Dr Jaafar Sheikh Idris

from al-Jumu`ah Magazine, Vol 12 Issue 7, Rajab 1421H

Since the publishing of Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses", many modernist writers and artists in the Muslim world have tried publishing works that had mocking and insulting Islam as their main theme, All of such works were fiction, none of which were based on facts or objective criticism.

And when Muslims of all walks of life objected to this type of treatment their religion was subjected to, they were labelled by these artists as being anti-progress, hate-mongers and ignorant. This article explains that religions - and definitely Islam - are composed of a specific set of values, which must be respected and adopted by the followers. If they do not, then they have no right to claim to be part of that religion. One cannot claim to believe in certain principles while one is constantly engaged in mocking, belittling and trying hard to modify or destroy them. Such a person is best described as a disbeliever in these principles.

Among our Muslim brothers and sisters, dwell some people who want to live with one foot in the boundary of Islam, clearly but they ignore anyone who may protest their discrepancies. Their behaviour parallels that of the Orientalists: they criticise Islam and Muslims, and they do not abide by Islam, and they seize every opportunity to belittle those who do submit to Allah's guidance. We see some writers and artists exercising their "rights" to criticise the principles and beliefs and promote abandoning them. They seem to believe that you cannot be innovative writers or actors unless you exercise total liberty of all values and norms.

But the difference between these imitation Muslims and their non-believer role models in the West, is that the latter, when they are told that they do not believe in Christianity or Judaism, admit it and consider it as a matter of fact. But the former will shiver, scream and call for help if it is said about what they, or any of their associates, created a piece that is contradictory to or rescinding Islam. They want to live with the liberty of non-believers but shiver when they are accused as such. They want to be non-believers and at the same time live in peace and have a good reputation in the community to which they deny its best assets from beliefs and principles. They want, like any hypocrite, to take advantage of Islam as a shield in order to destroy it. But Allah subHanahu wa ta`ala will never allow this to happen.

When they face this danger personally and professionally, they transform themselves into preachers, reminding those who called them non-believers about what Allah says, "Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good preaching. And reason with them in the better way." [16;125]

It is about the only verse they memorise from Allah's Book. They only memorise it to protect themselves with it after altering its meaning and using it out of context. Yes, we are ordered to invite with wisdom and good preaching, but we are ordered to invite to Allah's way. It is an order that is clear in its marks, with vivid borders. We understand that the way to invite is the better way. But we do not understand that inviting with wisdom and good preaching means to make the facts of this religion vague, to destroy its features or to alleviate the boundaries that distinguish it from others until it becomes something malleable, with unknown beginnings and endings. Something which has nothing to distinguish it from others, thus making it difficult to conclude whether a person is embracing or rejecting it. The religion that is from Allah cannot be like this.

Whoever believes in them is a Muslim. Whoever denies them, through belittling is a non-believer. To be able to judge someone as being a non-believer is a must in the identity of any religion. A religion that has no non-believers is not a religion because it has no identity. If a religion has no identity and no features, then how do we make da`wah with wisdom and good preaching?

The verse that those imitators use annuls their allegations and shows their alterations because it begins with, "Invite to the way of your Lord." The way of Allah is the group of facts and morals that are shown in His Book and in the Sunnah of His Messenger sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam. It is an invitation to the unity of Allah and not to join others with Him. An invitation to love and respect Him as only He deserves. An invitation to believe that what Allah has decided is the truth and beyond any doubt, and what Allah has ordered is just with no injustice in it. "The word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice." [6:115]

Any sayings or actions that contradict this are considered kufr. Anyone saying these contradictions or knowingly following them is a non-believer and has left the Islamic faith, whether he is a writer, actor or artist and whether he said the Shahadah or not. The imitators want to hide with their kufr behind their literature and arts. Sometimes they allege that we misunderstood what was said and did not consider it as a piece of literature. This is what people who defended Salman Rushdie said about his book, "Satanic Verses". That is what the people defending Hayder Hayder said about his book, "A Feast for Sea Weeds". Other people allege that artists should not be judged with the same guidelines as everyone else. That means, they have the right, unlike politicians for example, to show kufr and to call to profanity as long as they put them in the form of literature or in an artistic form as long as the words are not uttered directly by them but by the characters in the story or play.

Congratulations then, on their severe abomination because all they have to do in order to escape being accounted for, is to let one of the characters they create do all the name calling and indecencies in one of their stories or plays.

What does it all mean? Does it mean that the works of art are just pictures with no content? We can only judge them by looks and not by content? Is that right? Is that what the reviewers do when they review works of art? Is that the only thing that the market for these works want? Does this mean that if a highly talented writer writes a story, the contents of which say we should surrender to Israel, then neither the Palestinians nor anyone else can object on what is in it because it is a work of art? Or is it that the only contents we cannot object to are the ones that make fun of Allah's religion and belittle Allah's Prophets?

And if some people put the beauty of arts over righteousness and over principles, that is not how a Muslim, who has been guided by Allah's Book sees it. A true Muslim raises the rank of truthfulness and righteousness and attacks lying and profanity in any form. That is why he judges a poem by its contents and not its looks.

Allah says, "And the poets, those who err follow them, Have you not seen how they stray in every valley? And that they say that they do not practice? Except those who believe, do righteous deeds, remember Allah much and defend themselves only after they are unjustly attacked." [26:224-227]