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Islam and the West ( 13 Nov 2020, NewAgeIslam.Com)
Cartoons Of The Prophet: Freedom Of Speech Has Never Been Absolute Anywhere Ever
By Graham E. Fuller
9 November
2020
Brutal
murder again by young Muslim fanatics in several European cities. Are these further cases of a “clash of civilisations?” Of western freedom of speech versus
reactionary religious views? Or not?
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The
spectacle of bloody “executions” over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in
France and Austria is horrifying. Nor is it the first time. There is zero
justification for the murder of anyone and especially over ideology or
religion. Period.
Citizens
issue ringing statements upholding free speech–a value that is familiar,
affirmative, and comforting. Yet looking at it more closely some discomfiting
issues emerge that make it harder to simply reduce it all to simple “freedom of
speech” as if that were the end of the story.
We seem to
have here a clash of absolutes–absolute freedom of speech versus absolute respect for the sanctity of religion. But are
they actually “absolutes”?
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Also Read:
Blasphemy, Islam and Free Speech
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In western
secular societies I have the right to ridicule the Prophet Muhammad. But in the exercise of my rights, is there no place for the values of
prudence and wisdom? How wise is it to demand absolute exercise of this right
at all times and places? We all know we have no right to yell “Fire!” in a
crowded cinema. But beyond that, how sensitive and thoughtful is it to insist
on exercising a blanket “right” of mockery when it is potentially upsetting to
hundreds of millions of people? Especially
when we live in multicultural societies where at least minimum respect for the
feelings and psychological security of
others is called for.
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Also Read:
Islam and Free Speech: A Reply to A. Faizur Rahman
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Let’s look
at a few other potential cases. I have the legal right, say, to walk in the
Black neighborhoods of Harlem in New York City, or Atlanta Georgia, and shout
insults against Martin Luther King, or Malcolm X and to invoke the “N” word
about Black society. King, after all, apart from being an iconic figure of the
twentieth century, was also known to be a womaniser. Suppose I carried posters
with crude drawings of King fondling nude women? What sort of reaction would I get? Any
sensible person, regardless of views, would realise such an act was
insensitive, hurtful, stupid, and potentially even dangerous to me in stirring
up angry reaction. But it is still my “right,” is it not? Yet how many liberals
would defend my right to mock and demean MLK and call him an “uppity N”?
Or take the
Latino barrios in El Paso Texas or Los Angeles
where groups of youth often sport T-shirts bearing the image of the
Virgin of Guadalupe–a mythical but potent symbol of Mexican culture, beliefs,
identity and even nationalism. Suppose I were to walk around there wearing a
T-shirt portraying The Virgin of Guadalupe in the act of performing sex. Common
sense would tell me to be fearful of emotional reactions–even violent–against
me. I would be both incredibly insensitive–and a fool–to do it. But do I have
that right in the US? Yes. Would liberals defend me for such mocking disrespect
of the ethnic/cultural/ religious sensitivities of a minority that is
struggling for equality?
I might not
be actually killed for any of these public acts I mentioned above, but quite
likely beaten up, or jailed and even prosecuted for it, depending on where.
I have the
right to march down the street in the Netherlands or Germany with a poster
showing Hitler holding a giant swastika beating a well-fed Jew surrounded by
bags of money. But wait–actually I do not legally have that right there. It is
also banned in several East European countries and Russia as well.
I may claim
the right to publicly claim the Holocaust never happened, that it was all a
hoax. Maybe show a few cartoons to illustrate the “Holocaust scam.” But
actually I don’t have that right in
sixteen European countries including in Germany or France where it is a punishable
offence. But yet I do have the right to
mock the Prophet Muhammad.
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Also Read:
The False Binary of the Secular versus Islamic Needs to Be
Broken
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In Rwanda
it was “free speech “broadcasts from the so-called “Free Radio and Television
of the Thousand Hills” that with interviews, music, supposed news, jokes, and
other programs mocked the Tutsi population that ultimately resulting in the
genocidal operations in which over half a million Tutsis were butchered in
1997.
Here many
people will say we have now moved over into the realm of “Hate Speech.” But
what is the boundary between Free Speech and Hate Speech?
Not all of
these cases are precisely comparable to the French and Austrian murders. Murder
is the ultimate outrage. But In multicultural societies –ideally in all
societies–a modicum of wisdom, cultural sensitivity, ethnic and political
awareness and plain street smarts hopefully discourage anyone from inciting
emotionally sensitive and volatile social situations–even if they are legally
entitled to do so.
