Can the foolishness stop now?
To all of those so eager to defend the prophet's honor by attacking Denmark, well, hold your horses. You won. Ok? I called the whole thing retarded from the begining, and I warned of the consequences of the "continued outrage", that culminated in attacks against churches in Iraq the other day. Sensing that they are dealing with crazy and violent retards, people inside of denmark started calling for someone, anyone, to give an apology to the muslim people , who apprently are so sensitive that they can not be offended without bombing something. The Danish PM couldn't give such an apology, because, and I quote :"The Danish government cannot apologize on behalf of a Danish newspaper. It does not work like that ... and we have explained that to the Arab countries. Independent media are not edited by the government." This of course came as a great shock to the people calling for the apology, because, in our countries, our leader can order the public rape and execution of journalists over anything that he may not like. The concept of an autonomous and free press that is not regulated or controlled by the government is so strange and incomprehensible to our people that they immedietly thought that the man was lying to them or making excuses to cover up for his role in this conspiracy to belittle and attack the Prophet. It became clearly apparent that someone else needed to apologize, and indeed, many apologies were made. First there was the apology posted by the Norwegian government to make sure that no one gets mad at them too. Then there was the apology that was sent by the editor of the newspaper to the people of Saudi arabia over the cartoons, then there was the open letter explanation/apology that was published in the newspaper, then there was the apology made by that same editor in public for offending muslims, and finally there was an official letter of apology by that newspaper , again, that was sent to the Jordanian news agency Petra, where the guy apologizes again. Is that enough to calm you people down? Well, hopefully it is for the majority of you, because it's apparently not enough for the Iraqi terrorist group the Mujahedeen army. They just issued a statement saying that the apology or the boycott are not enough for the insult made against the prophet, and actually called for terrorist attacks against danish and norwegian targets to avenge his honor. "Boycotting cheese and dairy products alone is a flimsy stance that fits a weak nation that cannot defend its prophet ... They started this and they have to shoulder the responsibilities," said the statement attributed to the Mujahideen Army.
It called on its fighters to "hit whatever targets possible belonging to these two countries and other (countries) that follow their steps."
Great. Fantastic. Hope all y'all "defenders of the faith" are FUCKIN happy. And don't tell me that you didn't see that one coming. This is what always freakin happens. This is what happens when you create outrage, and use big words that you barely understand like "defending our prophets honor". And now you have proven to the whole world what the people who attack you have always said : that you are just a little crazy, that you resort to violence the moment anything or anyone offends you, that you can not handle criticisms without issuing death threats. Thanks to your own actions and voiced sentiments we appear to be uncivilized, short-fused, intolerant and bloodthirsty. And the sad thing is, you can't claim it's the media distoring our image anymore. All that they would need to disprove that excuse now is to issue a cartoon, and the next thing you know you will go unhinged again. You know why? Beause YOU ARE FUCKIN RETARDED!
Fuckin Morons!
43 Comments:
Brilliant post.
Here we go again. WWIII and afterwards, nothing left of the ME. Wow, just wow. Nice part of the world you live in SM. Once again the silence of your clergy is deafing. No more money to the ME. NONE, NADA. Enough with getting punked by barbarians and clueless fucks who don't deserve to live.
sandy
if you continue like that, a stroke is inevitable & since you are or heading to the US anyway soon, i would suggest to calm down because believe me nothing can change it. Your blogs are definitely good but when you get angry like that, you start to lose some of your perspective & composure which are essential to deal with such matters, even though i confess sometimes i get mad when i read some articles or watch the cable programs. By the way, do you read any books by any chance & what sort???
I had no idea that this was getting so out of hand. Those in the US that say we need to understand why they (Radical Islamists) hate us are blind to the fact that they will always hate us until we become them. Watch your back buddy, I would bet there are a few crazies that want you dead for your criticism of the Religion of Peace as interpreted by the Islamofacists.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
anon 10:52. Your comment was deleted because despite my almost never-ending patience and tolerance for free speech, your incredibly racist comment crossed that invisible line that mmarks the end of my tolerance. Don't come back!
Jokerman: I know. I know. I could probably use some xanax. You have any? And do I read Books? What is this "books" you speak of?
Sam,
I'm actually worried about you :) next time when you come to the US we need to do one on one anger management heheheeeee
I tried to engage in debate over the cartoons at the Secret Arabian Journal blog. After a few back and forths (where the writer insisted that he was a man of peace) he then launched into attacks on my intelligence, etc. I tried to present the concept that it was more blasphemous to blow up women and children, use humans as bombs, portray others as monkeys and pigs than a few cartoons in a Danish paper. BTW, only two of them are actually derrogotory of the prophet. I put forth the concept that rather than spend his ire on cartoons he should perhaps make it his life's mission to loudly and persistantly protest hate speech from Imams and other perversions of his religion. It was like whisteling in the wind... This fellow poster latched on to my inaccurate count of total humans on the planet and just continued to ridicule me. Nothing like getting nasty to draw attention away from a very pressing problem.
That is why I respect you so SM. You are willing to look at the result of events and not just the event itself. I don't know if this is true but, I read that the Danish dairy company has had to lay off 1,000 workers in KSA. Do you think they might be Muslims?
Sandy, Xanax isnt good for you, that stuff f****d an ex gf´s mind & mine too. There are tranquilisers like Lexotanil thats mild & helps to calm down but always ask a doctor first.
The Books i speak of will interest you i am sure.Mostly by Egyptian writers, like Farag Fouda, look for his books downtown or Azabakiya gardens.
I am sure you will appreciate the guy & his vision though he has been gone for 15 years now.
