The gunmen who entered the Charlie Hebdo’s office on the morning of 7 January 2015 does not represent Islam. Right up till of the attack, we have never heard of them, we never knew about their existence, about their upbringing, about their their activities, the method in which their faith is practised, if they were Muslims by their birth right or just Muslims by name, because to be a Muslim one does not necessarily have to be born as one, that course unfortunately is not of our own choice, therefore, the path we follow could be anything but the faith of Islam because these men could be anything but Islam for Islam does not validate their solo action for the benefits of the majority.
So why should the rest of the Muslim community apologies on behalf of these lunatics who obviously can’t tell the right from wrong? Why should we apologies for the actions of those who we know not, who we support not, and just like you, the rest of the world, we fully condemned?
We stand with you, but we will not apologies for something we ourselves believe should not be forgiven because Islam does not condone to such actions, in which innocent lives are taken, and laid to waste.
The gunmen who entered the Charlie Hebdo’s premises on the morning of 7 January 2015 does not represent Islam. It was not until their actions were broadcasted worldwide that we came to know of their existence. Right till the shooting took place in Paris, we knew not about their devious intentions, we were never a part of their barbaric plans, we are not part of this culture where human’s lives are are brutality ended in the name of revenge like the angel of death who was never summoned by playing God and assuming the role of the divine. We do not have such power, killing is not our culture.
Why should we apologies for men who believed that the retribution for the humiliation placed upon the Prophet should be done through bloodbath? We do not stand by their barbaric actions so we shall not apologise for what cannot be forgiven. If we had the slightest idea of what was about to unfold, we would have stood in front of that office, we would have made a human wall, we would have done what we can and everything we could not only because we are Muslims and our religion condemns killing but because as humans with moral values, we, just like you, just like the rest of the world who grieves this lost, feels your pain and condemn their actions.
We do not support these kind of brutality which reflects badly upon us, upon the prophet himself and upon the Muslim community, not only in France, but the world united. But we, just like you, were not aware of what bad tidings the day would bring, and such event were meant to unfold. Helpless just like you, just like the rest of the world, we too could only watch, pray for them to be caught, pray for the loved ones be granted strength to endure through these difficult times, and suffer in silent for we are truly aware the actions of these self-centred lunatics has not only claimed the lives of 20 innocents and injured 12 but has also left the rest of the Muslim world to the stereotype that we should be held into account for what they did, becomes an easy target for what you condemn and yet react in the same manner to those with the same faith as the killers. A deed done without our consent, without our knowledge, without our approval, that even God denounce but unfortunately, here we are, not the victims of prejudice, never the friends of the unknown culprits, just unfortunate that they too assumed what we call the fabrication of our faith, did something that should have not been done just so they can ensure that we suffer the wrath of their transgression and the price of their atrocity.
Why should we apologies for the actions of these bigots? How would it help the world if we do? How can you expect us to apologise for such evil behaviour, to apologies on their behalf is to defend their actions, and what good does it do for the rest of us? To admit, they’ve made a mistake and we offer an apology on behalf. Not only have we been condemned to be born to the faith, not only have we been slandered for the things we never did, not only have been forced to swallow the insults of the wrongdoings of these killers who has clearly deviated from the teachings of Islam and now we are being asked to apologies for them? Where’s the sense in that?
Will an apology change your views towards us? Will an apology help you agree for truce? Will an apology make you believe that we had nothing to do with the killings, will an apology make you forgive us for being Muslims? Will an apology change anything at all? What would an apology change? The ones who are dead can never be revived, their memories will live and the cubicle of history, it is not the names of these individual’s let alone their identities that will be mentioned every time the issue of Charlie Hebdo comes up, it would be the religion, the faith and the fact that they shouted ‘God is great’ so it has been decided that it was the religion and all of its believers who conspired the tragedy. For all we know, it will not change anything, because even if we stand with those who insulted our Prophet and called it satire, even if we pray so that their souls will rest in peace, and even if stand united in a vigil, we will forever be that outlaws who unfortunately shares the same faith with the killers. So what would it change?
Why should we apologies for those who are not sorry for what they did? Who avenged without the consent of the Muslim community as a whole, and who undertook a responsibility of avenging the prophet upon themselves when none of us have ever asked them to, so why should we apologies for this extremists? We will not apologies for they need to be punished and pay the price of their actions, and that is the only thing we will support.
The men who walked into the Charlie Hebdo office on the morning of 7 January 2015 does not represent Islam. The prophet did not summoned them, God did not summoned them, we did not ask for their help to go and avenged our prophet, Charlie Hebdo has been insulting the prophet since 2011, drew the prophet naked in 2012, and they have been doing this ever-since amidst the many cautions, requests, and protests that has time and time again turned violent increasing the number of fatalities who died requesting for them to spare the prophet.
