A piece of news that recently caused some havoc in the west was about the cancellation of the publication of a book entitled ‘The Jewel of Madina’. The book is said to be about the life and times of Aisha, the youngest bride of the Prophet of Islam and has been rated as a ‘national security risk’ by a famed commentator in the US.
The book has been withdrawn by Random House, which said it feared that publication of the book could "incite acts of violence". Critics, however, have accused the publisher of abandoning the principle of free speech and caving into pressure from extreme Islamist elements, wrote the Independent newspaper in London.
This is not about the debate on whether it violates the principles of free speech with fears of extreme actions by a ‘small’ group of Muslims. The publication of this book can only add insult to the mass injury caused to the Muslims with the violent attacks against Muslims in their soul, bodies and heartlands.
Publishing the book will altogether add to what now separates the Muslim world from the western world and that is the right to safeguard the treasures and the icons of the Islamic faith from western bias and western pornography. It is more a question of morality than one of rights and every one with a sane mind will agree that rights cannot take precedence on the morality of a people or of an entire faith that is represented by more than 1.5 billion people.
It is incredible that the west find it easy to target the Muslims and the Prophet of Islam including his family – note that the Prophet of Islam and his family has never offended the western world – but the same defenders of rights and freedoms fails to attack other faiths. Moreover Sherry Jones (the writer of this book) criticized the character of Imam Ali (A.S) & insulted his holy presence.
The biasness is too obvious. From the Danish cartoons that raised the ire of a large section of the Muslim world and forced us to pen down some of the most adverse criticism against the west to the bad ‘movie’ made by a sick MP in Holland, the West seem to have learnt very little about respect.
Do not touch religion has been the call from many Muslims who felt offended by writers like Salman Rushdie who lived a life of a leper after the publication of his book the Satanic Verses.
The western writers find it too easy to pick and choose as they want on the Muslims from time to time and at a far greater rate nowadays, simply to become famous or to make some big bucks. This shows how the west is becoming bankrupt of ideas and is desperately dependent on anti-Islamic writers.
Leave Islam alone, leave religion alone and this should be the core principle of the western world before it tries to teach the Muslims what democracy is or what freedom is about. The United Nations, the EU and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) should come together to once and for all make it impossible for anyone on this earth to publish anything – from books to articles and even blogs – that depicts other people’s faith in a negative fashion. All writers who want to publish their books written with the intent to offend other religions should be banned worldwide.
Sherry Jones, Salman Rushdie and even the short sighted Asra Nomani should be barred from writing and banned from publishing anything until they learn the lesson that touching on the sensitive issues of religion means banishment for them.
Publishers who dare go ahead with such publications should simply be forced to close down while the directors, owners and workers should be struck with a five to ten years banishment that would not allow them to be involved in the publication business.
Well are these extreme? This is how the Muslims would feel if such books are published and we can say that we speak for a majority of the Muslims.
The book has been withdrawn by Random House, which said it feared that publication of the book could "incite acts of violence". Critics, however, have accused the publisher of abandoning the principle of free speech and caving into pressure from extreme Islamist elements, wrote the Independent newspaper in London.
This is not about the debate on whether it violates the principles of free speech with fears of extreme actions by a ‘small’ group of Muslims. The publication of this book can only add insult to the mass injury caused to the Muslims with the violent attacks against Muslims in their soul, bodies and heartlands.
Publishing the book will altogether add to what now separates the Muslim world from the western world and that is the right to safeguard the treasures and the icons of the Islamic faith from western bias and western pornography. It is more a question of morality than one of rights and every one with a sane mind will agree that rights cannot take precedence on the morality of a people or of an entire faith that is represented by more than 1.5 billion people.
It is incredible that the west find it easy to target the Muslims and the Prophet of Islam including his family – note that the Prophet of Islam and his family has never offended the western world – but the same defenders of rights and freedoms fails to attack other faiths. Moreover Sherry Jones (the writer of this book) criticized the character of Imam Ali (A.S) & insulted his holy presence.
The biasness is too obvious. From the Danish cartoons that raised the ire of a large section of the Muslim world and forced us to pen down some of the most adverse criticism against the west to the bad ‘movie’ made by a sick MP in Holland, the West seem to have learnt very little about respect.
Do not touch religion has been the call from many Muslims who felt offended by writers like Salman Rushdie who lived a life of a leper after the publication of his book the Satanic Verses.
The western writers find it too easy to pick and choose as they want on the Muslims from time to time and at a far greater rate nowadays, simply to become famous or to make some big bucks. This shows how the west is becoming bankrupt of ideas and is desperately dependent on anti-Islamic writers.
Leave Islam alone, leave religion alone and this should be the core principle of the western world before it tries to teach the Muslims what democracy is or what freedom is about. The United Nations, the EU and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) should come together to once and for all make it impossible for anyone on this earth to publish anything – from books to articles and even blogs – that depicts other people’s faith in a negative fashion. All writers who want to publish their books written with the intent to offend other religions should be banned worldwide.
Sherry Jones, Salman Rushdie and even the short sighted Asra Nomani should be barred from writing and banned from publishing anything until they learn the lesson that touching on the sensitive issues of religion means banishment for them.
Publishers who dare go ahead with such publications should simply be forced to close down while the directors, owners and workers should be struck with a five to ten years banishment that would not allow them to be involved in the publication business.
Well are these extreme? This is how the Muslims would feel if such books are published and we can say that we speak for a majority of the Muslims.
The world is in no need for such portrayals of the people whom the Muslims love and adores.
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