Another book i would suggest is Sayyed Qimany´s "The Fascists & the Nation" & " Thank you, Bin Laden".
they are mostly his articles published before he was forced to denounce what he wrote in fear of fanatical threats against him & his family. You may not approve of every word, i dont, but he is a liberal thinker & secularist aswell, check them out.
Sandmonkey said....
"YOU ARE FUCKIN RETARDED!
Fuckin Morons!"
I want to draw your attention that you are an advocate of freedom of speech, democracy etc.... the fact that you used foul language against people who disagree with you is not a good idea.
Some muslims feel entitled to boycott and get angry at people messing with their prophet. The fact that we Christians don't raise a stink over people messing with Jesus doesn't make us right and more civilized.
I think you owe an apology to your few readers who might disagree with your analysis.
i.e. you went too far this time
I think you owe an apology to your few readers who might disagree with your analysis.
Enough, already, with the demands for apologies!
The fact that we Christians don't raise a stink over people messing with Jesus doesn't make us right and more civilized.
Perhaps not, but it doesn't make us look like raving lunatics, either.
Twosret, sweetie, ehh, did you read the paragraphs that lead up to that? Or did you just take this completley out of context as I fear you did?
Either way, this is my blog, this is how I feel, and this is just the way it is. If some readers don't like what I have to say or get offended by it, they have every right not to ever read me again. And I am sorry, but this whole thing, this whole approach that was taken was fuckin retarded and moronic and it led to the inevitable conclusion of churches bombed and future terrorist attacks promised. I could've seen that conclusion coming a mile away, so it would be pretty naive to think that the majority of people who supported this thing have as well. So yeah, excuse me when I chastize my people for acting like idiots and not feeling slightly bad about the lives lost and the people who got injured thanks to their movement (all those who died in the church bombing in iraq, the danes that got attacked in saudi to cite examples). Have you heard anyone apologizing for that? Or chastizing the Mujahedeen army for their declartion of Jihad against norwegian or danish targets? No? Well neither have I. And the muslims I have mentiuoned that too said that those things were "good", because " it will teach the west not to mess with us the next time". Thinking that people getting killed over a cartoon is "good" is pretty damn moronic, if not a number of other things as well.
And I don't know about you, but I haven't heard of any christians boycotting Egypt for the many sermons in mosques where Jesus is attacked, or of any jews who are calling for sanctions against us for calling jews the ancestors of pigs and monkeys, let alone blow up mosques because of it or threaten to hit egyptian targets wherever they could. So yeah,I would say that they are slightly more civilized than us in that department, but maybe they are not, or at least that's what you seem to be implying for some reason. Whatever.
Dear SM,
I agree with you fully on that. Some people completely react in such a crazy manner which ends hurting us more. Keep on blogging.
Egyptian in Germany
Oh Twosret, please go read what they are saying aboutthis whole thing in the comment section here, and then tell me I am wrong for calling them retarded.
Sandmonkey,
"Either way, this is my blog, this is how I feel, and this is just the way it is. If some readers don't like what I have to say or get offended by it, they have every right not to ever read me again."
sure no problem
Ya deen ommy!
I've avoided commenting on this issue thus far, and to be honest avoided reading the comments and even most of the posts themselves because of the sillyness of this issue. But I must admit that I find it quite depressing to see this "boycott" take the turn it has.
Twosret, Sandmonkey doesn't owe an apology. He and Roba should be thanked for doing something to stand up to this stupidity. It is disappointing enough to learn that we actually need someone to stand up against this overwhelming stupidity. You would like to think that you have more intelligent leaders and fellow citizens than that.
Sheikh el Shaarawy used to needlessly insult and provoke Christians in his weekly sermons. Do we see the boycotters demanding an apology from the franchisers of Shaarawy, and do we see them forming a boycott against intolerant Egypt? The answer is no. The reason is: because they are morons. There goes Sandmonkey's apology.
Most Egyptian muslims like myself just ignored sheikh el Shaarawi and turned a deaf ear. So he is one person (although it was one influential position he had, and on public television) and he can say whatever he wants to say. I'm sure most Danes would have simply gone on with their lives doing the same thing as we did...if it wasn't for these morons, apparently led and followed by (strangely at the same time) the entire Arab world's governments, embarrassing their own religion in this tragically stupid way, and as a consequence cementing what this rude cartoonist wanted to say about Islam in the first place. Most Danes would have never heard of these cartoons, and if they had, they would have ignored them. But now thanks to the spectacle these primitively stupid, hypocritical and barbaric (in the case of those threatening violence) boycotters have created, not only will the Danes but the entire world over to the cartoons listen.
The best thing these boycotters can do to honour their religion is just look at the stupidity of their actions in the mirror, recognize it, and then withdraw this embarrassing "boycott" - which in fact will ultimately only be a boycott by world public opinion, of their own religion.
The Prophet was more than a genius himself who is probably rolling over in his grave at the damage his so called followers are doing to his faith today.
In the meantime I would like to sooth myself and do more to protect the honour of this religion, by just emphasizing that these stupid boycotters do not represent a majority of Muslims. And you should all do the same.
I can't take your insensitivity any more Sandmonkey!
I am burning my official Egyptian SandMonkey flag as we speak!!!!
I am also punching my lifesize Sandmonkey cardboard cut-out in the face and genetals.
I am sorry it has come to this but you have standed up for free speech (however distastefull) for the last time.
Death to Sandmonkey!
(i am one silly zionist bitch)
Sam, It wasn't an official Muslim Riot/Protest because no KFCs were torched. Unless the Finger Lickin Colonel's going down in flames,
it's just regular Islamic rowdyness. Though, if there were some car swarms, that's worth bonus points.