“We have to carry on until Islam has been rendered as banal as Catholicism” Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Stéphane “Charb” Charbonnier
We have lived through this provocation just like how the prophet did during his time, where he was constantly insulted, defamed, slandered, cursed, and so much more. His years were much tougher than one could even hope to imagine, his life the same, for it was always on stake, with endless assassinations attempts was carried out on him without success. He knew well the names of those who were out to kill him, but not a single time did the prophet asked his followers who were always ready to be put to the sword so that his life could be spared to go out and avenged him, avenged those with intentions to kill him, finish them before their purpose was achieved. Instead he prayed for their heart to be soften, so they would change their minds and ditch their intentions of murdering him as to what happened with Umar who was on his was to assassinate the prophet but was diverted from his path.
Another popular narration would be of Abu Jahl who never stopped in making the prophet’s life miserable, in ways that you can never imagine. One of the most popular narrations of Abu Jahl’s idea of insults towards the prophet was at the time when the prophet was praying, and Abu Jahl who was sitting with his companions when he asked for camel’s entrails (bowels) to be brought to him and upon the arrival of the internal organs, he commanded the most unfortunate one of his companions to place the entrails on the prophet when he prostrates. The man did as he was bid and the moment the prophet knelt in his prayer, the man placed the internal organ on his back in between his shoulders. This amused Abu Jahl and his companions greatly as they burst into hysterical laughter and falling on one another.
The amount of abdominal and repugnant things done by Abu Jahl towards the prophet can never matched the amount of caricatures made to insult the prophet or the amount of cheap films made to demoralise him, for he had gone through times much worst than this, through insults heavier than caricatures made to defy him, or cheap films made to demoralise him. The Islam that we follow, has never commanded its followers to avenged the apostle, the Islam that we follow does not teach us to murder those who defy or humiliate us, Islam does not allow taking the lives of innocents, Islam denounce those who kills women and children, and there is no enforcement in Islam. It has not been written anywhere in the book that kill those who refuse to convert, men, women or child, finish them for if they do not embrace the religion, they do not deserve to live.
Where in the name of heaven, is it written in the holy book, kill those who refuse to convert to Islam? Or kill those who humiliate the prophet? Which chapter, which verse? There’s none, because the true teaching of Islam does not preach what was done by the Charlie Hebdo.
So, should we apologies because they were born Muslim or should we apologies on their behalf just because they do not know what is the truth about Islam? Which one is our fault so we could take time to reflect upon our wrongdoings because truly, there’s not much left to do is there when it is so easy to group, label according to religion and deport so it can be judge by the stereotypes who agrees that one person’s action has redefined everything about the religion, one person kills and instead of trying to rationalise and understand the bigger picture it is much easier to turn the whole thing into and idea that every Muslim is a killer, and to what end would this fashion account for those who has not yet killed but has been labelled murderers, those who has not stolen but has been labelled as thieves? There’s no end to it and no apology would change the fact that we will always be viewed as some sort of social pariahs, who has no right to defend ourselves when we are provoked, and if, God forbid just if we point a finger at anyone, we become terrorists.
So, why should we apologies for the killers who has no notion of the religion, who acted against the teachings and avenged the prophet in a way that even he would not approve? Why should we apologise for the killers who are Islam by birth right but practised values that has far strayed from the actual teachings? So which part of them is Islam? The name? The religion in their ID? Or the understanding we have based on witness account that they shouted the Arabic phrase ‘God is great’ and yet declared their achievements ‘the prophet has been avenged’ in French?
On 7 January 2015, exactly a week after the curtain was raised in welcoming a brand new year, another blood bath marked the empty pages of history, in the name of Islam when 2 ‘Islamist’ gunmen opened fire at the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo killing 12 and wounding 11. It has been labelled as a terrorist attack, of course the gun men uttered in French that they have avenged the prophet, so there is no doubt the motive is related to the controversial publication insulting the prophet first published in 2011 to mock both the Syaria Law and the prophet, and then again in 2012, this time taking things to another level with naked images of what they portray as the prophet. In fact, the prophet has been a regular feature of the French satirical newspaper, and they stand to defend their freedom of speech and self-expression. Doesn’t matter who they hurt in the process with the outrages satire, it is not wrong, because we Muslims have no feelings whatsoever and should just accept the mockery, because perhaps we have no right to retaliate since the freedom of speech does not apply on us.
