My next post was going to be about the magic of an evacuation trip during Isaac, but alas a more pressing topic has popped up. Let’s kick this intellectual exercise off by stating the obvious: the protests, if actually in response to this movie “Muslim Innocence”, are overreactionary and silly. However, as we break down the events, inshallah we’ll find some information that will reveal the bigger picture and a bigger reason for these protests.
But first things first. “Muslim Innocence” by an unknown author and editor (who apparently told all of those involved in the movie that he was making an informational film about Islam, haha) is a disrespectful (as this genre tends to be) parody of Islamic hisory. After viewing a few minutes of it I equate it to one of those Scary Movie comedies, but a lot less polished and witty. It is claimed to have been released as a major Hollywood blockbuster that all of America was watching in the theaters. There is no way if you’ve ever seen a Hollywood blockbuster that you could mistake this movie for one. It looks as if it were taped in a backyard with minimal, if any rehearsals. In fact, my sixth grade English class produced a film right on par with it, probably better because of the intellectual content. Which makes me ask the question to all of these protesters, really? And also, who told these people that this film was a widespread sensation across our nation?
The sad reality is that this movie would have never garnered ANY mainstream attention had it not been for the reaction of the Muslim world. If this is truly the only thing that the protesters were rallying against and led to the deaths of four people in Libya and the burning of a KFC/Hardees (ya haram they have the best curly fries and shakes!) then this is silly. However, if we take a step back and set these protests in their contexts I think we may find that this movie was just a catalyst, perhaps even a media-spinned cover, for what is really going on. (According to MSN Benghazi had been a breeding ground for Al-Qaieda since 2007 and this attack was planned long ago. Perhaps extremists took advantage of the protests as distraction? Makes a whole heck of a lot more sense than the first reported story which connected the attacks to this idiotic movie!)
It is a fact that the United States has been meddling throughout the world since its conception. In the last few decades, the U.S. and its Western Allies have focused on the Middle East as it is rich with an ever dwindling resource…OIL. Follow the money people. Middle Easterners and Muslims in particular have felt under attack since before 9/11, but more keenly so afterward. It cannot be denied that there has been a hugely negative media campaign against Muslims in America and as I read about it in Europe. A lot of misinformation has been spread both ways causing ill-feelings and bad blood between all those involved. Besides this psychological warfare, Middle Easterners have also endured real warfare at the hands of the U.S. for reasons that seem to have dissipated long before the smoke and terror of the bombs we dropped. ( WMD’s? ) Granted Sadam wasn’t the greatest guy in the world, but neither was George Bush who is a war criminal that left a power vacuum where Sadam once stood. Chaos and death have followed.
Now I am not saying in any way, shape or form that killing innocent people is ever warranted. In Islam one of the most infamous Quranic quotes is in essence that if you save one innocent life it’s as if you’ve saved all of humanity and that if you take one innocent life it’s as if you’ve killed all of humanity (Quran 5:32). There is no gray area in Islam when it comes to innocents. But let’s take a step back and examine the environment in Libya and the people who were killed in the embassy attack. First off, Libya has not been a safe-listed country for many years before the recent civil war broke out leading to Khadafi’s ousting with foreign (U.S.) help. It is unfathomable to any American that an outside power would invade our country and switch out our president, whether we liked him or not, and change the course of our history without our beloved democratic process or opinion. But that is in fact what the U.S. has done innumerable times to countries such as Libya. If I were a Libyan I’d be a little annoyed at this fact. Second, two of the people that were killed were military personnel (non-civilians) and then government officials (again not just any civilians) working as representatives of the very government, I as a Libyan (Muslim or otherwise) am already not too happy with. I live in a post-civil war environment and life is tough. There are a million reasons for me to want to storm the embassy and protest against the powers that be. Am I really going to take a stance over a silly movie? Or is there more behind my actions?
As for the other countries where protests have broken out such as Yemen or Egypt the climate is ripe for the people to express themselves. These are tumultuous times. People are just now waking up to the fact that for too long they’ve lived under Mubarak and clones like him, enduring indignities and hardships. If our dwindling middle class is startling to you, think about a time with no middle class, such as during the Great depression, where it was just the haves and have nots. There have been far too many have nots for far too long for protests not to occur. These are all questions and thoughts as outsiders we must grapple with in order to be fair in assessing these events.
Now, as for my Muslim brothers and sisters who overreact to movies and cartoons let me remind you that there is no compulsion in religion and thus any of its implications. As a religious person denegrading anyone else’s beliefs is a sin, plain and simple. That is not to say that you can’t ardently disagree, but you CANNOT prevent them from expressing their beliefs (otherwise you are enacting a compulsion on them to believe what you do, i.e. not everyone believes in the Prophet Mohammad pbuh and the Quran, so for them it is not a subject that is worthy of their respect). That is not for us to judge and in fact we should expect it as the Quran tells us that some people’s hearts have been locked from Allah’s knowledge and mercy.
As Muslims we are commanded to seek knowledge and promote peace, it is our duty to recognize that in this global, pluralistic age we cannot stifle the beliefs of others either. It is just as bad as denegrading them. We can disagree and even hate what they are producing, but it is not our job to limit their expression. It is our job to ”lower our gaze” and rise above any insults hurled at us combatting them with knowledge, not sticks and stones. It only fuels the media storm already raging that Muslims are intolerant and violent when from personal experience and research nothing could be farther from the truth. The last thing our community needs is bad press based off of unIslamic values. If something is offensive to you, don’t listen or watch it. That is in your power. If you disagree with it or find it repulsive or categorically wrong, fight it with your knowledge, not your fists. This is our duty as Muslims and violence should never be offensive, but rather defensive. By all means protect yourself and your loved ones, this isn’t just religious, this is human. But don’t go against our core beliefs and attack people unneccessarily.
In the end only those who have taken and changed the lives of another can know the intention behind the act. We can speculate and even interview them, but their intentions and actions will be judged truly and without prejudice one day. If that is something they can live with or are willing to live with we have to respect their right to express themselves as well. They are fully aware of the conseqeunces that will befall them and so from my end all I can say is that Islamically there is no need to riot because of silly cartoons or movies. We’re dealing with bullies and the more attention you give a bully, the more power you give them and give up. Focus on your own shortcomings and surely the world will become a better place. PEACE!
JAK
Christen
P.S. Props to our administration for recognizing that this movie is inflammatory in nature.