Hmmmm, This is my advice to anyone building a KFC in a Moslem country. Build it next to the fire station - that way you can have the hoses ready.
Why don't all the various militant groups join up and fight someone besides civilians? Almost everytime I read a story about the M.E. they quote someone from a different "army". Today it is the Mujahideen Army in Iraq tomorrow someone from the Army of Islam will be blowing themself up in a coffe shop and on and on and on.
What have these boycotters accomplished? They produced bigots like "mister ghost" and many others like himself.
What if on the other hand they had maintained quite and acted in a more civilized and open-minded manner? They would have reflected to the world the civility and open-mindedness of the followers of the Islamic faith.
Now which of these two options would You go for?
Now we have innocent Iraqis murdered for something they had nothing to do with and in no way have any link to these cartoons. I back Sandmonkey though I think "retarded" is to soft a term.
Compare what has happened over these cartoons compared to the protests over "Piss Christ" in Australia. As you will not Jews, Muslims and Christians stood together to protest this stupid art. Words from the Australian Cardinal Pell:
"One particular incident in my life as Archbishop of Melbourne bears this out. We have one of Australia's best Art Galleries in Melbourne, heavily subsidised by government, called the National Gallery of Victoria. This gallery announced during 1997 a display of pornographic photos by an American Andres Serrano, which included a picture of a crucifix in a jar of urine, entitled Piss Christ. I contacted the Gallery and asked them to remove the blasphemous photo to a private gallery. I explained that a publicly funded institution had no right to insult Christians in this way, and that if they persisted I would take the matter to court alleging public blasphemy. All the leaders of the major Christian denominations backed the public protest, as did the Moslems and Jewish leaders. One synagogue contacted me promising prayers. There was no movement, so we appealed to the Supreme Court of Victoria."
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/1999/mar1999p20_370.html
Now doesn't that sound a better way of going about it?
Ahem.
The camel's back has been broken.
Sandmonkey - I salute you. Fak the bozos. What a bunch of lunatics.
Two - am sorry. I personally think any Muslim who finds the word 'retard' offensive should go jump off a cliff. Really. God said so. No seriously. Enough of this shit. Political correctness is bunk because it doesn't protect anyone's opinion. And you get undercurrents of racism, stereotype and insult anyway. So why bother? Let's just keep it all out in the open where everyone else can see it.
Oh, and has anyone even seen the comics? I can't find them. Please point me in the right direction. Google is my enemy (for starting up in China, aghast, revolt, boycott!!!!)
If the Danes think the prophet was a terrorist, why should Muslims care? So Muslims don't like pics of Mohammed. Does anyone even know WHY??? Has anyone even asked WHY we can't 'imagine' what he looks like? He was - essentially - human, right? Or else why would God send him a stern lashing in the Quran for frowning at the blind dude?
Nope.'Mooooo - chomp chomp chomp'. Let's all follow the herd. Have some hay SM. Chew well.
This is the beginning of the end. This is what the fundies wanted all along - the deitisation of the prophet. In Christiantiy, Jesus is God's son. Very soon, Mohammed will be God's right hand. And the sooner they do that, the easier it will be to deliver the big kahuna: the final opiate. Then, their clerics will become God's other right hands. And then we're all faked.
SM,
A while back I wrote a post about this whole concept of defending the faith. It was inspired by a dispute on some Islamic issues between some of our fellow Muslim bloggers during which the phrase 'defending our faith' was used by one side or the other. At the time I was just exploring the concept. Didn't really have any strong feelings one way or the other.
I have to say now that if I ever had any doubts this mess over the Danish cartoons has made up my mind for me. If this is what 'defending the faith' comes to then we don't need it.
No we do NOT have the right to tell other people what they should publish in their newspapers in their own countries. Instead of trying to get freedom of expression for ourselves in our own societies we're trying to deprive other people of theirs. That sucks.
I find the cartoons distasteful. Yes the Prophet is loved & revered by us Muslims but THAT'S BECAUSE WE'RE MUSLIMS. We can't accuse other people of blaspheming the Prophet or Islam because you cannot blaspheme what you don't believe in in the first place.
If we had to respond to this at all then it should have been an article or a string of articles sent to the same newspaper explaining why we think the Prophet is not what the cartoons have suggested. If the newspaper refused to publish our point of view then we might consider a lawsuit. Period.
Technically the boycotters & the diplomatic ties cutters may be well within their rights. They haven't done anything legally wrong. But by drawing more media attention to this incident, they've helped to fan the hysteria, feed the persecution-mania and the seige mentality & push every fanatic who was standing on the edge of reason over so that he'll go blow up something Christian which doesn't have anything to do with anything like what happened in Iraq. For that I can't forgive them.
You're right to be angry. I am too. I'm also very scared. I have Christian relatives in Algeria and we've been worried about their safety. Thankfully the Algerian media is not giving this that much attention or sensationalizing it as much which is smart of them. Sometimes there are reasons to be grateful for government control over media. Algeria doesn't need anymore religious strife.
But you still have satellite channels & the internet & it's not like Algeria doesn't have its share of raving lunatics.
We all have to pray that it blows over soon before anymore innocent people are hurt.
To all boycoters out there:
today, february the 1st, parisian newspaper has decided to publish the cartoons!
By all means, boycott french products also, threaten to bomb the metro and of course, don't forget to burn the french flag!
(and please, recall are your envoys.we want the same treatment as the danes.)
DNA,
So good to hear from you man. Been a longtime. Me misses you.
