published.
Unlike Jews, Muslims seem to remain passive in situations like these. They need to write to the publishers to express their objection and disappointment, and request them not to publish such items in future. Do this on a regular basis, without getting tired.
For outlets like YouTube; report the offensive item by using their Report feature. You can also ‘thumbs-down’ the offensive videos or comments. You can write your own non-abusive comment, and ‘thumbs-up’ the good comments. This action is supposed to rank up or down the video, or the comments.
2. Write: Those who can write Article, Opinion or News item, should do so. Write items that negate or neutralise the Islam phobia and anti-Muslim propaganda. There are various outlets and internet portals available to do so. One such portal is UMMnews.biz. This news portal is to counter the hatred and negative perceptions being spread by the mainstream media.
3. Lobbying: This is a very effective approach, especially in the Western hemisphere. Zionists are the masters of this approach. They have created organisations such as AIPAC to lobby American Government for Israel.
Form your own lobby group and then lobby to stop the propaganda, or to promote your cause.
4. Political action: Write to the relevant department of your government to take actions against the entity causing the problem. Ask them to blacklist a company, or cut the diplomatic relations with certain country. Ask the government not to issue a visa, or to deport a person visiting your country, who is known for spreading hatred or anti-Islam propaganda.
5. Peaceful demonstration/protest: Peaceful is the key word here. If it’s not peaceful then you will misrepresent Islam, and add to what the enemies of Islam are trying to prove. Make sure to get necessary permissions from the authorities before you go out and protest, and follow the rules.
6. Economic pressure by boycotting a product or company: Boycott the products and companies that sponsor anti-Islam or anti-Muslim propaganda and activities. An assessment should be made for the effectiveness of your boycott. For example; boycotting a product sold in America will be ineffective due to a small number of Muslims living there. But boycotting a product sold worldwide could be very effective.
Also, pick the product or company, which, if boycotted, will not hurt ordinary Americans, because they are not the one causing the problems. Boycott those which have minimum effect to ordinary people but maximum effect on problem companies. Not drinking certain brand of cold drink, for example, will be very effective because manufacturing of these drinks are mostly automated with minimum human involvement.
7. Legal action: If you can afford it, and it’s effective, then sue the person or organisation that is trying to defame your religion. For example; CAIR in America sued NIKE company which had ALLAH inscribed in the sole of the shoes they produced. Case was settled outside the court and NIKE paid a significant amount for damages. The money received was used on Muslim charities.
8. Pray: Ask Allah’s help if you are a victim. Ask Allah to help those who are being hurt and victimised. Don’t underestimate the power of asking Allah. His help may seem a bit slow, but it will be there – often in the form of its own.
9. Don’t watch The Innocent Prophet movie: Yes, it may sound inward looking, but watching this movie is no different to watching any other propaganda item. Why would you waste your one and half hour for that. It would rather be a better use of that time to read some quality literature on prophet Muhammad (pbuh), written by some established scholars. Some of those scholars have spent their life time researching on prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Imran Firasat is not a scholar.
One thing that Muslims MUST NOT UNDERTAKE, is violence. Your religion does not teach you to apply violence. There are exceptions, but they are just that - EXCEPTIONS.
By applying violence you become a tool of the individuals or groups trying to defame your religion. That is the exact way they want you to react when they hurt you - physically and/or emotionally. Keep in mind that you have a choice – to react the way they want you to – or to apply your brain and be different - mature, civil and with higher discourse – the way Quran and Sunnah of our prophet (pbuh) expect from us.
Anyone who has read the Quran knows that Allah has recorded multiple occasions when his prophets were ridiculed, insulted, made fun of, and rejected in the most obscene ways. Prophet Nooh (Noah) complained about how people found him disgusting. Bible quotes Jesus crying to God, ‘why thou forsaken me’, when the insults and torture became unbearable. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is no exception in that regard.
The prophet (pbuh) was advised, in the Quran, to be patient to whatever they say. That means not just what they had said to the prophet (pbuh), but also what they are saying, and what they will say in the future. Quran asked the prophet (pbuh) to be patient – not to be angry. There is nothing in the Quran that justifies our anger when the prophet (pbuh) is insulted.
We should rather feel sorry about the people like Imran Firasat, who try to insult prophet (pbuh), because they can’t. They cannot take away the honour that was given to him by Allah. Nothing on earth can take it away – no articles, cartoons, movies, books and jokes will be able to take away the dignity of the prophet (pbuh). [3]
So I say; be patient, be polite, be civil, and be wise. Preserve yourself and your generation. If you can’t help getting angry, then convert your anger to productive energy - work hard, excel in what you do, play soccer (or whatever game you like), jog, clean your house and its surrounding, help your neighbour and others, persevere, and remember the old saying;
Every dog has his day – this is their day.
Genghis Khan established the largest empire the world has ever seen. Where are they now? Genghis killed millions of Muslims; but most of his offspring, and bulk of his army reverted to Islam. That is Allah’s way of protecting his religion.
Reference:
1. http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-innocent-prophet-2012-11?r=US&IR=T
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJGOnt6lXX8
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6zuKbBlmRo
Note: Copying and republishing of this article is allowed with the condition that it’s not changed. Please share this item with people you know before the film is released, and hope that their response will be wise.
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of UMMnews.