The case of
Muslim populations of Europe also present emotional issues. Muslim citizens of
Europe are very much in the process of integration into European society in
multiple respects. But deep tensions still exist; most European states were
never traditionally consciously designed to be multicultural. Furthermore
nearly every single Muslim country in
the world was subjected to centuries of European colonial rule–mainly British
and French–leaving often quite negative colonial memories.
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Also Read:
Muslims In Europe Should Reshape Their Approach Towards The People Of The
Book
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The Prophet
Muhammad is not only an actual historical religious and political leader: he
also represents a core sense of identity to Muslim communities worldwide, and
especially those living as minorities. Yet many Muslims still feel that they
are treated as second class citizens in the West–or India or Myanmar. Meanwhile
French secularism is militant: hijabs are banned–even Muslim women in cover-all
“burkinis” on the beach are forbidden. And this rigid and militant secularism
has ended up producing greater anti-Muslim tensions than anywhere else in
Europe. Islamophobia in the West is a reality. just as is anti-Black
racism.
Clashes
between Christians and Muslims go back at least to 11th century Christian
Crusader armies invading and occupying Muslim states in the Middle East. In
recent decades numerous Middle Eastern countries have been on the receiving end
of American-led wars and military operations that have cost over a million
Muslim lives, broadly disrupted and destroyed states, political orders,
economies, societies and infrastructures. In the West we believe we are simply
reacting in righteous indignation against the outrage of the attacks of 9/11.
But remember, history did not begin with 9/11. There are decades–centuries–of
precedents of usually dominant western power over Muslim populations globally.
Here it is
worth noting that the murderer of the French schoolteacher Samuel Paty was an
18 year-old from Chechnya–a Muslim country that has been the target of a brutal
war conducted by Russia against Chechen independence; the Chechen capital
Grozny was obliterated in the process. Chechens have witnessed over a century
of horrific violence against them. How does such brutalisation not affect them?
None of
this, I repeat, none of this in any way remotely justifies or excuses this
young Chechen’s barbarous act. But it at least provides some slight degree of
insight as to how it could have happened.
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The Middle
East lies in the immediate crossroads over which centuries of Western imperial
power has moved east. Christianity has traditionally viewed Islam as a
“heresy.” Jews, for that matter, have traditionally viewed both Christianity
and Islam as heresies in Jewish terms.
The upshot is that It is going to take some time for emotions to
gradually cool on both sides, as Muslims continue the broader process of
integration into western societies. Most Muslims in the West are horrified at these murderous events. Yet when
the President of France then chooses to characterize Islam as somehow
representing a failed culture in the world it is not surprising that most
Muslims rise in defense of their faith, their culture, and their
identity–against such sweeping attack.
It is to
smug and self-congratulatory for us in the West to believe that in mocking
Islam we after all are simply defending a “god-given right of freedom of
speech.” Would that it were that simple. We might indeed wonder how many of
those people who bait Muslims–or for that matter bait Blacks or any other
suppressed minority– are really acting out of pure idealism in “defense of free
speech.” Sadly many of them may simply
enjoy the racism of baiting minorities–and all the better if you can
self-righteously do so in the name of “freedom of speech.”
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Also Read: Embrace What Is Different:
Quran and Hadith Stress on Building an Inclusive Society
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Freedom of
speech has never been absolute anywhere ever. In realistic terms it is always
measured against existing circumstances. As for Europe, now is the time to
“cool it” and think about how best to bring about processes of social
integration and not exclusion. Let psychic wounds settle. This idea applies to all human relations at all times. Wrapping oneself self-righteously in absolute
rights, especially when one is in the majority, when it is felt hurtful to
others, is never smart or constructive. Recognising what may be truly at work
in some of these “free speech “agendas is the first step towards averting
further such terrible tragedies.
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Graham E. Fuller is a former senior CIA
official, author of numerous books on the Muslim World; his first novel is
“Breaking Faith: A novel of espionage and an American’s crisis of conscience in
Pakistan”; his second one is BEAR—a novel of eco-violence. (Amazon, Kindle)
grahamefuller.com
Original Headline: Islam, Cartoons of the Prophet, and Murder
Source: Graham E. Fuller
New
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