Loulou,
I share your fear and it sucks. With every passing day our future looks dimmer. There used to be a time where the future looked bleak, now it actually looks threatening, u know?
I hope the defenders of the faith don't go anymore off the deep end then they already have, but knowing them, I doubt that will happen. I bet the government officials who started this hooplah are congratulating themselves for creating something that will occupy their citizens other than their corruption for years to come, but they are playing with the fire of fanatscism, andit will eventually burn them as well. I just hope we don't get burned along the way, you know?
frenchfregoli,
You guys want more cars torched or something?
As an American christian,I'd be interested in hearing more about the anti-christian sermons by Egyptian imams.Perhaps if more people knew about this,there would be protests or boycotts,but probably not death threats.
So the fundies want to make Mohammed another son of God? Hadn't heard that one,although president Ahmadinejad is very much into Al-mahdi,the (Shia?) muslim messiah.Iran going nuclear will surely hasten the End-Times,which is part of the plan I guess.
Hello Mr Sand,
Actually the burned cars were good for french auto industry :-)!
On a more serious and sad notes, you are proven right.
I sense a major french public backlash against the boycotters(listening to talk radio or in french blogs).Many people opine that the cartoons may be offensive or in bad taste, HOWEVER, they are against any censorship or pressure on the papers.
the french paper" france-soir" who is publishing the cartoons today, said that although it may seem a silly subject, but the pressures and manoeuvring of the muslim countries RAISED it to a principle of free speech level that "we" in the west cannot let go un-challenged...
Hi there, I'm Danish, and i think I can assure you that what was meant by the cartoons was not that the prophet was a terrorist, the cartoons weren't as such about the Prophet himself, but they were made to point to the fact that Islamists to day seem to do horrible stuff in the Prophet's name and to remind ourselves that we should not start censoring ourselves out of fear. The cartoons weren't made to irritate Muslims but to say something in an ongoing debate on free speech.
It is very ironic that the reaction shows the cartoonists to be right - not about the Muslim world as such but about the extreme elements in it
To my fellow Muslims, God is the defender of his faith he isn't waiting for you to come to his defence.If God needs you retards to defend his faith, then I'm not sure this faith is worth believing in.
Hey, hellme, how are you? Start blogging again, man :)
Hi I'm also from Denmark.
Thanks for providing another view
on this ongoing conflict.
I admire your currage to say what you say being a citizen of Egypt and risking your life of saying what you say.
Here in Sweden, all newspappers are explaining why they think it is not appropiate to reprint the cartoons, to calm down everything, so Swedish products do not get boycotted by the Muslim world.
This is the first time I feel this might be the start of world war III. I have never been so angry and are starting to feel afraid of myself for wanting to apply the Shaira laws to the situation. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and if Europe did that it would look like:
When Islamic people burn our flags, let us burn theirs.
When Islamic people boycott our products, let us boycott theirs.
When Islamic people threatens and expell our people from their land, let us threaten and expell their people from ours.
When islamic people threaten our ambassadours and journalists, let us threaten theirs.
When Islamic people bomb our churches, let us bomb their mosques.
When Islamic people bomb our cities, let us bomb theirs.
When Islamic people murder our movie directors, let us murder theirs.
Another word for this revenchfull thinking is World War III.
The Islamic people are going bananas over a few humoristic and satiric cartoons on Muhammed. I am going bananas that Islamic people threaten us to death, bombing our cities, killing our people, boming churches, kidnapping people, murdering our movie directors.
I really hope this situation will calm down, but I am very worried what will happen after the next Islamic terrorist attack in Europe. The French president has threatened to use the Atomic Bomb against any nation that supports an terrorist attack against France.
I hope all sane people of this world will come together and that the situation will not escallate futher. But today som nazi skinnheads in Denmark are planning to burne the Koran in a public place and Muslim youngsters in Denmark are throuing stones at the police.
All people have the right to live in freedom in a juristiction where the Government do not have legal right to kill, torture or opress them and they have the right to elect their leaders in free, fair and competetive elections and they have the right to say what they fucking whant and not have to pay more than 1/3 of their income in taxes (violated by nearly all democratic countries).
Getting ugly out there SM. The Muslim world needs to get a grip soon or the rumble is on. It won’t be pretty either and the Muslim world is not going to like the outcome. As we say here in Texas, they're going to be like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. Iran comes to immediate mind.
Just look here and figure out how much longer the rest of the world is going to put up with this barbarism.
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/default.htm#attacks
I sure hope it doesn't come to it but time is running out.
Finally. Somebody with a brain here.
DO YOU KNOW THIS PERSONALITY?!
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was a mercy to all human beings, regardless of their religious background. We, as his followers, must live and spread this message today at a time when hatefulness and ugliness towards each other has become the norm.
The statements of the world well-known personalities about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), like Sir George Bernard Shaw, Michael H. Hart, Encyclopedia Britannica, Thomas Calyle, Mahatma Gandhi, Lamar Tine and Prof. Rama Krishna Rao etc.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA confirms:
".... A mass of detail in the early sources show that he was an honest and upright man who had gained the respect and loyalty of others who were like-wise honest and upright men." (Vol. 12)
Sir George Bernard Shaw in 'The Genuine Islam,' Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936.
"If any religion had the chance of ruling over England, nay Europe within the next hundred years, it could be Islam."
"I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion, which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence, which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him - the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Savior of Humanity."
"I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today."
He was by far the most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He preached a religion, founded a state, built a nation, laid down a moral code, initiated numerous social and political reforms, established a powerful and dynamic society to practice and represent his teachings and completely revolutionized the worlds of human thought and behavior for all times to come.
