Secretary-General of the Muslim World League Mohammed al-Issa argues that “Europe must do more to … criminalize religious hate speech.” In an April 9 interview with Reuters, this prominent Saudi said: “We believe that European countries, where there is much debate now, and other countries around the world ... need to ... criminalize hatred and contempt for adherents of religions because this threatens the safety of the community.”
The “hatred and contempt for adherents of religions” that Muslims complain of is ecumenical code for “Islamophobia.”
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Everyone -- especially Muslims -- seems to miss the grand irony. If international laws would ban speech, cartoons, books, and films on the basis that they defame religions, those laws would ban the entire religion of Islam itself.
Islam is the only religion whose core texts actively, unequivocally defame other religions, including by name.
Consider what “defamation” means. Typical dictionary definitions include “to blacken another’s reputation,” and “false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another, as by slander or libel.” But in Muslim usage, defamation simply means anything that insults or offends Islamic sensibilities.
However, to gain traction among the international community, the OIC and others cynically maintain that such laws should protect all religions from defamation, not just Islam (even as Muslim governments ban churches, destroy crucifixes, and burn Bibles). Disingenuous or not, the OIC’s wording suggests that any expression that “slanders” the religious sentiments of others should be banned.
What, then, do we do with Islam’s core religious texts -- beginning with the Koran itself?
The Koran repeatedly slanders, denigrates, and blackens the reputation of other specific religions. Consider these passages about Christianity:
-- Koran 5:73: “Infidels are they who say God is one of three,” a reference to the Christian Trinity.
-- Koran 5:72: “Infidels are they who say God is the Christ, [Jesus] son of Mary.”
-- Koran 9:30: “[T]he Christians say the Christ is the son of God ... may God’s curse be upon them!”
The word “infidel” (kafir) is one of Islam’s most derogatory terms. What if a core Christian text -- or even a Western cartoon -- declared: “Infidels are they who say Muhammad is the prophet of God -- may God’s curse be upon them”?
Muslims Inadvertently Call for Ban on Islam
The “hatred and contempt for adherents of religions” that Muslims complain of is ecumenical code for “Islamophobia.”
[clip]
Everyone -- especially Muslims -- seems to miss the grand irony. If international laws would ban speech, cartoons, books, and films on the basis that they defame religions, those laws would ban the entire religion of Islam itself.
Islam is the only religion whose core texts actively, unequivocally defame other religions, including by name.
Consider what “defamation” means. Typical dictionary definitions include “to blacken another’s reputation,” and “false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another, as by slander or libel.” But in Muslim usage, defamation simply means anything that insults or offends Islamic sensibilities.
However, to gain traction among the international community, the OIC and others cynically maintain that such laws should protect all religions from defamation, not just Islam (even as Muslim governments ban churches, destroy crucifixes, and burn Bibles). Disingenuous or not, the OIC’s wording suggests that any expression that “slanders” the religious sentiments of others should be banned.
What, then, do we do with Islam’s core religious texts -- beginning with the Koran itself?
The Koran repeatedly slanders, denigrates, and blackens the reputation of other specific religions. Consider these passages about Christianity:
-- Koran 5:73: “Infidels are they who say God is one of three,” a reference to the Christian Trinity.
-- Koran 5:72: “Infidels are they who say God is the Christ, [Jesus] son of Mary.”
-- Koran 9:30: “[T]he Christians say the Christ is the son of God ... may God’s curse be upon them!”
The word “infidel” (kafir) is one of Islam’s most derogatory terms. What if a core Christian text -- or even a Western cartoon -- declared: “Infidels are they who say Muhammad is the prophet of God -- may God’s curse be upon them”?
Muslims Inadvertently Call for Ban on Islam
