As you’re no doubt aware, on Wednesday 7th of January at the
Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie
Hebdo, masked gunmen slaughtered ten members of the editorial team and two
French police officers. The reason for this barbaric attack, it would seem, was
a reaction to the publication, on several occasions, of cartoons depicting the
Prophet Muhammad. On a personal note, I didn’t find the Charlie Hebdo cartoons
to be particularly amusing, or informative, but any verbal assault on humour,
politics or religious beliefs should surely lead to dialogue, not death. Sadly,
this isn’t the first such deadly response to criticism, satirical or otherwise,
of Islam and its envoy on earth, and I’m not referring to the previously
published Danish cartoons or even Salman Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses.
For the first example of such a violent response to
criticism of the Prophet, we must travel back to 7th century Mecca, the birthplace of
Muhammad. Asma bint Marwan – daughter of Marwan – was a local poet who openly
mocked Muhammad’s claim to be the Slave
of Allah, Allah being the Arabic word for God. Vexed by the content of her
verse, Muhammad had asked “Who will rid
me of Marwan’s daughter?” That evening, one of Muhammad’s followers
murdered Asma while she slept, and upon hearing the news Muhammad exclaimed “you have helped both God and His
messenger”. If Islam is a religion of peace, then as with most other
religions, it didn't get off to a very good start.
So, is it right that we, society, should be openly critical of religion?
Many believers will say 'No', especially I suspect when it relates to their
own chosen belief system, but on any logical basis, the answer must surely be 'Yes'. Religions, both monotheistic and polytheistic, are by their very
nature expansionist, and in this respect Islam seems more determined than most.
Religions are like political movements, without national borders, and their
manifestos are their sacred books; Bible, Quran, Torah. As Islam’s ultimate and
undisguised goal is to attract the remaining five-billion of the world’s
non-believers to its fold, by all means necessary, then society has a moral
obligation to review, dissect, question, and where necessary, even openly mock
its policies and actions.
But, the free thinking world has
become an amazingly sensitive beast, especially when it comes to discussing
Islam. It’s a beast burdened by the weight of political correctness, and for
this deafening silence in the face of mounting sickness, we must all accept a
degree of personal responsibility. Since the birth of electronic media, the
rise of Islamic violence has monopolised the limelight, but, although Islam has
stolen the headlines, none of the faith based movements have been totally free
from sin. Charlie Hebdo might not be funny, in my eyes at least, but at least
they don’t discriminate. When it comes to being critical of faith, Charlie
Hebdo are certainly advocates for equality.
No faith escaped the cartoonist’s pen, but only one movement reacted against them with violent and deadly force. Of course, the artists knew that their cartoons would be controversial, and that was precisely their point, they were a catalyst to conversation, debate and hopefully, enlightenment. They were fully aware of the risks to themselves, but they didn’t fear the wrath of Allah, to them Allah was as real as a Unicorn, what they feared, justifiably, was the reaction of individuals who’d been poisoned by his brutal manifesto.
No faith escaped the cartoonist’s pen, but only one movement reacted against them with violent and deadly force. Of course, the artists knew that their cartoons would be controversial, and that was precisely their point, they were a catalyst to conversation, debate and hopefully, enlightenment. They were fully aware of the risks to themselves, but they didn’t fear the wrath of Allah, to them Allah was as real as a Unicorn, what they feared, justifiably, was the reaction of individuals who’d been poisoned by his brutal manifesto.
Some will take exception
to my choice of words, brutal manifesto,
but as with the books of other religions, many of which are reflected in the
Quran, the suras of the Quran and Hadith are no strangers to the glorification
of violence. 'If they turn their backs, [on Islam] take them, and slay them
wherever you find them'.
The editorial staff
and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo paid the ultimate price for fulfilling their
obligation to the world. But, hopefully, from their martyrdom will rise a
movement, a new generation of critical thinkers who will detect the true scent
of religion and identify it for exactly what it is.
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