11 September 2012, a series of protest was carried out in front of the US embassy in Cairo, Egypt in response to the YouTube trailer, for the low budget film called the ‘Innocence of Islam’ which portrayed the prophet as a buffoon and a womaniser. Sensitivity issue was totally ignored here, but that is ok because it is freedom of speech and self-expression, a degrading caricature of the prophet is self-expression, stripping him naked should also be viewed as part of satire because when it comes to Islam, there is no limit to what end you can use the power of your freedom and you can choose whatever way you wish to express yourself even if it wrong, self expression allows it. But when the Muslim community asked for the magazine to take into account about their feelings and the role of the prophet in the religion, they were told to apply self-censorship, how classic. This propagated a protest that quickly spread to major Muslim countries and later to the Western counterparts but did anyone cared to asked about the death toll that resulted from this protest? It was 50 over fatalities with 695 people injured. But why would anyone care about that? Because they were not ‘Yu Suis Charlie’.
Despite of the widespread protest that spread to about 18 countries including the West, which propagated diplomatic mission following the 2012 Bengazi attack, when strong emotions has been provoked in major Muslim countries that later forced The United States to immediately increase security worldwide at diplomatic and military facilities, Charlie Hebd who obviously were within the knowledge of how severe the situation was and the risk on civilians life were at all time high, disregarded the issue and took advantage of the situation by publishing nude caricatures of the prophet. Having the privilege of exercise your rights to self express could not longer be questioned but how about ignoring the sense of time? When the very action at that precise moment could have further fuelled the already growing outrage and at what cost if not the lives of the civilian being placed at greater risk. It’s simple understanding of actions and reactions that failed to qualify in the terms of common sense because there was no better time to put oil on the fire, despite of the repercussion or even considering the consequences of their actions could actually place the public at greater harm.
A cliche of assertion, with the statement above, the only understanding that the word ‘questioned the actions’ is that whatever that was done was indeed wrong, freedom of speech or not, self expression or not, it does not take religion to tell you that killing is wrong, hurting people is wrong, insulting is wrong and respect the way you want to be respected. No one is born knowing their religion, at 6 months old, you did not know what your religion was, and it would be the years ahead of you that will either lead you to find your faith or turn your back against it. At 4-years-old, you know your religion but only by name and not the essence. Believers of each faith, the children starts with observing, Sunday mass, Friday prayers, and so on, but at 4-years-old, while still oblivious to the need and demands of your religion, you would already know that killing is wrong, stealing is wrong and to make others cry is wrong. And that alone shows, that every human would first start with moral value before they can fully understand the essence of their faith.
Today Muslims are being asked to apologise for the action of the killers of the Charlie Hebdo attack, just because they were Muslims so we are somehow responsible for what they did. But lets not forget, that they were human (or rather inhuman) first before they were Muslim, so with that the question can no longer be classified under a single context of religion because as Islam, guidance applies, and if they were under the guidance of Islam, they would have not committed such a heinous crime. Which will lead us to questioning them as human being, outside the context of religion where basic moral value applies, and surely they did not have that too, and who should apologies for that? In the absence of religion, there’s morality, if the Muslim community is expected to bare the responsibility of a crime committed under the name of religion, who claims the responsibility for the lack of human values when religion is lost?
Why should we should we apologise?
Why should be say sorry for those who has no regards for human lives?
The victims of Charlie Hebdo did not murder anyone. The only thing they did was exercise their freedom and self expression and even if is wrong to the eyes of those who are hurt by their actions, no one has died because of it.
Why should the Muslim community feel threatened over a few caricatures of the prophet? Not a single person alive today knows how the prophet looks like, what we know is very little and the little we know does not aid us in completing his form, not in real life, not in our imaginations, not in our dreams, let alone the caricatures made to depict him. Just because they think they knew how he looked like, drew something to resembles him and tagged him with his name, does that makes him the prophet? It sure doesn’t so why take offend in something we all know is not him, because those who knows the struggles he went through, have faith in what he has left behind for his followers, would know that the humiliation is trivial and does not deserve attention or reaction. For attribution is in the hands of God and God alone.
What is clear from this tragedy is that the act of labelling and classifying will not change at the hand of apology because you and i both know, our apologies for those who does not feel sorry would go down in vain. We have been labelled and seen as savages roaming the earth, the ones that could easily be used as scapegoats, framed and punished for things we were never a part of. When the trend has been established, it tends to stick. We will continue to be victimised by the closed minded, because our right to defend ourselves is not recognised and will always be labelled as terrorism.
In the end of the day, it’s such a travesty that now anyone can commit a crime under the disguise of Islam, fit into a criteria of reciting the arabic versus of God is great after or while committing the crime, keep a DIY flag with arabic wording handy just in case no one captures you on camera, you can always leave the flag behind to act a clue that a Muslim was here, and ensure that a beard is a bonus, a turban means you nailed it, always hold your guns up because a trained extremist could be identified through the amount of accessories mounted on the device and ID’s are really overrated cliches that even blockbuster movies doesn’t use anymore, all you need is Allahu Akhbar, and it does not matter if you are Muslim or not, as long as you know the words, you have been classified.
UpperCruster 