There is an Arab poem about an angry ram. The poem narrates that a ram has somehow perceived a mountain to be its enemy. So it kept on attacking that mountain till the ram's horns were broken. The messages you cannot punish someone or something by losing a part of your body without in the least harming your adversary.
How does this poem apply to the endless saga of denigrating Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam to which millions of Muslims respond by angry demonstrations? I wonder if the Muslim demonstrators were to respond in more peaceful ways, whether the defamers, cartoonists or film makers, might give up on the stupid blackart of insulting the Prophet!!
Were this miraculously to happen, the poem would fit perfectly: The denigrators would be the angry ram whose horns would be broken as it keeps on attacking the mountain (the Prophet Muhammad) without getting any rise from the Muslims.
Thus to the Muslims I say: "Don't get angry!! Get even!!" I know that this may be nearly impossible. Muslims are enjoined by their faith to believe in all God's prophets, in all scriptures, and to respect other faiths. The Quran, in chapter 16, verse 36, states: "And verily, we have raised in every nation a messenger, proclaiming: Serve Allah and shun false gods."
So it is out of the question for a Muslim to depict either Moses or Jesus in a disrespectful way. After all, in a secular sense, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad were all born and ministered in the same region. In that sense, the three of them may be regarded as "compatriots"!! "Getting even" in the context of insulting either Moses or Jesus is therefore out of the question for Muslims.
So let us think of other ways to "get even" without being destructive. How about giving up on endless demonstrations, with their attendant destructive consequences, including disruption of international relationships, and get in the film industry? Make a good film about Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, that crazy Egyptian Copt with a police record in California, and depict him as the buffoon he really is!! Write a good script for that movie, hire some gifted actors and actresses (do not forget memorable songs) and call the film: "The Abbasiyah Graduate!!" (Abbasiyah in Cairo is the equivalent of the Bellevue hospital for the mentally-disturbed in New York City).
Now dub the film in several languages and market it everywhere. I am almost sure that the film would draw millions to the box office as a form of revenge, and lots of money would be made for charitable causes. Basseley's puny 14-minute video would be eclipsed, and "The Abbasiyah Graduate" would stigmatize that idiot for a long time.
The same may be done to the French editor of the weekly "Charlie Hebdo" in Paris. There are millions of Muslims in Europe, especially in France, who would love to fund that "Get even" enterprise. Crowds would have fun, money would be made, France would not need to close all its missions and schools in 20 Muslim countries for fear of violence, and that ignorant editor would live in infamy pour sa vie!!
Yes, the Muslims are angry at the video and the caricatures insulting the Prophet of 1.5 billion Muslims. How about "Getting even" by also putting forth the great story of Muhammad's message, in print, online and in all types of visual imagery? In my weekly seminar on "Islamic Law in the 21st Century" which I teach as an adjunct professor of law at Fordham University School of Law in New York City, I, in 15 minutes out of 2 hours summed up that message as follows:
Muhammad's message advocated freedom of conscience; rule by consultation and consensus; justice in governance; the rights of women as equal partners in society; respect for contracts; mercy towards the weak; freedom from enslavement; amity towards non-Muslims; freedom from fear; the importance of education; and the value of truth and honesty. To the Muslims, mankind is one in, God.
Friday, a day of prayer, has become a day of rage. About that day's group prayer: the Quran in chapter 67, verse No. 10, says, "When the prayer is ended, then disperse in the land and seek Allah's bounty." Seeking that bounty is the essence of "sustainable development." It is not to be sought in endless destruction. In Islam, piety and working for the commonweal go hand in hand.
In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood's political party "Freedom and Justice" has called for the enactment of an international law "for the protection of religious symbols." Good!! In my humble estimation as an attorney, that call would need decades for its implementation. Here are some of the reasons:
Where are we going to get a broad international consensus regarding: (a) What is a religious symbol?; (b) What do we mean by protection?; (c) Who will do the protection if not sovereign States within their own boundaries?; (d) To what extent can we differentiate between symbols and practices?; (e) How would this protection affect the laws in some European countries against the Niqab and veil in public places?; (f) Is the minaret a universally-acceptable religious symbol?; (g) Would such a law affect the freedom of expression enactments including the 1966 U.N. Convention on Civil and Political rights?; (h) How could a case be constructed and brought before a court of law of competent jurisdiction?; (i) Who might the plaintiff be and what injury could that plaintiff prove to have suffered?; and (j) What is the sentencing range and what form of compensation?
Am I complicating things? Yes. Because I am looking at an issue which is very complex.
Only by education, and cool-headedness could we shrink this problem. Getting angry is understandable. Getting destructive of life and property is not. Fighting a wrong with wrong is not a solution. For a Muslim faced with such provocations, it is better to be the mountain, not the ram. Turn the whole episode into a farce, a spectacle of the absurd. Put Terry Jones, the Quran burner, on a broom with a cone over his empty head, flying one way into an eternal sunset as the wicked male witch of the west.. Lighten up!! Make your tormentors the laughing stock of this world of rage!!
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