An American Christian Church (the Dove World Outreach Center, Gainesville, Florida) has proposed to mark the anniversary of 911 terror attach on US by burning copies of the Qur'an. The group claims that the intended demonstration is "neither an act of love nor of hate," but a warning against “the threats posed by Islam” because (as it displayed on some of its banners) “Islam is of the devil.” On the Church’s post box is a sticker which shows “Islam fans Evil” (the fan is represented by a fan logo). This group is out for one thing only: incite hatred against Islam and deliberately anger Muslims to show them as violent and deserving of world hatred. Already, some people in Britain are already up for that idea too. Social Websites are getting giddy with antagonising comments from both sides.
The Church generally and particularly the American evangelical Churches have employed various means of actively and viciously evangelising Muslims. In the first half of this century up till the 1960s, colonialism was used for force Muslims to convert to Christianity through educational and employment platforms. That tide changed in the 1970s and 80s when they used subtle financial supports and funding mechanism using Muslims’ money (uncollected bank interests in excess of billions of dollars from Muslim depositors) and aggressive direct preaching (more like direct marketing) approach.
In the last 15 years, those evangelical missionaries have shy away from some of these strategies because Muslims were able to respond with necessary tools and information to fend them off (notably the activities of Shaikh Ahmed Deedat and his South African IPCI which shipped free resource materials to hundreds of organisations replicating their methodology all over the world). The Christian missionaries have resulted to attach Islam through proxy sinister warfare –online and offline. Therefore, there has been an increase in Islamophobic attach on Islam via faceless websites, online commentators, Pro-Israeli Support, Pro-War campaigns, anti-terror responses, malicious campaign on the personality of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), etc. It should be noted that their ‘successful’ campaigns have not been without the help of some Muslims, be they apologetic liberals or manipulated extremists. They all connive to discredit Islam, Muslims and the Prophet.
It is important that we bear in mind that God is ever conscious of their activities and He has promised to protect Islam. Qur'an 9 verse 32-33 states clearly: “Fain would they extinguish Allah's light with their mouths but Allah will not allow but that His light should be perfected even though the unbelievers may detest (it). He it is who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse.” And Allah returns their evil to them in ways they do not understand. However much Islam is insulted, or the Prophet (peace be upon him) is caricatured, or Muslims are attached, the westerners are increasingly inquisitive about Islam and conversion rate continues to increase particularly amongst the elites or their children.
Yes, burn the Qur'an, it’s the paper that will burn; its true words are carved in the memories of the Muslims, its truth are implemented in the daily practice of the Muslims, its spirit lives in the soul of the Muslims and its mercies are engrained in the hearts of the Muslims. So burn the Qur'an if you like, because every time you malign Islam in public glare, there is a massive rush to obtain copies of the Qur'an. Bookshops usually run out of copies. The very book they seek to burn is the one that is transforming lives. I have always shown interest in the precise factor which convince reverts to accept Islam, in over 75% of all the cases I have come across, they read the whole or part of the Qur'an. Little wonder then that they want to burn it, they did their research too! By the way, I am not bitter at all because Qur'an Burners cannot hurt God; they only hurt themselves, ultimately. “Let not their conduct grieve thee, who run easily to disbelief, for verily they injure Allah not at all. It is Allah's will to assign them no portion in the Hereafter, and theirs will be an awful doom.” (Qur'an 3 verse 176)
Burning the Qur'an is not a big deal, and it has never been. Europe sank copies of the Qur'an, all books with a quote from it and all books motivated by it. They killed the Muslims in their thousands. Many were forcefully converted and baptised (they were called Moriscos) and their conversion was not enough they were summarily killed too decades later. The campaign ended eight centuries of Muslims in Spain. Where has that landed Europe? Today, Islam is Europe’s fastest growing religion (according to the BBC website). A conservative 2005 census figure puts Muslims as almost 10% of France’s population, about 6% in Netherlands, over 5% in Denmark, 4.2 in Switzerland, just over 4% in Austria and same with Belgium and 3.6% in Germany. Sweden had 3% Muslims population, while UK had 2.8; Spain had 2.3% and Italy had 1.4%. That was 6 years ago, with migration and exponential birth growth amongst Muslims in Europe, that figures above is dwarfed.
The UK Daily Telegraph published an article in 2009 wherein it stated that: “Only 3.2 per cent of Spain's population was foreign-born in 1998. In 2007 it was 13.4 per cent. Europe's Muslim population has more than doubled in the past 30 years and will have doubled again by 2015. In Brussels, the top seven baby boys' names recently were Mohamed, Adam, Rayan, Ayoub, Mehdi, Amine and Hamza.” The newspaper article further quoted: “Karoly Lorant, a Hungarian economist who wrote a paper for the European Parliament, calculates that Muslims already make up 25 per cent of the population in Marseilles and Rotterdam, 20 per cent in Malmo, 15 per cent in Brussels and Birmingham and 10 per cent in London, Paris and Copenhagen.”
Gen Michael Hayden, the CIA Director said in April 2008: “Consider Europe. The fastest-growing minority there is comprised of people who have emigrated from predominantly Muslim countries and their descendants. Not it’s hard to get exact figures—estimates vary—but most say there are about five million people of Muslim heritage in France, three million in Germany, and almost two million in the United Kingdom. Today, the total for the European Union is roughly 16 million, or about –about three percent of the population. But with a birth rate at least twice the average of ethnic Europeans, the Muslim population will continue to grow as the non-Muslim population of these states actually shrinks in the next several decades.”
