The New Nation - Internet Edition

Ameer Hamzah

A Bengali daily printed from Kawranbazar, Dhaka ventured to publish a cartoon deriding the name of 'Muhammad' last week.. Verily it had hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslims of the world because 'Muhammad' is a holy name painted in their hearts. In truth, it is a conspiracy against the nation, the state and the people. Publication of cartoons deriding Islam and the Prophet (SM), whether in Europe or in Asia, under the pretext of freedom to press, is an offence of serious nature. In Bangladesh, it is new, perhaps, a test case to scan the unity, will and determination of the people against an calculative atempt to eliminate Bangladesh from the map of the world.

Political scientists have defined rights as an opportunity to explore one's talent, without, however, snatching the right of others. Professor Harold Laski said, "State is known by rights that it maintains." The state aims to guarantee enjoyment of certain number of basic rights required to lead a beautiful life. According to Hobbes, "Rights are what we expect from others, and others from us, and all genuine rights are conditions of social welfare." Thus, rights are conditioned by and correlated to his social responsibility. Wilde defines rights, as a reasonable claim to freedom in the exercise of certain activities.

Rights are not unlimited, on the contrary, every citizen is destined to exercise his rights taking into account rights of others. Rights are based on intelligence and good behaviour. None has the right to spread evils and corruption in the society. None can go against the interests of the society. None has the right to take the society to the 'State of Nature' as pictured by Hobbes.

The daily in question has violated the rights of others, purposefully tried to destroy harmony that prevails in the society and spread persecution in the land. Allah declares: Persecution is worse than slaughter- (Ref: 2/217). Regarding the nature of punishment to be awarded to the persecutor and destroyer of peace in the society, the Quran decrees, "The only reward for those who make war on Allah and His Prophet and spread evils in the land will be that they will be crucified or killed, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of land,"-5/33. However, Islam is generous enough to pardon a wrongdoer if for the first time provided he or she apologies unconditionally with promise not to repeat

Anyone who draws a cartoon, composes poem or prose, writes story deriding and criticising Islam and the Prophet (SM) has commited a great fault in the eyes of Allah and according to law of the land as well. None has the right to misuse freedom of press, none has the right to destabilize the state and the society and to jeopardize the communal harmony. The cartoonist and his patrons are the people about whom Allah says, "They have hearts wherewith they understand not, have eyes wherewith they see not, and have ears wherewith they hear not,"-7/179.

We learn from verse no.6/108 that Islam does not permit a Muslim to abuse the deities of a non-Muslim. This is why no Muslim writers and scholars, and imams of mosques speak anything against the deities of other communities. Rather, peoples of other communities patronise a misguided writer like Taslima Nasrin to spread imaginary scandal about Islam.

Islam is not the sum-total of few worships. It is a complete philosophy of life. It works to present a society based on the Quran and the teachings of Hazrat Muhammad (SM). He said, "If a Muslim oppresses a non-Muslim, I shall stand by the oppressed on the day of Judgment as I did in the earth." He showed the people the way to an ideal life free from corruption. About him, historian Josephine Hale said, "Muhammad was such a personality in absence of whom the world would have remained incomplete." A Leonardo said, "If any one in this world has known God and if any one in this world has done good to mankind, it is Muhammad."