Muslim Scholars Urge U.N. to Outlaw 'Contempt' of Religions
A leading Islamic organization has called on the United Nations to make "contempt of religions" illegal and urged the West to protect Muslim communities following the attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars, headed by influential preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi, appealed to Muslims to continue peaceful protests against images of the Prophet Mohammed but "not to resort to any violence".
The latest cartoon of the prophet in Charlie Hebdo has angered many Muslims and triggered protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
In a statement released Tuesday, the union said there should be protection for "prophets" and urged Islamic countries to submit a draft law to the U.N. calling for defamation of religions to be outlawed.
The union said the U.N. should then issue a "law criminalizing contempt of religions and the prophets and all the holy sites".
It also called for the West "to protect Muslim communities from attacks, whether they are citizens or residents or visitors".
The union has condemned the publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed holding a "Je suis Charlie" sign under the headline "All is forgiven" in the first Charlie Hebdo edition since Islamist gunmen killed 12 people in an attack on its offices.
It said that the new drawing would give "credibility" to the idea that "the West is against Islam" and warned the image would incite further hatred.
Qaradawi, 88, is seen as a spiritual guide of Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood, the movement of ousted former president Mohamed Morsi.
21 January 2015, 14:34
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The Prophet is not a little girl that requires anybody's protection or vengeance in his name. Or maybe these people have an interpretation of Muhammad where their Satanic arrogance and claim to importance supersedes the greatness of the Prophet, and therefore they think they are bigger than him...
And anyway, when all of these sheikhs and muftis and ayatollahs grow their beards and dress up in their costumes and want to bring back the whole world to the 1st Century Hijra all "in emulation of the Prophet", they are making a visual representation of Mohammad every time they show their face. If representing the Prophet is so blasphemous, maybe they should all disappear to fix the situation.
21 January 2015, 14:44
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And anyway the attitudes of these people is more blasphemous to Islam than any Charlie Hebdo drawing, since in showing they cannot adapt to the 21st Century they are practically saying out loud that Islam is a bygone, inflexible religion that belongs to the past.
21 January 2015, 15:52
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...to make "contempt of religions" illegal. It would be better to make religion illegal for "contempt of intellect". It makes people ignorant at best and deadly in is worst interpretations.
GROW UP PEOPLE!
