by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
Frontpage Magazine<\/em><\/p>\n As the Islamic world, in the guise of the 57-member state Organization of Islamic Cooperation, continues to push for the enforcement of “religious defamation” laws in the international arena \u2014 theoretically developed to protect all religions from insult, but in reality made for Islam \u2014 one great irony is lost, especially on Muslims: if such laws would ban movies and cartoons that defame Islam, they would also, by logical extension, have to ban the religion of Islam itself \u2014 the only religion whose core texts actively defame other religions.<\/p>\n To understand this, 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.” In Muslim usage, defamation simply means anything that insults or offends Islamic sensibilities.<\/p>\n However, to gain traction among the international community, the OIC maintains that such laws should protect all religions from defamation, not just Islam. Accordingly, the OIC is agreeing that any expression that “slanders” the religious sentiments of others should be banned.<\/p>\n What, then, do we do with Islam’s core religious texts \u2014 beginning with the Koran itself, which slanders, denigrates and blackens the reputation of other religions? Consider Christianity alone: Koran 5:73 declares that “Infidels are they who say Allah is one of three,” a reference to the Christian Trinity; Koran 5:72 says “Infidels are they who say Allah is the Christ, [Jesus] son of Mary”; and Koran 9:30 complains that “the Christians say the Christ is the son of Allah \u2026 may Allah’s curse be upon them!”<\/p>\n Considering that the word “infidel” (or\u00a0kafir<\/em>) is one of\u00a0Islam’s most derogatory terms<\/a>, what if a Christian book or Western movie appeared declaring that “Infidels are they who say Muhammad is the prophet of God \u2014 may God’s curse be upon them”? If Muslims would consider that a great defamation against Islam \u2014 and they would, with the attendant rioting, murders, etc. \u2014 then by the same standard it must be admitted that the Koran defames Christians and Christianity.<\/p>\n Similarly, consider how the Christian Cross, venerated among millions, is depicted \u2014 is defamed \u2014 in Islam: according to canonical hadiths, when he returns, Jesus supposedly will destroy all crosses; and Muhammad, who\u00a0never allowed the cross in his presence<\/a>, ordered someone wearing a cross to “take off that piece of idolatry<\/a>.”<\/p>\n What if Christian books or Western movies declared that the sacred things of Islam \u2014 say the Black Stone in the Ka’ba of Mecca \u2014 are “idolatry” and that Muhammad himself will return and destroy them? If Muslims would consider that defamation against Islam \u2014 and they would, with all the attendant rioting, murders, etc. \u2014 then by the same standard it must be admitted that the hadith defames the Christian Cross.<\/p>\n Here is a particularly odious form of defamation against Christian sentiment, especially to the millions of Catholic and Orthodox Christians. According to Islam’s most authoritative Koranic exegetes, including the revered Ibn Kathir,Muhammad is in paradise married to and having sex with the Virgin Mary<\/a>.<\/p>\n What if a Christian book or Western movie portrayed, say, Muhammad’s wife, Aisha the “Mother of Believers,” as being married to and having sex with a false prophet in heaven? If Muslims would consider that a great defamation against Islam \u2014 and they would, with all the attendant rioting, murders, etc. \u2014 then by the same standard it must be admitted that Islam’s most authoritative Koranic exegetes defame the Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n Nor does such defamation of Christianity occur in Islam’s ancient texts only; modern day Muslim scholars and sheikhs agree that it is permissible to defame Christianity. Qatar-based “Islam Web” even issued\u00a0a\u00a0fatwa<\/em>\u00a0that legitimizes insulting Christianity<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now consider the wording used by Muslim leaders\u00a0calling on the UN to enforce religious defamation laws<\/a>\u00a0in response to the Muhammad film on YouTube, and how these expressions can easily be used against Islam:<\/p>\n The OIC “deplored\u2026 an offensive and derogatory film on the life of Prophet Muhammad” and “called on the producers to show respect to the religious sentiments held sacred by Muslims and those of other faiths.”<\/p>\n But what about the “offensive and derogatory” depictions of Christianity in Islam’s core texts? Are Muslims willing to expunge these from the Koran and hadith, “to show respect to the religious sentiments held sacred \u2026 by those of other faiths,” in this case, Christians?<\/p>\n Turkish Prime Minister Erodgan said the film “insults religions<\/a>” (note the inclusive plural) and called for “international legal regulations against attacks on what people [not just Muslims] deem sacred.”<\/p>\n Well, what about the fact that Islam “insults religions” \u2014 including Judaism and all polytheistic faiths? Should the West call for “international legal regulations against attacks on what people deem sacred,” in the case of Christianity, regulations against Islam’s teachings which attack the sanctity of Christ’s divinity, the Cross, and Virgin Mary?<\/p>\n Even Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti \u2014 who a few months ago called for the destruction of all Christian churches in the Arabian Peninsula (first reported here<\/a>) \u2014 is now calling for a “global ban on insults targeting all” religious figures, while the Grand Imam of Egypt’s Al Azhar is calling for “a UN resolution outlawing ‘insulting symbols and sanctities of Islam’ and other religions.” Again, they, too, claim to be interested in banning insults to all religions, while ignoring the fact that their own religion is built atop insulting all other religions.<\/p>\n