"HIS NAME IS MUHAMMAD" May Peace of God Be Upon Him (pbuh) He was born in Arabia in the year 570 C.E. (common era), started his mission of preaching the religion of Truth, Islam (submission to One God) at the age of forty and departed from this world at the age of sixty-three.
During this short period of 23 years of his Prophethood, he changed the complete Arabian peninsula from paganism and idolatry to worship of One God, from tribal quarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion, from drunkenness and debauchery to sobriety and piety, from lawlessness and anarchy to disciplined living, from utter bankruptcy to the highest standards of moral excellence. Human history has never known such a complete transformation of a people or a place before or since - and IMAGINE all these unbelievable wonders in JUST OVER TWO DECADES.
MICHAEL H. HART in his recently published book on ratings of men who contributed towards the
benefit and upliftment of mankind writes:
"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels." (M.H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York, 1978, p. 33) Lamar tine the renowned historian speaking on the essentials of human greatness wonders:
"If greatness of purpose, smallness of means and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislation, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls.... his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was two-fold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with the words.
"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is MUHAMMAD. As regards all the standards by which Human Greatness may be measured, we may well ask, IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN HE?"
(Lamar tine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp 276-277)
The world has had its share of great personalities. But these were one-sided figures who distinguished themselves in but one or two fields, such as religious thought or military leadership. The lives and teachings of these great personalities of the world are shrouded in the mist of time. There is so much speculation about the time and place of their birth, the mode and style of their life, the nature and detail of their teachings and the degree and measure of their success or failure that it is impossible for humanity to reconstruct accurately the lives and teachings of these men.
Not so this man. Muhammad (pbuh) accomplished so much in such diverse fields of human thought and behavior in the fullest blaze of human history. Every detail of his private life and public utterances has been accurately documented and faithfully preserved to our day. The authenticities of the record so preserved are vouched for not only by the faithful followers but also even by his prejudiced critics.
Muhammad (pbuh) was a religious teacher, a social reformer, a moral guide, an administrative colossus, a faithful friend, a wonderful companion, a devoted husband, a loving father - all in one. No other man in history ever excelled or equaled him in any of these different aspects of life - but it was only for the selfless personality of Muhammad (pbuh) to achieve such incredible perfections.
MAHATMA GANDHI Speaking on the character of Muhammad, (pbuh) says in YOUNG INDIA:
"I wanted to know the best of one who holds today's undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind.... I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to this friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the 2nd volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the great life."
THOMAS CALYLE in his HEROES AND HEROWORSHIP, was simply amazed as to:
"How one man single-handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into a most powerful and civilized nation in less than two decades."
"The lies (Western slander) which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man (Muhammad) are disgraceful to ourselves only."
"A silent great soul, one of that who cannot but be earnest. He was to kindle the world, the world's Maker had ordered so."
DIWAN CHAND SHARMA wrote:
"Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten by those around him." (D.C. Sharma, THE PROPHETS OF THE EAST, Calcutta, 1935, pp. 12)
EDWARD GIBBON and SIMON OCKLEY speaking on the profession of ISLAM write:
"'I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, AND MAHOMET, AN APOSTLE OF GOD' is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible idol; the honor of the Prophet has never transgressed the measure of human virtues; and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion." (HISTORY OF THE SARACEN EMPIRES, London, 1870, p. 54) Muhammad (pbuh) was nothing more or less than a human being. But he was a man with a noble mission, which was to unite humanity on the worship of ONE and ONLY ONE GOD and to teach them the way to honest and upright living based on the commands of God. He always described himself as, 'A Servant and Messenger of God,' and so indeed every action of his proclaimed to be.
The famous poetess of India, SAROJINI NAIDU says:
"It was the first religion that preached and practiced democracy; for, in the mosque, when the call for prayer is sounded and worshippers are gathered together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the peasant and king kneel side by side and proclaim: 'God Alone is Great'... I have been struck over and over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that makes man instinctively a brother." S. Naidu, IDEALS OF ISLAM, vide Speeches & Writings, Madras, 1918, p. 169)
In the words of PROF. HURGRONJE:
"The league of nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle of international unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations as to show candle to other nations." He continues: "The fact is that no nation of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the realization of the idea of the League of Nations."
The world has not hesitated to raise to divinity, individuals whose lives and missions have been lost in legend. Historically speaking, none of these legends achieved even a fraction of what Muhammad (pbuh) accomplished. And all his striving was for the sole purpose of uniting mankind for the worship of One God on the codes of moral excellence. Muhammad (pbuh) or his followers never at any time claimed that he was a Son of God or the God-incarnate or a man with divinity - but he always was and is even today considered as only a Messenger chosen by God.
K. S. RAMAKRISHNA RAO, an Indian Professor of Philosophy in his booklet, "Muhammad, The Prophet of Islam," calls him the "PERFECT MODEL FOR HUMAN LIFE." Prof. Ramakrishna Rao explains his point by saying: "The personality of Muhammad, it is most difficult to get into the whole truth of it. Only a glimpse of it I can catch. What a dramatic succession of picturesque scenes! There is Muhammad, the Prophet. There is Muhammad, the Warrior; Muhammad, the Businessman; Muhammad, the Statesman; Muhammad, the Orator; Muhammad, the Reformer; Muhammad, the Refuge of Orphans; Muhammad, the Protector of Slaves; Muhammad, the Emancipator of Women; Muhammad, the Judge; Muhammad, the Saint. All in all these magnificent roles, in all these departments of human activities, he is alike a hero."