Therefore, burning the Qur'an is not the problem; the challenge is how you will have to deal with the aftermath in the years and decades to come. That is what Americans should keep in mind. My own concern is the Muslims. How will Muslims react if westerners burn the Qur'an? It is an emotional torture for what you love to be treated in such ghastly manner. It may even be impossible not to be moved by it. Hearts will be hurt, tears will be secretly shed. But this is a test. These book burners are going to be a test for us all. The success or failure at that test is not dependent on them, but on us: OUR REACTION! Who will react to an injustice with another injustice? Who will want to assume that Allah is incapable of dealing with the situation and therefore must take the law into their own hands? Think! Do not fail this test. “You shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and YOU SHALL CERTAINLY HEAR MUCH THAT WILL GRIEVE YOU FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK before you and from the IDOL-WORSHIPPERS. But if you persevere patiently and guard against evil then that will be a determining factor in all affairs. … Think not that those who exult in what they have brought about and love to be praised for what they have not done think not that they can escape the penalty. For them is a penalty grievous indeed. To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and Allah has power over all things.” (Qur'an 3 verse 186-189)
Let it be known, the life of a SINGLE Muslim is weightier than any Qur'an in a Book form! Let us not do anything that will take human life away. Just as the mosque is sacred, the Qur'an is also sacred to all Muslims, but if it is defiled, let us react the same way the Prophet (peace be upon him) reacted when a Bedouin Arab defiled the Prophet’s Mosque in his presence. He admonished him engaged him in reasonable discourse. The man later commented: “and he (peace be upon him) neither cursed nor scolded nor hit [me].” Those who intend to burn the Qur'an are ignorant, yes, they may be Americans or British, of course their citizenship does not immune them from ignorance.
Well, let’s hear the views of an American Imam on the Pastor Terry Jones, whose church is organising the Qur'an Burning event. Plemon el-Amin, the imam of an Atlanta, Georgia, mosque, said that Jones' criticism of Islam is "really quite uninformed." He added, "But in America, there is the freedom to be ignorant… The only problem is in the world, many people don't understand that particular freedom. So what he is doing is like shouting fire in a theater, in a world theater, and people are upset." El-Amin said Jones has boasted of never reading the Qur'an, so "He doesn't know that he's going to burn a book that has some of the most beautiful passages about Christ Jesus throughout, as well as Moses, Abraham and all of the prophets he reads about and says he follows in the Bible." But he said the best strategy would be to ignore Jones, "like we do people on [street] corners saying the end of the world is coming."
Our reaction should be measured and responsible. Just like during the life and time of Ahmed Deedat, we engaged them and defeated them on their own intellectual ground of comparative religion. The Muslims have started on this path and they have mobilised multi-religious platform to oppose the planned event. According to a report, “Other religious organizations have joined with U.S. Muslim groups to oppose the Quran-burning. The National Association of Evangelicals is urging the church to cancel the event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions, and Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu leaders in Gainesville have organized a ‘Gathering for Peace, Understanding and Hope’ the night before the scheduled Quran burning.”
The example I gave above regarding the mosque defilement during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) can be criticised as dissimilar. The Bedouin Arab did not do it intentionally; Jones and his Church are inciting hatred! Although, I am focused on the Prophet’s approach and methodology, even then, the Islamic history is not short of other relevant examples. Remember the woman who used to throw rubbish on the Prophet every morning in Makkah. That was deliberate. Yet, the Prophet never retaliated, he understood her ignorance, and was patient with her. Her activities stopped suddenly for a few days. Upon enquiry the Rasul (peace be upon him) was advised that she was ill and bedridden. At once, he went to see her and prayed for her quick recovery, she was stunned. The Prophet had no enmity towards her as a person, a non-Muslim. She was not expecting that kind of treatment, she accepted the message of Islam.
How about the event which happened to the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he went to Taif to seek protection from Makkan persecution? What did the people of Taif do? They rejected him after pretending to listen and considered his proposal. Not only did they turn down his noble request, they then set loose the vagabonds and the innocent children of their town on him, pelting him with stones, ridiculing and chasing him out stoning him till his shoes were filled with his own blood. He did not curse them, nor pray for their destruction, rather, he (peace be upon him) prayed for their guidance to faith: “O my Lord, guide my people along the true path, as they are ignorant of the truth.”
Finally, please do not burn the Bible or Jewish Scriptures in turn, nor insult their own God or Scriptures in return. We are ordained to be civil and reasonable in all we do. Allah condemns that we insult them even if they insult us. The mantra of dialogue is contained in the Qur'an 16 verse 125: “Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knows best who have strayed from His Path and who receive guidance.”
Don’t even honour this little and unknown church with demonstration, ignore and minimise their importance. For me, I’m not signing any online petition or joining a Facebook group, they would have achieved their cheap publicity and nothing stops another church from doing same again in future! I have a right not to be offended too you know! I would not have written these two thousand two hundred words, if some Muslims would not engage in violent protests! Even if we feel offended, we have a right to seek legal remedy. Government bodies have a duty to seek greater communal peace and cohesion. Even the media have a duty to blackout the event. Why are we not seeking these remedies!
“Therefore be patient with what they say and celebrate (constantly) the praises of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting; yea celebrate them for part of the hours of the night and at the sides of the day: that you may have (spiritual) joy.” (Qur'an 20 verse 130)
- Shams AbuSuad, London, UK.
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