Ramadan is perhaps the greatest Muslim spokesman writing today for Muslims, secularists, and other religionists. In this interview Ramadan responds to the recent controversy over cartoons printed in Denmark that lampoon Muhammad.
Ramadan addresses 1) depicting the prophet Muhammad, which is considered sacrilegious in Islam, and 2) the right to free speech, considered by many in the west to be a foundation stone of a free society. ...
In the interview, Ramadan says :First, it is against Islamic principles to represent in imagery not only Mohammed, but all the prophets of Islam. This is a clear prohibition.
Ramadan's balanced view shows respect for both traditions. His comments reflect the fact that there are moderate voices within Islam thereby giving the lie to the general perception among many in the West that all Moslems are extremists bent on destroying civilization.
Second, in the Muslim world, we are not used to laughing at religion, our own or anybody else’s. This is far from our understanding. For that reason, these cartoons are seen, by average Muslims and not just radicals, as a transgression against something sacred, a provocation against Islam.
Third, Muslims must understand that laughing at religion is a part of the broader culture in which they live in Europe, going back to Voltaire. Cynicism, irony and indeed blasphemy are part of the culture.
Ramadan has been barred from entering the US and teaching at Notre Dame. In the light of people like William Bennett, who said on CNN yesterday that there are no moderates within Islam, the answer we do not hear them is because Bennett and his confreres refuse to allow them to have a voice in the media or any other public forum.
Bennett said:BENNETT: Maybe this just might promote that debate inside Islam that everybody has been saying should be had but what seems to me has not yet been had loud enough or strongly enough. It still seems to me that the wrong guys are running Islam, or at least they're the loudest voices. If there are people who think this is distortion, a horrible distortion of the prophet's teachings, for god's sakes, will they please speak up?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I doubt that Bennett has lodged his displeasure with the US govt's refusal to allow Ramadan into the country.
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Saturday, February 04, 2006
Tariq Ramadan on Cartoons and Muslim Rage
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3 comments:
As Muslims we are required to respect all religions, be it people who are Christians, Jewish, Hindu e.tc.
So i’m really surprised at the pictures published in the newspaper, and also of their false nature. Maybe people should read about Prophet Muhummmad peace be upon him, and realise that he was a mercy to all mankind.
Attacking the prophet peace be upon him by drawing such pictures is attacking Muslims directly.
We dont draw pictures of other prophets like Abraham, Moses, Jesus, infact we respect them, and would never think to do such drawings.
Hello, Muslim
I think you've missed the point of the cartoons or maybe satire itself if you think these caricatures were meant to serve as edification or depicting the prophet's 'true' nature.
I'm Danish myself, and we have a strong tradition of making fun of...well everything. We have very few taboos, and like we've had cartoons of jews, Christians and so forth - ridiculous, absurd og grotesque cartoons - we've done the same to Islam. It's our way of saying "Islam is a part of our soceity as well, just like Christianity and Judaism". Let's not step on eggshells.
The thing many muslims keep bringing back up his that you don't ridicule our deities, which of course to you is the ultimate sign of respect, I gather.
But did you ever stop to think that maybe what WE find sacreligious is an attack on our freedom of expression? That some people halfway across the world demand of us what we should say and think, even if it offends them?
I don't quite understand why you even care? If a newspaper prints something I disagree with or offends me, I don't buy it. I don't call the editor and asks them to change their content.
Why don't you just shrug and go "Well, if they wanna go about themselves offending people, too bad for them!"?
I guess what I seek is tolerance of MY lifestyle, which involves a freedom of speech. That includes freedom to insult and to offend. If you won't tolerate me, how can you demand that I tolerate you?
Cheers.
Immigration is a good thing, unless the immigrants are 3rd world DEVOUT Moslems. I myself have immigrated to Sweden (beautiful country, beautiful people, kind people – but like that rest of the West, ignorant about Islam).
In the West, we assume that if an immigrant comes to our country that they will try to assimilate into our culture and accept our values. This is generally true of all immigrants except devout Moslems. They have been so brainwashed by their religion that they cannot accept a non-moslem culture. Please note that I am talking about the DEVOUT MOSLEMS. I am not talking about the Moslems who were only Moslem for fear of being put to death. They were religious prisoners in their old countries! Usually when they get to the West, they find the courage to leave Islam!
The good people (countries) of the West bring these devout Moslems in not knowing the truth behind Islam. Islam IS a religion of TERROR! It has been from the start!
I started learning about Islam after one of them murdered my mother by crashing a plane back on Oct 31, 1999. What I have learned is MIND BLOWING to say the least.
Before my mother’s murder, I believed what I HEARD about Islam. That it is a religion of PEACE and that they worship the same God that the Jews and the Christians worship. The people of the West and their governments also believe this and therefore believe that the Moslems should be able to become good immigrants.
I now know I was given INCORRECT information by UNINFORMED people regarding the Islamic religion. Here is what I have learned. As far as what I am about to say, don’t just take my word as the truth, study about “their prophet” and how their religion grew for yourself and you too will know the truth. You will soon understand that the God THEY worship is NOT the God we worship!