Today after a lapse of fourteen centuries, the life and teachings of MUHAMMAD (pbuh) have survived without the slightest loss, alteration or interpolation. They offer the same undying hope for treating mankind's many ills, which they did when he was alive. This is not a claim of Muhammad's (pbuh) followers but also the inescapable conclusion forced upon by a critical and unbiased history.
The least you could do, as Muslims or non-Muslims, as thinking and concerned human beings, is to stop for a moment and ask yourself: These statements/comments sounding so extraordinary and revolutionary come from renown and intellectually honest and internationally recognized persons of their times who were not Muslim. Isn't it time for all Muslims and non Muslims to respond to this tremendous challenge and put in some effort to know him, follow him and emulate him in our day to day life? It will cost us nothing but it may prove to be the beginning of a completely new era in our lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Courtesy: Abdullah AM [abdullahmamo@yahoo.co.uk]
Compiled, edited and adapted by Khalid Latif
DO YOU KNOW THIS PERSONALITY?!
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was a mercy to all human beings, regardless of their religious background. We, as his followers, must live and spread this message today at a time when hatefulness and ugliness towards each other has become the norm.
The statements of the world well-known personalities about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), like Sir George Bernard Shaw, Michael H. Hart, Encyclopedia Britannica, Thomas Calyle, Mahatma Gandhi, Lamar Tine and Prof. Rama Krishna Rao etc.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA confirms:
".... A mass of detail in the early sources show that he was an honest and upright man who had gained the respect and loyalty of others who were like-wise honest and upright men." (Vol. 12)
Sir George Bernard Shaw in 'The Genuine Islam,' Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936.
"If any religion had the chance of ruling over England, nay Europe within the next hundred years, it could be Islam."
"I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion, which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence, which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him - the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Savior of Humanity."
"I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today."
He was by far the most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He preached a religion, founded a state, built a nation, laid down a moral code, initiated numerous social and political reforms, established a powerful and dynamic society to practice and represent his teachings and completely revolutionized the worlds of human thought and behavior for all times to come.
"HIS NAME IS MUHAMMAD" May Peace of God Be Upon Him (pbuh) He was born in Arabia in the year 570 C.E. (common era), started his mission of preaching the religion of Truth, Islam (submission to One God) at the age of forty and departed from this world at the age of sixty-three.
During this short period of 23 years of his Prophethood, he changed the complete Arabian peninsula from paganism and idolatry to worship of One God, from tribal quarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion, from drunkenness and debauchery to sobriety and piety, from lawlessness and anarchy to disciplined living, from utter bankruptcy to the highest standards of moral excellence. Human history has never known such a complete transformation of a people or a place before or since - and IMAGINE all these unbelievable wonders in JUST OVER TWO DECADES.
MICHAEL H. HART in his recently published book on ratings of men who contributed towards the
benefit and upliftment of mankind writes:
"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels." (M.H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York, 1978, p. 33) Lamar tine the renowned historian speaking on the essentials of human greatness wonders:
"If greatness of purpose, smallness of means and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislation, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls.... his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was two-fold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with the words.
"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is MUHAMMAD. As regards all the standards by which Human Greatness may be measured, we may well ask, IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN HE?"
(Lamar tine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp 276-277)
The world has had its share of great personalities. But these were one-sided figures who distinguished themselves in but one or two fields, such as religious thought or military leadership. The lives and teachings of these great personalities of the world are shrouded in the mist of time. There is so much speculation about the time and place of their birth, the mode and style of their life, the nature and detail of their teachings and the degree and measure of their success or failure that it is impossible for humanity to reconstruct accurately the lives and teachings of these men.
Not so this man. Muhammad (pbuh) accomplished so much in such diverse fields of human thought and behavior in the fullest blaze of human history. Every detail of his private life and public utterances has been accurately documented and faithfully preserved to our day. The authenticities of the record so preserved are vouched for not only by the faithful followers but also even by his prejudiced critics.
Muhammad (pbuh) was a religious teacher, a social reformer, a moral guide, an administrative colossus, a faithful friend, a wonderful companion, a devoted husband, a loving father - all in one. No other man in history ever excelled or equaled him in any of these different aspects of life - but it was only for the selfless personality of Muhammad (pbuh) to achieve such incredible perfections.
MAHATMA GANDHI Speaking on the character of Muhammad, (pbuh) says in YOUNG INDIA:
"I wanted to know the best of one who holds today's undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind.... I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to this friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the 2nd volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the great life."
THOMAS CALYLE in his HEROES AND HEROWORSHIP, was simply amazed as to:
"How one man single-handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into a most powerful and civilized nation in less than two decades."
"The lies (Western slander) which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man (Muhammad) are disgraceful to ourselves only."
"A silent great soul, one of that who cannot but be earnest. He was to kindle the world, the world's Maker had ordered so."
DIWAN CHAND SHARMA wrote:
"Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten by those around him." (D.C. Sharma, THE PROPHETS OF THE EAST, Calcutta, 1935, pp. 12)
EDWARD GIBBON and SIMON OCKLEY speaking on the profession of ISLAM write:
"'I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, AND MAHOMET, AN APOSTLE OF GOD' is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible idol; the honor of the Prophet has never transgressed the measure of human virtues; and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion." (HISTORY OF THE SARACEN EMPIRES, London, 1870, p. 54) Muhammad (pbuh) was nothing more or less than a human being. But he was a man with a noble mission, which was to unite humanity on the worship of ONE and ONLY ONE GOD and to teach them the way to honest and upright living based on the commands of God. He always described himself as, 'A Servant and Messenger of God,' and so indeed every action of his proclaimed to be.
