Muslims worldwide are also closely following the repeated assaults on the noble Quran at the hands of American soldiers in detention centers of Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo in Cuba where the degradation of human beings was coupled with the humiliations of the Quran.
Present Relationship
We realize that the western perspective regarding Islam was not initially positive for several reasons, the most important of which is that Europeans did not deal directly with Islamic culture which led to a continuing sense of unease and apprehension. Disunited Europeans eventually attempted to create a Christian front against Islam. Islam became the exterior enemy capable of unifying a Europe which was until then no more than scattered groups killing one another.
There is no doubt that generalizations may lead to misjudgments. In this regard, we are aware of how Europe and America have attempted over past centuries to rid themselves of the western civilization’s deficiencies in dealing with the concept of ‘Others’. However, incidents during the past few years have totally shattered these attempts.
In this letter, when we address the 'West', we mean western society in general. We are not only addressing the forces antagonistic to Islam, but also those who are fair, and we realize that the 'West' is diverse.
Examples of Aggressions
We draw the attention of the intellectuals and opinion leaders of the 'West' to the gravity of the increasing and accelerating attacks. It is unconceivable and unacceptable to witness - in less than three years - a series of attacks on what is sacred to us beginning with an assault on our Lord's holy book (the Noble Quran) by the authoring, publication and distribution of a parody of the Quran in which the beliefs, legislations, ethics, and history of our religion are ridiculed. This was followed by a prejudiced and malicious campaign against the person of our Prophet (peace be upon him) describing him with the most repulsive attributes and picturing him with the most mocking and ridiculing caricatures.
The source of these attacks emerged from a Danish newspaper spreading to several European countries where certain news outlets supported and others encouraged the spread of these caricatures. The situation grew even worse when the Roman Catholic Pope described Islam, the Quran, and the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in a prepared public speech with attributes that are unjust, to say the least.
Muslims worldwide are also closely following the repeated assaults on the noble Quran at the hands of American soldiers in detention centers of Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo in Cuba where the degradation of human beings was coupled with the humiliations of the Quran.
It continues to surprise Muslims worldwide to follow the news about infringements of personal freedoms of Muslim citizens and residents in the largest capitals of western countries. Let us also not forget the repeated attacks on mosques in occupied Iraq and Afghanistan sometimes through direct destruction, or by other means such as forced entry into mosques under the pretext of rooting out and killing militants, which, in turn, leads to the killing of innocent people inside these mosques.
There is also an air of superiority transpiring from the sayings of many leaders and politicians, the writings of some thinkers, and also in diverse media productions such as movies, series and novels that made it a habit of stigmatizing Islam with defects, violence and terrorism.
We are perplexed by the continued lack of public outcry from the majority of intellectual and opinion leaders against these repeated acts of aggression which occur in your countries in the 'West'. It leads us to question which side you belong to: the side of freedom for all, protecting human rights of others, and supporting the global ethic of respect, or the side of repression and curbing other people’s desires to preserve their own identities? We indeed ask: Are you siding with the insolence and mockery of the prophets in the name of the freedom of expression, or siding with freedom against the phenomenon of repression and suppression?
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Do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers. [Quran aal-Imran (3):139]
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