The Prophet Muhammad

[moosmom]

PCB,

Thank you for taking the time to explain the Muslim faith to us. Personally, I believe the cartoons should stop, in an effort to keep peace. Yes, I do believe in the right to freedom of speech, but to cause such an uproar is taking it to the extreme.

Why can't just get along????

[Lady's Human]

MM, all was quiet after the cartoons were published..........For almost 6 months no one said a thing, and then some extremist imans started the fury.

[popcornbird]

It has been a busy week for me, and I'm so sorry I was unable to respond earlier.

In answer to your questions, I know that Prophet Muhammad would be very angry with the behavior of some of the Muslims these days if he was present in society. I don't know where they get the justification for acting so violently, and destroying property. What some people do (burning buildings/acting insane like that) has absolutely no justification in Islam. It is their individual deeds and actions. No one has any control over the actions of any other human being, and no one is accountable for the deeds of anyone else, and certainly, no religion should be held accountable for the wrong actions of a few followers. I can't understand why some people react in this way, but from my understanding...when people or nations suffer at the hands of others, lose family members, children, women during war, suffer from poverty, etc. some people just lose their minds and don't realize what they're doing...or if they do, think they can justify it because of the harsh lives they live. Of course it is wrong and completely unjustifiable, but there are people in this world that sadly, just don't think straight.

That being said, for countries like Denmark and France to justify their actions with 'freedom of speech' doesn't make any sense to me. I find it very hypocratical of nations that bar the freedom of religion by banning Muslim women from wearing a head scarf, to even think they have the right to mention freedom of speech when it comes to 'their side'. It should go both ways. There is a sense of responsibility that comes with freedom of speech, and it should not be used to hurt or insult any major group of people. When insulting 1/5th of the entire world population to that extent, there are going to be problems. Crazy people exist in every society, and sadly, crazy people react in crazy ways. Of course such people are in the minority, but sadly, it is them who go on TV. The actions of Denmark/other European nations can be compared to taking a match, lighting it, and tossing it in an area full of trees...then adding more oil to the flames (other nations republishing it to show solidarity KNOWING it offended so many)...and then, blaming the trees for catching on fire, and blaming them some more as the fire spreads. No, the Muslims that are behaving in a violent manner are not justifiable in any way at all, but nothing justifies the actions of the newspapers either. Still, Prophet Muhammad would never approve of burning and destroying property like that. He was a man of compassion and mercy, and his behavior and conduct was one that caused even some of his enemies to turn around and love him.

As to why depicting the Prophet is considered 'wrong', I don't believe the uproar was caused because of Prophet Muhammad being depicted, but more because he was depicted in a very insulting and disgusting way. Prophet Muhammad is not the only one who shouldn't be depicted, but Muslims consider it wrong to depict any Prophet, God, angel, etc. The reason for that is because belief in the One God alone is so important in Islam, and associating anyone with God is considered wrong. When someone so holy is depicted as a statue or image (even in a respectful manner), there are people out there who may possibly turn their love for the Prophet into worshipping him, and worshipping a statue would take people away from the worship of one God, and turn them to idolatry. That is one reason. Another reason is because it is considered disrespectful to make an image of one sent by God. I believe the 'Passion of Christ' wasn't shown in some Muslim countries for this reason. Because an actor played the role of Jesus, and well, in our beliefs, Jesus was a Prophet of God, and no 'actor' should play his role because Jesus was far above any average human being could ever be. From my knowledge, these two reasons are the main reasons most Muslims are against the depiction of any Prophet. Because of idolatry, and disrespect.

K9Karen, when I was growing up, we had a Jewish neighbor with an adorable little boy. They were such a wonderful family, and trusted us so much they'd always leave their child with us. When they had their daughter, they left the little boy with us for three days while his mommy was at the hospital. We were still friends for years after they moved away. People also often told them, "WHAT? You have a Muslim FRIEND?" It was kind of funny. People are used to Muslim and Christians being friends, but somehow when its a Muslim and Jew, they tend to think they're not supposed to get along no matter what. So...I can totally understand what you're saying about peoples' comments. The main problem, I think, is because of misunderstandings about other religions. If people understood each other more, many problems would probably be eliminated.

[smokey the elder]

Thank you, Popcornbird, for sharing your faith with us. It is very refreshing to see such things. Technically, according to The Ten Commandments, Jews and Christians aren't supposed to have images of God. I think images of Jesus Christ are inconsistent with the Ten Commandments. I find myself comparing faiths to find their similarities and shake my head at people picking on the (often insignificant) differences. I guess this is why, as humans, we have a lot to learn yet.

[Catty1]

One can, I think, go through the history of any religion or belief and find hurt and angry people who will cause destruction and harm, thinking they are 'fighting for their faith'.

It seems to me that there are certain Christian religions that do not have pictures of Jesus or any holy figure, because of creating an idol that way.

There is a book I have which has this line: "Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer."

Let's look at the good, too - the peace that all these leaders of different faiths wanted - and the 'free will' of the humans that decided otherwise.

As I heard once, 'some people make God in their own image.'

Thanks popcornbird, for sharing!

Catty1