The famous poetess of India, SAROJINI NAIDU says:
"It was the first religion that preached and practiced democracy; for, in the mosque, when the call for prayer is sounded and worshippers are gathered together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the peasant and king kneel side by side and proclaim: 'God Alone is Great'... I have been struck over and over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that makes man instinctively a brother." S. Naidu, IDEALS OF ISLAM, vide Speeches & Writings, Madras, 1918, p. 169)
In the words of PROF. HURGRONJE:
"The league of nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle of international unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations as to show candle to other nations." He continues: "The fact is that no nation of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the realization of the idea of the League of Nations."
The world has not hesitated to raise to divinity, individuals whose lives and missions have been lost in legend. Historically speaking, none of these legends achieved even a fraction of what Muhammad (pbuh) accomplished. And all his striving was for the sole purpose of uniting mankind for the worship of One God on the codes of moral excellence. Muhammad (pbuh) or his followers never at any time claimed that he was a Son of God or the God-incarnate or a man with divinity - but he always was and is even today considered as only a Messenger chosen by God.
K. S. RAMAKRISHNA RAO, an Indian Professor of Philosophy in his booklet, "Muhammad, The Prophet of Islam," calls him the "PERFECT MODEL FOR HUMAN LIFE." Prof. Ramakrishna Rao explains his point by saying: "The personality of Muhammad, it is most difficult to get into the whole truth of it. Only a glimpse of it I can catch. What a dramatic succession of picturesque scenes! There is Muhammad, the Prophet. There is Muhammad, the Warrior; Muhammad, the Businessman; Muhammad, the Statesman; Muhammad, the Orator; Muhammad, the Reformer; Muhammad, the Refuge of Orphans; Muhammad, the Protector of Slaves; Muhammad, the Emancipator of Women; Muhammad, the Judge; Muhammad, the Saint. All in all these magnificent roles, in all these departments of human activities, he is alike a hero."
Today after a lapse of fourteen centuries, the life and teachings of MUHAMMAD (pbuh) have survived without the slightest loss, alteration or interpolation. They offer the same undying hope for treating mankind's many ills, which they did when he was alive. This is not a claim of Muhammad's (pbuh) followers but also the inescapable conclusion forced upon by a critical and unbiased history.
The least you could do, as Muslims or non-Muslims, as thinking and concerned human beings, is to stop for a moment and ask yourself: These statements/comments sounding so extraordinary and revolutionary come from renown and intellectually honest and internationally recognized persons of their times who were not Muslim. Isn't it time for all Muslims and non Muslims to respond to this tremendous challenge and put in some effort to know him, follow him and emulate him in our day to day life? It will cost us nothing but it may prove to be the beginning of a completely new era in our lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Courtesy: Abdullah AM [abdullahmamo@yahoo.co.uk]
Compiled, edited and adapted by Khalid Latif
Man, you have got balls on your balls. You and that hottie who runs that other Egyptian dissident website. We here in the US (where freedom of speech is taken so seriously that we don't even have laws against "hate speech" - though some of our home-grown religious whackjobs would like to change that) can't possibly conceive of what it must be like for you who have to live under these religionazi regimes. Let alone the guts it must take to speak out against them.
You understand the issues better than a lot of the weak-wristed geeks in the West; you understand that what is going on right now is an attempt by these people to impose on the rest of the world the kind of censorship they've already inflicted on their own countries.
But at least you can understand the motives of the ones at the top; they just want to control other people. They'd be Christian priests or Jewish rabbis if they thought that was the best route to power.
The ordinary people, though - that's so sad, really. They support these bastards and don't even understand that these are the ones who are keeping them down.
Like this pathetic poster in this same thread, who "proves" that you're wrong by quoting a series of third-rate Western minds (and one third-rate Indian) on what an ace dude Muhammed was. SO? Lots of us in the West have a pretty high opinion of Jesus, and we still make jokes about him. Because we figure God has a sense of humor. If he didn't, why did he give us such a comical way to reproduce ourselves?
There's something we used to say in the US Army in my day: "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."
My brother, I wish I could shake your hand. Hell, I wish I were WORTHY to shake your hand. I'm not at all sure I'd have the balls to do what you're doing.
Good luck.
Robert Fisk: Don't be fooled, this isn't an issue of Islam versus secularism
Published: 04 February 2006
So now it's cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed with a bomb-shaped turban. Ambassadors are withdrawn from Denmark, Gulf nations clear their shelves of Danish produce, and Gaza gunmen threaten the European Union. In Denmark, Fleming Rose, the "culture" editor of the pip-squeak newspaper which published these silly cartoons - last September, for heaven's sake - announces that we are witnessing a "clash of civilizations" between secular Western democracies and Islamic societies. This does prove, I suppose, that Danish journalists follow in the tradition of Hans Christian Anderson. Oh lordy, lordy. What we're witnessing is the childishness of civilizations.
So let's start off with the Department of Home Truths. This is not an issue of secularism versus Islam. For Muslims, the Prophet is the man who received divine words directly from God. We see our prophets as faintly historical figures, at odds with our high-tech human rights, almost caricatures of themselves. The fact is that Muslims live their religion. We do not. They have kept their faith through innumerable historical vicissitudes. We have lost our faith ever since Matthew Arnold wrote about the sea's "long, withdrawing roar". That's why we talk about "the West versus Islam" rather than "Christians versus Islam" - because there aren't an awful lot of Christians left in Europe. There is no way we can get round this by setting up all the other world religions and asking why we are not allowed to make fun of Mohamed.
