Canadian Muslims’ hurt

From the Newspaper Published September 30, 2012

FOR anyone who loves Holy Prophet Muhammad( peace be upon him), this film is offensive, crude and extremely vulgar.

It has deeply hurt Canadian Muslims to know that there are people who can take such an evil advantage of our most cherished value of freedom of expression and opinion.

Equally then we must also acknowledge openly and clearly that the rage and violence being displayed on the streets in Muslim countries by some is not in accordance with our beloved Prophet’s teachings and practices.

The killing of a diplomat is in direct conflict with the principle of giving diplomats a safe passage, honourable audience and compassionate hospitality, as was the norm of Islamic states from time of the Prophet onwards.

Those who think that their attacks on US embassies are justified must look into the life of the Prophet and ask how did the Prophet respond to slurs, slander and physical attacks.

Have the Muslims of Pakistan forgotten Taif, and the Prophet’s supplication for those who taunted him, pelted him with stones and left him thirsty, bleeding and hurting?

Have they forgotten the general amnesty on the fall of Makkah? Have they forgotten the story of the woman who threw garbage on the Prophet and he still nursed her to health.

Feel sad. Yes, express your anger. Yes, march in protest. Yes, send letters of protest and disgust to the US administration. Yes, by all means, these are your rights under the freedom of expression.

But to resort to violence and hate in the name of the most honourable man who was given the title of ‘Mercy to the universes’, and to kill in the name of protecting Islam, a religion sent to teach humanity compassion, justice and equality of all of humanity, is an affront to our Prophet, our faith and to every Muslim.

We cannot silence every bigot or hate-monger but we can show with our patience and our reaction that Islam cannot be hurt with name calling, or the Prophet maligned by slander.

Many have tried extinguishing the light of Islam through history and they have all failed. Our faith still flourishes and the life of our Prophet, his teachings and examples still inspire millions.

Let us not succumb to anger and violate the very principle our Prophet lived by.

SHAHINA SIDDIQUI Canada President/Executive Director Islamic Social Services Association Inc.-Canada Winnipeg Manitoba

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Moin Fan

Oct 01, 2012 02:11am

A must read..by Moin Khan In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine's Monastery came to Prophet Muhammad and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine's Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world's oldest monastery. It possess a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1,400 years under Muslim protection. Here it is: The Promise to St. Catherine: "This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah (PBUH), as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)."

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G.A.

Sep 30, 2012 12:15pm

These reactions are more a result of joblessness and frustrations and with the clergy around to lead the charge there is no stopping it. The best way is to ignore these provocations. I believe in time will be become desensitized towards these just like people in Pakistan have become desensitized towards bombings, drone attacks and muggings on the streets.

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Sam

Sep 30, 2012 04:03am

American Muslims are also deeply hurt by this movie.Its the act of a group who tried to create violence and rage among muslims.

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Lee Chang

Oct 01, 2012 12:32am

The acts of violence by these blind unclutured people destroy the implression of Islam among non muslims. Muslims are enjoying more freedom in western countries than their native countries. They respect human rights of all people, not based on the religion. If they cannot tolarate wester culture and values go back to your own countries. No one is weloming you.

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Jahan Khan

Sep 30, 2012 06:36am

Well Done Shahina, You are true Muslim. This article if our most corrupted Minister Mr. Baloore could read and understand the real essence of Islam. I would request to editor If you could forward this articlt to Mr. Baloor.

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Gerry D'Cunha

Sep 30, 2012 09:46am

this was also a test for the muslims around the world to show their tolerance and prove that they follow their prophet's teaching, but sadly the muslims failed to follow the prophet's teaching of tolerance - some muslim countries did follow their tolerance i.e UAE;doha;bahrain etc

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Sridhar

Sep 30, 2012 08:52pm

Well done! More power to the peace loving moderates everywhere.

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Imran Ahsan Mirza

Oct 01, 2012 02:59am

Shahina you are right. People express their anger without practicing the real traditions of Holy Prophet(SAW). All such extremists expressions are un-Islamic as one cannot find there basis in the life of Huzur. Islam is defined as all teachngs of Quran and the true traditions of Huzur practicing those teachings anything contrary is not Islamic.

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Observer

Sep 30, 2012 02:48pm

I feel that the disturbance and unrest observed in muslim countries was not fair and against the teachings of Islam, but would it not be equally important to abstain from unhealthy practices of provoking and exploiting the touchy issues such as religion because the life of human being (diplomats and common people) are more important and should be protected. The film maker had to consider the repercussions before displaying on social media.

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sheikh siddeeque

Sep 30, 2012 12:38pm

Thank u Shahina for yr excellent submission on the subject.I could not have put it so eloquently. Sheikh Siddeeque USA

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kamaljit Singh

Sep 30, 2012 05:04am

Appreciate. More needed such instances where Prophet showered mercy on the wrong doers.But the Mullhas in the street won't tell such anything. Thanks.

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Joe Pashi

Sep 30, 2012 06:46pm

Well written, simple and eloquent

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jalaluddin S. Hussain

Sep 30, 2012 04:28pm

As a Canadian-Pakistani myself I fully agree with the views expressed by Shahina Siddiqui Sahiba and conclude with her that, "let us not succumb to anger and violate the very principle our Prophet lived by".

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observer

Sep 30, 2012 06:07am

The present wave of ill-intentioned attacks against the Prophet (SAW) is a (wrong) reaction to violence that is commonplace in Muslims countries of today. We encounter the reaction to violence by more violence. By doing this, whose cause are we helping?

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