THE ‘ERA OF FREEDOM’

The truth is that such actions can only be described as meaningless acts of self-sacrifice in the name of the Prophet’s honour rather than being seen as efforts to save his honour. Despite their claims, these activities have no connection to true sacrifice for the Prophet’s honour. They are simply acts of foolishness devoid of reason or basis in Islam. Due to their defeatist mentality, Muslims are easily provoked by people’s negative comments and tend to retaliate. However, others do not hold the same level of sensitivity towards their own religions as Muslims have developed. As a result, when Muslims express harsh words about their faith, they are often disregarded. Yet, when non-Muslims utter offensive words against Islam, Muslims quickly become infuriated. Since others do not react to Muslims’ words, Muslims subconsciously believe they do not say anything negative about others while others continue to speak against them. However, this perception is untrue. The reality is that while others remain unperturbed and do not retaliate, Muslims are quick to lose their composure and respond in kind. To illustrate this point, let us consider the example of Ahmed Deedat (d. 2005), an Indian-origin South African Muslim author and orator on Comparative Religion, who engaged in debates against other religions and published literature based on confrontational models, often employing strong language. An instance of his language can be seen in interviews published in his English bulletin, Al-Burhan (December 1988). In response to a question mentioning