Besides, we can exercise our own hypocrisy over religious feelings. I happen to remember how, more than a decade ago, a film called The Last Temptation of Christ showed Jesus making love to a woman. In Paris, someone set fire to the cinema showing the movie, killing a young man. I also happen to remember a US university which invited me to give a lecture three years ago. I did. It was entitled "September 11, 2001: ask who did it but, for God's sake, don't ask why". When I arrived, I found that the university had deleted the phrase "for God's sake" because "we didn't want to offend certain sensibilities". Ah-ha, so we have "sensibilities" too.
In other words, while we claim that Muslims must be good secularists when it comes to free speech - or cheap cartoons - we can worry about adherents to our own precious religion just as much. I also enjoyed the pompous claims of European statesmen that they cannot control free speech or newspapers. This is also nonsense. Had that cartoon of the Prophet shown instead a chief rabbi with a bomb-shaped hat, we would have had "anti-Semitism" screamed into our ears - and rightly so - just as we often hear the Israelis complain about anti-Semitic cartoons in Egyptian newspapers.
Furthermore, in some European nations - France is one, Germany and Austria are among the others - it is forbidden by law to deny acts of genocide. In France, for example, it is illegal to say that the Jewish Holocaust or the Armenian Holocaust did not happen. So it is, in fact, impermissable to make certain statements in European nations. I'm still uncertain whether these laws attain their objectives; however much you may prescribe Holocaust denial, anti-Semites will always try to find a way round. We can hardly exercise our political restraints to prevent Holocaust deniers and then start screaming about secularism when we find that Muslims object to our provocative and insulting image of the Prophet.
For many Muslims, the "Islamic" reaction to this affair is an embarrassment. There is good reason to believe that Muslims would like to see some element of reform introduced to their religion. If this cartoon had advanced the cause of those who want to debate this issue, no-one would have minded. But it was clearly intended to be provocative. It was so outrageous that it only caused reaction.
And this is not a great time to heat up the old Samuel Huntingdon garbage about a "clash of civilizations". Iran now has a clerical government again. So, to all intents and purposes, does Iraq (which was not supposed to end up with a democratically elected clerical administration, but that's what happens when you topple dictators).
In Egypt , the Muslim Brotherhood won 20 per cent of the seats in the recent parliamentary elections. Now we have Hamas in charge of "Palestine".
There's a message here, isn't there? That America's policies -"regime change" in the Middle East - are not achieving their ends. These millions of voters preferred Islam to the corrupt regimes which we imposed on them.
For the Danish cartoon to be dumped on top of this fire is dangerous indeed.
In any event, it's not about whether the Prophet should be pictured. The Koran does not forbid images of the Prophet even though millions of Muslims do. The problem is that these cartoons portrayed Mohamed as a bin Laden-type image of violence. They portrayed Islam as a violent religion. It is not. Or do we want to make it so?
My God...You have spoken, whoever you are..
Sandmonkey forever.
Killings, Threads, Fatwa´s, Bombs and terror works.
Guess any newspaper will very restrictive, regarding what the will publish in the future.
Now the Muslim extremists can go, claming more, they have somehow won, and will feel strengthen and united, for the time being.
Meanwhile, the departed western countries and their politicians can just sit back, and wait for what is going to happen next, many western politicians don’t know how to handle this issue..
Guess Muslims people in general isn’t violent by nature. Islam is a law religion, and Sharia is the law for Muslims. In the hands of Extremist Imams, Muftis and Muslims, Islam easily becomes a violent religion, - believe we have seen this point proven too many times already.
When muslims are a minority, they want democracy, but when they are the majority, democracy, freedom of speech, religious believe, human rights etc. is gone. Just look at the history for the now Muslim countries, Egypt and Turkey is a good example.
I don’t think this will stop, now that the extremists has seen, how departed the western worlds politicians is in this issue, what will come next ?.
Sandmonkey,
do you want to know why the danish govenment was asked to apologize? beacause it did not take any action againest this matter and to refresh your memory the goverment refused even to meet the ambassadors of the arab and muslim countries regarding this matter..the government of any country is responsible about the people of that particular country and their interests and has to deal with such situation in a sensitive mannaer of which the dansih government DID NOT DO..the problem became the governments problem..and had to pay the price for its mistakes YOU HAVE TO ADMIT that. publishing the cartoons is freedom of speech..ok what about buying and selling goods? isn't it freedom too? DO YOU WANT TO FORCE PEOPLE TO BUY YOUR PRODUCTS?? DO YOU THINK ONLY YOU ARE FREE ON THE WORLD? the boycutt in this case is not fair enough..if you think someone made a mistake it is your government .which didn't know how to deal with it..
REMEBER:* before the 2nd world war you europeans never know what freedom means until the U.S helped you get rid of the nazis and built your countries and tought you what freedom means...IN THE U.S ALL RELIGIONS ARE RESPECTED.. NO SUCH FOOLISH THING HAPPENED..DO YOU THINK YOUR COUNTRIES HAVE MORE FREEDOM??? HUH
*WHY MUSLIM GIRLS ARE NOT FREE TO WEAR HIJAB IN FRENCH SCHOOLS?
*WHY IT IS FORBIDDEN TO TALK ABOUT HOLOCAUST IN EUROPE? WHERE IS THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH HERE? WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH FOR THE JEWISH FEELINGS AND PUT YOUR FREEDOM ASIDE IN DISCUSSING SUCH SUBJECT?
FINALLY: I agree with you about the churches.. and bombings these are big mistakes and despite of whatever is the problem.. churches and mosques and other holy places must not be involved..no matter what.
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