Now please understand that what I am about to say is purely a western viewpoint because the Moslems see it entirely different. What I have learned is that Mohammed was a murdering, sadistic, raping, thieving, lying, slave trading, warmongering, pedophile, who had no problem assassinating anyone who spoke up against him or against “HIS” religion. These ARE documented historical facts; find them yourself!
In short - Mohammed and his band of followers started out by ROBBING the caravans that traveled the desert. He KILLED the caravan people if they tried to defend themselves and sometimes even when they did not try to defend themselves, and he then took their loot for himself and his followers.
He would attack the villages around him and kill off the men, take the women and children as SLAVES for himself and his followers and of course he would take their possessions. Any female slaves he desired were then RAPED. The historical records talk about him desiring a married woman of a family of UNBELIEVERS, so he killed her husband and raped her that night! It is in THEIR book!
Even though he had numerous wives and many slave girls, one day he saw his adapted son’s wife in some state of undress and suddenly had an urge for her. He told his son to divorce the woman so that he could have her. The son complied and Mohammed took her. (In the West, we WOULD NOT consider this to be a MORAL man!)
One wife he married when she was 6 years old. This is OK because there were many child marriages back then but there was NO sex until the girl well past the onset of puberty and so was 11 to 16 years old. In the West Mohammed would be defined as a PEDOPHILE because he strongly desired sex with this child bride. Finally when she was 9 years old, he had sex with her. It is written that at that moment she was playing dolls with her friends when the women came to take her to Mohammed. – Draw your own conclusions.
There are also stories of very SADISTIC acts carried out by Mohammed. For example, some man who committed some crime and when he refused to “repent” Mohammed cut off an arm and a leg. Day(s) later, the man still refused to repent and the prophet cut off his other arm and leg. Day(s) later the last refusal to repent lead to the burning out of the eyes, cutting out his tongue and dragging him out into the desert to die with the warning that anyone who tried to help this man would suffer the same fate. To which the Moslem “HOLY” book exclaims “Mohammed, the Merciful, the Just!” In the West we consider this to be SADISTIC!
FINALLY --- AND MOST IMPORTANTLY!!! Anybody who SPOKE AGAINST Mohammed was put to DEATH ! Anyone who SPOKE AGAINST ISLAM, was put to DEATH ! Anyone WHO LEFT ISLAM, was put to DEATH !
There is the story of 2 unrelated people, from the village that took the Mohammedans in when they were just starting out, who were shocked by what Mohammed and his followers were doing. They each wrote some kind of poem that painted Mohammed in a less than favorable light. The man was ASSASINATED in his sleep and likewise the woman was ASSASINATED in her sleep as well as her ENTIRE FAMILY!
The reason why this is so IMPORTANT is that, with ANYONE who spoke out against Mohammed or Islam, or even who left Islam once they had converted to Islam (or was born into Islam) being put to DEATH -- NO ONE SPOKE OUT ! NO ONE QUESTIONED ISLAM AND NO ONE TRIED TO LEAVE ISLAM !
People converted to Islam out of FEAR because people who were Moslem could not be killed by Mohammed’s army! They could NOT be made into slaves (only unbelievers could be slaves)! They could keep their property and they would have the protection of Mohammed’s army against the unbelievers. Covet thy unbelieving neighbor’s property – it is yours for the taking!
The Moslems excuse the killing, robbing and enslaving because he was waging God’s War against the nonbelievers! The Moslems say that if a woman is your slave, it is NOT rape when you have sex with her because you own her and she has no say in the matter. They say he was not a pedophile because the 9 year old was his wife. The Moslems ignore the other transgressions of Mohammed because AS God’s Prophet, there was ONE SET OF RULES that applied to Mohammed and ANOTHER SET of rules that applied to the rest of Islam.
The Moslems have been so indoctrinated that after 1,400 years, they truly believe BADMOUTHING Islam by ANYONE deserves death! They do not and cannot understand a FREE society.
Islam spread through war and rape. After Mohammed died, the various tribes started to leave Islam. The Mohammedan Army put a quick stop to that by killing the apostates. The Mohammedan Armies continued to wage war and Islam spread. The stories of how the holy warriors would move into an area, slaughter the men and place the women into harems are again – historical fact! Make a lot of babies with these women and soon Islam is the law of the land without question.
After the Islamists entered the Christian lands, the Christians fought back and stopped the Islamic advance into the West. And IN A COMPLETE REWRITING OF HISTORY, it is the Moslems who claim it was the Christians who attacked and waged a crusade against Islam! The Moslem wars against India saw incredible CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY waged against the Indian people! Historical FACT – just find it for yourself.
Christianity did not spread through war. Buddhism did not spread through war. Zoroasterism did not spread through war. Only Islam spread through war.
There is SO much more to this story, you need to find it and understand it for yourself. I believe that once the truth is known, Islam will be exposed for the terroristic religion it truly is! I know people here who were Moslem, who came to the West and when they found out the truth about their religion of “PEACE”, promptly left it knowing that they would not be put to death in the free countries of the West (although in reality, some have been murdered here for leaving Islam).
--An Unbeliever who now faces the death penalty for speaking the truth of Islam!
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