TRUE Islamic response to cartoons of disgrace.

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Nowadays this topic has bothered a lot of people. Whether those newspapers were right or not and whether the way Muslims have reacted, is it right or not? Before explaining this first of all I would like to talk on another issue which relates to this. There is a question raised by some people that whether Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a warrior and did he spread brutal teachings? To reply to these allegations first of all I would like to emphasize on the early days of Islam. In the beginning when Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) claimed that he is a prophet of God, majority of people didn' t welcome this claim. They started persecuting him and also to whoever converted to Islam. Following are only some examples: Hakim bin Abila, the uncle of Usman bin Affan, tied him with a rope and beat him up. An uncle of Zubair bin al-Awam wrapped up his nephew in a mat and smoked him through his nose. Saeed bin Zaid and Labina, a slave girl, were beaten up by Omar bin al-Khattab. Abu Jahl beat Zinnira, another slave woman. The Quresh often used to hit Suhail bin Sanan. Bilal was a slave of Omaiyya bin Khalf. His master would order him to lie on hot sand. He could then cover his naked body with burning hot stones and drag him in the street. The Quresh did not stop at that. They made Khabab bin Alarat lie on coal fire. Abu Jahl speared old lady Samiya to death. Muslims bore their troubles patiently. They remained calm. Their faith in God and His Prophet was firm. Even one Muslim woman was martyred in such a shameful way that her one leg was tied to one horse or camel and other leg was tied to another horse or camel. And then both were allowed to run away in opposite directions. But Muslims remained calm. Their faith in God and His Prophet was firm. They even tried to killed Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) but in vain. In this world a man always start some new movement mainly because of 3 reasons. First that he might want to get power, secondly he might want wealth or thirdly because of some woman. But Prophets of God never have these purposes. The leaders of Mecca (Quresh) also thought in the same way to offer Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) all of above 3 things so they offered all of above to Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). But he not only rejected this offer but replied "O Quresh, I do not want any of these things. I am a Prophet of God. I have been sent to you with a message. If you hear me, it will be to your good. If you do not I will patiently wait on the Lord." He also once said that “God is my witness, that even if they were to place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I would not desist from preaching the truth with which God has sent me.” The Quresh (a tribe which was leader of Mecca) next decided to boycott the Prophet, his family and friends. They agreed in writing on the cruel step. The document was placed in the Kaaba. The Banu Hashim the family of the Prophet and the few Muslims who were with them at Mecca, camped in a pass in the hill. This place was called Shaab-i-Abi-Talib. The boycott lasted three years. Muslims had no provisions. They could not buy anything. Nobody would sell them any thing, not even food. At times they lived on leaves of tree. When children cried for hunger, the Quresh heard the cries and laughed. Some good men among them did not like this cruelty. But they were few and weak. This whole persecution in Mecca didn' t last for 2 or 3 years. This lasted for 13 years. Then Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was forced to leave Mecca so then he migrated to Medina. But still people of Mecca don' t want him and his followers to live in peace. They forced a war onto Muslims and Muslim and Quresh fought their first battle at Badr. Remember that this was first battle in the history of Islam in which Muslims were only 313 and people from Mecca they were 1000 with 800 mounts and 300 had armour but Muslims only have 30 mounts and 2 armours. And those Mecca people they were war barbarians but majority of Medina people were farmers. Well that was the time when if there is no God or if Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) wasn’t true prophet of God then he can easily be ruined by those Mecca barbarians. But what happened? The Muslims won. Later on there were also some battles but all of them were defensive. Well all of those battles which Muslims fought till the day when Mecca was conquered there wasn' t even a single battle in which Muslims were in more number than their opposition. In every battle their enemies were stronger than Muslims. But every time Muslims won. Finally the day came when Muslims conquered Mecca as it was promised by God to Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) many years ago when he was in Mecca and didn’t migrate to Medina. He entered into Mecca with 10000 men. Forces of Islam made a peaceful entry into the town. Now how Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) treated the people of Mecca? Well according to any law of world this is justice that if he had killed all of people of Mecca for whatever they have done to him and to his followers in past. Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) asked the Meccans, “O Quresh, what kind of treatment do you expect from me?” They said, “Mercy.” He answered back, “There shall be no action against you today. Go, you are all free.” Now if he was a warrior and liked war and bloodshed very much then this was the time when according to any law of world if he had killed all of them, then it was justice. But Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was mercy for all peoples. He had forgiven all of them. Throughout the life of Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) many people called him with bad names, tried to insult him. But he never ever assassinated them because of it. So now what is the true way to respond to these disgrace cartoons? Well over here first of all I would condemn the behavior of those newspapers that portrayed Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in an offensive and uncouth manner. The freedom of speech has been used as an excuse, the media has a responsibility to respect the spiritual sensitivities of all religions. We live in a multireligious society in this world and it behoves us all to understand each other, to respect each other' s belief and to live in peace and harmony. Now the way how some Muslims have reacted by acting violently in protests are not the teachings of Islam. This is wrong reaction of certain Muslim leaders. Well the best way is to tell the true teachings of Islam and Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to those people who have done this wrong thing. And this is what true Muslims did, not now, 3 – 4 months ago in Denmark. They had a conference held with those cartoonists and told them true peaceful teachings of Islam. And later on one cartoonist among them said that if he had this kind of conference before then they never had made those cartoons. The majority of Muslim world is in favour of accepting the Danish apology however a handful of Muslim ‘leaders’ are taking awkward approach. Response of a true muslim to these matters should be in line with the values of Islam. As a Muslim we must ever reform our own ways and put an all out effort to demonstrate true Islamic values in our actions. There should be uniformity in what we say and what we do. Instead of burning down buildings and flags, we should ignite a fire in our hearts, ‘the fire of love for our Prophet and to follow his true peaceful teachings. Our objective cannot be achieved by destructive methods. God sent the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as ‘Rahmatul Lil-A' lameen’ (mercy for all mankind) We should demonstrate his benevolence and love and mercy for others and for this, Muslims have to bring a change in their attitudes. Moreover we should emphasize a lot on pray. In the end I should say that the duty of Muslims is to tell these people the truth and should write articles and letters to the media. Enlarge the circle of their contacts. Most importantly, they should imbue among themselves the beautiful character-traits of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and also pray for those people. However, if the Western Media does not desist from mischief, then the matter should be left in the hand of our Living God. He has the power to punish them. God has promised in Holy Quran that [33:58] Verily, those who malign Allah and His Messenger - Allah has cursed them in this world and in the Hereafter, and has prepared for them an abasing punishment. Note: - 33:58 means 33rd chapter of Holy Quran and 58th verse of this chapter. And we have seen this promise coming true since last 1400 years. God bless you.