By Supna Zaidi
What does it mean to be offended and when does a person have the right to expect the law to intervene because we have been offended? The West's sense of "offense" versus the Muslim world's is fast becoming a central issue all over the world and is a factor in the failure of secularism in the Muslim world so far. From the dramatic riots caused by the Dutch cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to more subtle fights in the courtroom, where Islamists shout defamation and bigotry to censor criticism in the name of respect for their faith. So long as there is no separation of religion from the public sphere, Muslims will never be raised to understand the difference between legitimate debating, disagreement and critique from racism and bigotry.
In most Western countries, men and women are raised with neighbors of differing race, creed and/or class. We grow up learning about our respective cultures, heritage, and religion along with those of our friends. The secularism rooted in the West fosters tolerance, relativism, and most of the time - peace. There are laws to protect against violence and hate speech based on race, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, etc. But should we have laws that protect us against insults to our sense faith? The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) thinks so. Earlier this year, it introduced resolution 7/19 on 'Combating defamation of religions' to the United Nations Human Rights Council for a vote on March 27.
The resolution condemns "Islamophobia," including "attempts to identify Islam with terrorism, violence and human rights violations." It states that "freedom of expression . . . may be subject to certain restrictions . . . necessary for the respect of the rights or reputations of others."
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), is an umbrella organization of 57 Islamic nations. Though the resolution failed, it is not dead.
In early June of 2008, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), proposed a ten point plan to fight Islamophobia, which included lobbying for an international law that would outlaw insults to faith. Most Western countries, like Muslim countries, already have anti-blasphemy laws. But these laws are not enforced. The UK is set to repeal its blasphemy law on July 8, 2008. Pakistan, in contrast, has the harshest anti-blasphemy law in the Muslim world, where the crime is punishable by death, and the defendant is jailed before an investigation of the alleged blasphemy takes place.
In its broadest sense, blasphemy denotes irreverent words or actions towards something another holds sacred. But where is the actual harm. Isn't blasphemy a victimless crime? I admit that when I saw the Danish cartoons for the first time, my feelings where hurt. But not because I thought Islam, the Quran or the Prophet was insulted. But because I was insulted. My sense of self, my identity, was being attacked as a Muslim.
Take one cartoon, as an example, where the face of the Prophet is shown, but the turban on his head is drawn as an ignited bomb. Neither is the Quran nor is the Prophet a reflection on Muslims today, but Muslims are a reflection of that book, and that man every day. Our actions committed as "Muslims" are a reflection on Islam and Muhammad. The Danish cartoons did not insult the Prophet, but the first World Trade Center bombing did. The attack on the USS Cole did. 9/11 did because they were all done in the name of Islam.
But most of all, we hurt ourselves in the Muslim world with mis-conceived notions of Islamophobia - in the form of anti-blasphemy laws.
Ten years ago, a Pakistani Catholic Bishop, John Joseph committed suicide in protest of Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Since his death, human rights activists in Pakistan and abroad have fought with the government to have the law repealed to no avail until Pervez Musharraf came to power in 1999 as the Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan. He promised to repeal the anti-blasphemy laws, but fell under the influence of the fundamentalists and did nothing. Under the Constitution, false, derogatory statements against Islam or the Prophet Muhammad are punishable by death.
The OIC, and other such organizations that wish to curb free speech in the name of respect refuse to look at any situation (foreign or domestic) critically. Instead, the preference is to be automatically insulted, and cry bigotry. This has obviously hurt Islam and Muslims abroad but it has hurt Muslims in their own countries. Muslim children are taught that to question anything about their religion, the way they live or think is wrong and punishable. It is well known that Eastern cultures value the "we" and Western cultures, the "I", especially the United States.
But, creating a centuries old culture of rote memory learning versus critical thinking has crippled Muslim minds. Such a culture will never innovate or invent. Rather they will always be reduced to mimicking and following the rest of the world, which in turn reinforces low self-esteem and an identity complex between the "colonized and colonizers". In such an environment, religion is even manipulated. Blasphemy law is used against Muslims and non-Muslims out of jealousy, to settle personal scores, or to get rid of business rivals, or annoying neighbors, etc. on a regular basis. The majority of victims are Muslims themselves, not Christians or Hindus.
Separation of Mosque and State is therefore essential. The "we" culture Muslim society has fostered a false sense of homogeneity in Islam. Muslims make a mistake in thinking that because each predominantly Muslim country comprises a people of the same race, or creed that they are the same.
Moreover, each person is raised to fear rocking the boat lest they be ostracized, accused of blasphemy, etc. Each child is reduced to rote learning. Critical skills are never established because to ask why is to blaspheme against established practices. But each child is a forgotten mind and is as unique as each person's fingerprint. Only when religion is removed from the public sphere, will people become free to think critically.
(Supna Zaidi is editor-in-chief of Muslim World Today and an attorney in New York. She can be reached at sapnaz@yahoo.com.)
