FREE SPEECH HAS LIMITS – POPE

Did we get that clearly? In zebra colours, the Pope said “If you insult my mother, expect a punch!” In his own words, Francis said: “If my good friend Doctor Gasparri [who organises the Pope’s trips] speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched,” throwing a pretend punch at the doctor, who […]

Did we get that clearly? In zebra colours, the Pope said “If you insult my mother, expect a punch!” In his own words, Francis said: “If my good friend Doctor Gasparri [who organises the Pope’s trips] speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched,” throwing a pretend punch at the doctor, who was standing right beside him. (See http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30835625 complete with a video showing that pretend punch). “You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit.”
How sweet the words of the Pope! Now, imagine for one second, that it was the Sultan of Sokoto or the Imam of Mecca or the Shaikh of Azhar or even Ayatollah Khamenei who said that! Just imagine that for a split second! All hell (and these clerics only call to heaven) would have broken loose! Just imagine the frenzy, the abuse, the castigation, the condemnation the international and local media and public commentariat would unleash on all of us! Alas! It was the irreproachable Pope that said it, so truly so, that the story, which would have been a real BANG otherwise, is ending as a BING!
Of course, the Pope’s point of reference is Muhammad, the noble Prophet of Islam. All of us, more than One and a Half Billion Muslims, love him beyond compare; beyond what others can understand or comprehend. They cannot get it, for they know not this kind of love. We love him more than we love our parents; indeed we love him more than we love ourselves! If you insult my mother, expect a punch. (And we didn’t say this, did we?) What if you insulted someone to me higher than my mother? SallalLahu alaika wa sallam, Ya Muhammad! (“May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you, O Muhammad!”)
Many writers and commentators the world over, writing in the spirit of “JE NE SUIS PAS CHARLIE!”, have said what no Muslim can say – that if you abuse my mother, expect a punch. It is a relief that throughout this week’s Column, not a single Muslim writer or commentator is quoted; decent people abound everywhere, in every religion, and many of them say, on this particular matter, more than we can ever say.
Arthur Chu, in his article “Trolls And Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie” on the Daily Beast (thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/09/trolls-and-martyrdom-je-ne-suis-pas-charlie.html), says: “…Charlie Hebdo is also a crap publication and people need to stop celebrating it and making martyrs out of its staff…I join with those who call for grief at the deaths of twelve human beings—but I’m not down with mourning the work that Charlie Hebdo was doing or standing up and saying “Je Suis Charlie,” like what they did was a holy mission…Let’s be real about what Charlie Hebdo is. Calling it ‘journalism’ isn’t quite right…They’re only even called Charlie Hebdo as an inside joke after the original publication, Hara-Kiri Hebdo, got shut down for mocking former President Charles de Gaulle immediately after his death…”
O Muhammad! O RasululLah! Peace and salutations of Allah be upon you!, upon whom be peace: O how we so love you; one and all of us! Each one of us billions loves you, O Muhammad, a billion plus loves! Yet some people, who do not understand us or our Prophet, think they can just play with your name and your person, and hide under freedom of expression or similar Western jargon. So we say to them, JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE! May our fathers and our mothers be ransom for you, O RasulalLah! SallalLahu alaika wa sallam, Ya Muhammad! (“May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you, O Muhammad!”)
David North, in his article “Free Speech” Hypocrisy In The Aftermath Of The Attack On Charlie Hebdo” on World Socialist Web Site (www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/01/09/pers-j09.html) says: “…In the midst of this orgy of democratic hypocrisy, no reference is made to the fact that the American military, in the course of its wars in the Middle East, is responsible for the deaths of at least 15 journalists…there is no place for any mention of the 2003 air-to-surface missile attack on the offices of Al Jazeera in Baghdad that left three journalists dead and four wounded. Nor is anything being written or said about the July 2007 murder of two Reuters journalists working in Baghdad….The American and international public was first able to view a video of the cold-blooded murder of the two journalists as well as a group of Iraqis—taken from one of the gunships—as the result of WikiLeaks’ release of classified material…”
Muhammad, upon whom be peace, left us more than 14 centuries ago, yet it is as if he daily lives with and amongst us. There is no day that passes without his name being called, and praised, by each one of our multitudes. To us, he is inviolable, undiscussable, unjokable. He is leave-alonable. We don’t joke with or about him. To us, Muhammad the Prophet is serious matter. In anything concerning him, we are, we swear by Allah, fanatical, fundamental, impatient. So we say to them, just leave him alone. We love him, O we do. You don’t, and you can’t understand! SallalLahu alaika wa sallam, Ya Muhammad! (“May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you, O Muhammad!”)
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, has said the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo “provoked” Wednesday’s deadly attack with its mocking cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. In a statement titled, “Muslims Are Right to Be Angry,” (catholicleague.org/muslims-right-angry/) condemned the killings, but also said Charlie Hebdo’s “intolerance” of religious figures is what prompted the attack. “Those who work at this newspaper have a long and disgusting record of going way beyond the mere lampooning of public figures, and this is especially true of their depictions of religious figures,” Donohue said. “For example, they have shown nuns masturbating and popes wearing condoms. They have also shown Muhammad in pornographic poses…”
The Catholic League founder said Muslims have opposed the “vulgar manner” in which the Prophet Muhammad had been depicted, going on to accuse newspaper publisher Stephane Charbonnier, who was killed Wednesday, of playing a role in his own death. “It is too bad that he didn’t understand the role he played in his tragic death. In 2012, when asked why he insults Muslims, he said, ‘Muhammad isn’t sacred to me,’” Donohue said. “Had he not been so narcissistic, he may still be alive. Muhammad isn’t sacred to me, either, but it would never occur to me to deliberately insult Muslims by trashing him…”
SallalLahu alaika wa sallam, Ya Muhammad! (“May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you, O Muhammad!”)
May both my parents be ransom for you! And may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Isa, Jesus Christ, and all the other Prophets of God, exalted be His Name.
And on the forthcoming elections, we are still at HasbunalLahu wa ni’imal Wakeel! (Allah is Sufficient for us and He is the Best Disposer of affairs!)