The Issue of Blasphemy

THE WISDOM OF AVOIDANCE This implies that the answer to humiliation and persecution does not lie in seeking revenge or punishing the offender. Instead, one of the successful responses is to rely on God and maintain silence. One should not take matters into one’s own hands but instead await the natural course of God’s law (nature). This represents a unique wisdom of Islam, as described by Amir Mu’awiyah, the first Umayyad ruler: “Where my verbal warning is sufficient, I do not raise my sword. Where my silence suffices, I do not speak.” (Ibn Qutaybah al-Dinawari, Gharib al-Hadith, Vol. 2, p. 413) Print Media, Electronic Media Muslim leaders should have realized that their actions were not as straightforward as they believed. This directly challenged the core beliefs of the entire Western world. Mr. Edward Mortimer accurately pointed out, “While the religion of Muslims is Islam, our religion is also ‘freedom.’ Just as Muslims feel angered when their faith is insulted or attacked, we experience the same level of distress when our religion (freedom) is under attack. If insulting the Prophet is considered blasphemy to Muslims, then insulting freedom is equally blasphemous to us.” (The Times of India, February 28, 1989) That is why, just like the Muslim world has protested against Salman Rushdie, the Western world has shown support for him by presenting arguments in his favour. The Western world’s backing of Salman Rushdie is not due to its “hostility