‘Peace hath its victories not less renowned than war.’

What can be achieved through peace cannot be obtained through violence. This is with reference to the Muslims’ response to Islamophobia and blasphemous acts. Let’s have a look at past events of blasphemous, Muslim responses toward them and their consequences. 

In 2015, the Charlie Hebdo attack as a result of the publication of controversial cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) that yielded nothing but further sparked the fire of extremism and tarnished the image of Islam in front of the West. As a result of this extremism, Muslim minorities in the West were highly suffered, from the murder of four members of the Afzal family in Canada and a deadly attack on the Muslims in Christchurch in the mosque was the bloodiest example in this regard. Then in October 2020, various drastic protests broke out in almost all the Muslim countries in response to the projection of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) on a local government building in France. In Pakistan, various religious groups started violent demonstrations in different cities of the country and demanded the kicking out of the French ambassador. These extreme protests caused not only the intense criticism by western officials against Muslims but also Pakistan has witnessed a great loss of lives and his economy was hit by an Rs. 35 billion loss.

However, the PM of Pakistan, out of the pressure of religious parties recorded his protests aptly and peacefully at the global level. His first speech in the UN General Assembly was the glaring example. These peaceful strivings resulted in an influential change that Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, ‘’insulting Prophet Muhammad is a violation of freedom of religion and a violation of the holly feelings of people who profess Islam.’’ 

This statement has positively influenced the whole world. However, the whole Muslim community should welcome his expressions regarding Islam and Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and strive for the legislation at the global level. Furthermore, the Muslim world should cultivate tolerance against blasphemous acts and record their protests peacefully and sensibly. Also, the ulema should preach the virtues of patience to Muslim masses setting aside their political interests.

ENGR. ALI HAIDER,

Lahore.