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Cartoons Depicting the Prophet Muhammad |
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Cartoons Depicting The Prophet Mohammad ( peace be upon him )
The Council of European Jamaats ( COEJ ) strongly denounces the publication of the outrageous caricatures of Prophet Muhammed ( pbuh).
This atrocious act was perpetrated, initially by Danish newspapers then repeated by an evangelical paper in Norway and now by more European newspapers, simply to cause insult to Islam and sow seeds to provoke hatred and division between communities in the name of freedom of expression.
Muslims throughout the world hold the Prophet in the highest esteem and printing of these shameful images has brought the fury of the Muslims on to these countries. This has also caused an insult to more than 1.5 billion Muslims throughout the world.
The freedom of expression also brings about responsibility with it. We respect the beliefs and leaders of other religions and we expect the same from the followers of other religions.
Muslim governments have already initiated actions against these countries by boycotting their products, withdrawing their ambassadors and setting up protests. The EU trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, has threatened these governments to report them to WTO. We think there are better ways to resolve this issue like persuading these governments to back off from racist attacks and apologise to the Muslims. The Danish editor feels that he has to take a stand against these fundamental values of democracy and cannot be seen to apologise or back off from his stand. It is a fallacy to declare that our reaction has been driven by totalitarian and authoritarian impulses. If he cared to delve into the belief of Islam he will understand that we cannot tolerate any attacks against a personality like the Holy Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) who we honour and Identify with.
We at COEJ will express our concerns by communicating to the governments of Denmark and Norway.
Munawer Rattansey
President |
