Friday, 14 September 2012
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Why films and cartoons of Muhammad spark violence
Just read an article (link), and just thought of sharing it here, as I think it does get to the actual reason why they act in such a way..While the motivation behind the low-budget video "Innocence of Muslims" remains unclear, the reasons it has helped fuel attacks and protests at U.S. diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa are both emotional and political, experts say.
While it is true that images of Muhammad are not allowed by Islamic law, that doesn't explain the violent reaction, said Hassan Shibly, an imam and civil rights lawyer in Florida who works for the Council on American Islamic Relations.
The reason for the prohibition in the Quran was that Muhammad wanted to discourage idolatry, he explained.
"The Islamic tradition forbade depictions of any prophet or any holy people so that people throughout the years don’t start worshipping the prophet," Shibly said. "God is supposed to be the focus, not Muhammad or Jesus or anyone else."Images of God, whom Muslims call Allah, also are not allowed because Muhammad believed that no picture could capture the creator, Shibly said. This is why the walls of mosques are typically decorated with abstract art and calligraphy.
The film, which has been blamed by some for fueling protests at U.S. diplomatic posts, including the violence at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, and Dutch cartoons that caused so much protest in 2005 caused outrage among Muslims because they were seen as ridiculing or criticizing the prophet.
"For Muslims, Muhammad is a sacred symbol," said John Esposito, a professor at Georgetown University. "Muhammad represents and embodies the religion of Islam. He’s not a god, but plays the role historically that Jesus played historically."
Images like these are now making their way, via the Internet to Muslim populations who have never before been exposed to sharp critiques of their faith, which also helps explain the level of anger they have stirred.
Esposito said the reaction resembles those in the West earlier in history.
He pointed to the uproar over 1988 Hollywood film "The Last Temptation of Christ." Director Martin Scorsese's adaptation of a book by the same name showed Jesus struggling with lust, depression and doubt, and engaging in sex — in his imaginings — before snapping back to reality and dying on the cross. That movie was seen as blasphemy by some Christians, who — though not violent — were vocal enough to prevent the film from being shown in many parts of the United States.
Shibly stressed that there is no justification for the violence that took the lives of the four Americans in Libya, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, on Tuesday. CAIR on Wednesday issued a call for Muslims to ignore what it called the "trashy" anti-Islam film and has condemned the killings.
"It’s so hypocritical for (the attackers) to do these acts in the name of the prophet Muhammad,” said Shibly. "Muhammad didn’t win over his enemies by violence, he did so through compassion."
However, he says that insults to Muhammad hurt deeply.
"Muslims love the prophets of god more than we love our own parents, more than we love ourselves," said Shibly. "When people attack Muhammad, it definitely hurts us on an emotion level. But, that said, it doesn’t justify the violence. That’s just totally unacceptable."
"Innocence of Muslims" features wooden acting, poor dubbing, awkward sexual moments and ham-fisted insults, with none of the production values of "The Last Temptation of Christ," or any serious exploration of Islam. Experts said it would almost certainly have remained obscure had it not ignited the protests and violence after being circulated in Arabic via the Internet.
So far, it remains unclear who produced the film, and who funded it. Initially, the maker was identified as an Israeli-American man identified as Sam Bacile. But by Thursday, published reports were suggesting that it was the work of a group of anti-Islam Christians.
The latest reporting suggests that Bacile is actually Egyptian-born Coptic Christian named Nakoula Basseley who lives in the Los Angeles area. The Copts are a minority in Egypt, and often victims of discrimination in the majority Muslim country, as well as attacks by extremists.
In a geopolitical context, said Esposito, the film plays right into the hands of extremists in the region who are using anti-American sentiment to advance their own goals.
"What we have here, and it’s significant symbolically ... on or around 9/11 (anniversary), two terrorist or extremist attacks in Benghazi and in Cairo. … They are attacking symbols of the U.S. They are playing to a population. … It would be anti-American, but (they are) using this (video) to legitimize what they are doing."
Shibly also wonders if the film itself was produced or circulated strategically to stir up well-known sensitivities.
