Condemnation and a Call for Restraint

From the Editor

The last century in particular has been witness to systemic smear campaigns against Islam and the values which Islam holds sacred. Such attacks, stemming from the West, entered a new realm with the cartoon crisis which erupted in 2006. Muslims were insulted and hurt by such atrocious attacks which targeted their sacred values.

The movie, Innocence of Muslims, which was recently released, has been the latest in this chain of systemic attacks. In addition to the rightful backlash demonstrated in the face of this movie in Muslim lands, there were also protests which exceeded the boundaries clearly drawn by Islam.

The wave or reaction evoked by this movie, which we as Muslims have comdenmed and which is based entirely on insubstantial allegations, insults and fallacy, has brought about justified reactions. Here, what falls upon the Islamic world is to demonstrate the harshest of reactions to these reprehensible attributions, but to maintain, when doing so, the methods that have been set forth by Islam. In the cartoon crisis of 2006, Muslims, through the excessive responses they displayed, were relegated to being the side in the wrong when in fact they were in the right.

Members of the Islamic world should not remain silent to this last chain of the smear campaign against Islam; they must, as much as is possible, utilize all vehicles of mass communication, print and broadcasting, to voice their reaction.