"The sad thing is these people are doing it on purpose," he said. "And unfortunately these Muslims fell right into the trap."
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Okay, maybe I should clarify some of the things...
When I said this explains why the muslim act the way they did, what I meant was it explains why the muslim gets angry at such thing, which might seem to be a trivial and insignificant things to the others..
I also thought that it is clear from what was said in the article that, it however DOES NOT and NEVER justify any violence and the killings that took place, according to any standard, including islam...
When someone goes out creating havoc, violence, killings, etc, out of their anger, it is just unacceptable, and can never be justified... This statement applied to the islamic principles too...
And so my personal intention of sharing this post is nothing about that issue, because that is crystal clear..
My intention was rather to get the explanation out on why on earth the muslim gets upset and angry at such depiction of the prophet muhammad in the first place... Because I think such impulse in emotion is very much absent in other culture or religion, as it seems..
Again, as to what certain people then do when they are upset and angry, that is not and never justified..
(of course, as implied to what was also mentioned in the article, whenever this kind of things (the cartoon, drawings, video, etc) popped out, it would be to the delight to the extrimist, because they can use these things to advance their own goal, using anti-American sentiment they created.. The bad news is that there are actually many muslim in that region that are so uneducated about their own religion that they kept falling right into that trap, over and over and over again.. Sad, but true..)
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Comments (25)
"The sad thing is these people are doing it on purpose," he said. "And unfortunately these Muslims fell right into the trap." That is so sad and people are dead. The mob is responsible for their actions no matter what is the cause.
I am beginning to believe anything that evokes emotions is becoming a reason for violence all over the world.
In a time when we all should be working together for the good of mankind we are falling apart from the inside out through violence.
Sad.
The idea that some internet film stirred this up is preposterous. There's all kinds of anti-Mohammed and anti-Islam content on the internet, with cartoons. No, the film was simply an excuse. The rioting and murders and sodomizing of the American ambassador have been long-planned. The Obama administration is being manipulated very cleverly. The Islamists correctly perceive Obama as an anti-colonialist and are using this against him. Much of Islam in the Middle East is Islamist. Tensions will continue to grow in the Middle East and the incompetent American govt. will continue to be shamed, assuming that Obama is reelected.
If America continued to project power, then everything would change. The Islamists respect power and those nations which tend to favor America (European, Asian, etc.) would be encouraged.
If Islamists hate and despise anyone, they hate and despise American liberals as fools and for encouraging moral depravity. Islamists respect American conservatives because American conservatives hate moral depravity and understand that it's important for America to project power.
of course, what they did in anger is never justified, even according to their religion...
in the article, early on, it did say it condemned the violence, and also ""It’s so hypocritical for (the attackers) to do these acts in the name of the prophet Muhammad,” said Shibly. " clearly enough what they did is very wrong by any standard, including islam and prophet muhammad..
i shared this more to shed any light to the cause of anger for the muslim when such thing happens... because, from what i observed, in the west, such thing is very much a trivial thing, to poke fun at anyone, any figure.. why do these muslim can't take it as such too? that's very much what i hope the reader can see, why does muslim get angry at such thing..
again, when they act the way those few muslim acted in anger, in such a way, obviously no one can justify that, and it is very wrong including in the islamic teachings... so i think that is clear..
"In a geopolitical context, said Esposito, the film plays right into the hands of extremists in the region who are using anti-American sentiment to advance their own goals."
but this is what have been happening again and again... the extremist keep using this kind of things to stir up the muslim over there, for their own agenda... so they are, at least partially, to be blamed.. (those fall into the trap of these extremist can't run flome blame too, of course, because they are responsible for their actions)
i believe, yes it is, what you stated is true..
that is why if a muslim do worship muhammad, for instance, he has committed a major sin according to islamic teachings
When was the last time nuns of Saint Francis of Assisi stormed an embassy and murdered the ambassador and his aids?
It's time we quit making excuses for the Islamic Jihad. Slaughtering infidels is what they do.
in that sense, i would definitely agree with you