If you asked me what you hate in this world, my answer will be: double standards without hesitation; as it leads to loosing justice more and more.

Talking generally, Cartoon is a good way to criticize people – whether Muslims or non – because of their acts is not wrong; either politicians, socials, ..etc. People are always subjected to make right and wrong, therefore criticizing acts is normal and healthy too as its one mean of telling your opinion, and no one can accuse anybody from telling his opinion, that’s Freedom that I understand.

However if we are talking about Prophets - whether Muhammed (PBUH) or others - limits must be placed. Prophets are not normal people who are subjected to right and wrong, rather they are the messengers of ALLAH (swt) – GOD – to Mankind, and Islam - as I told in the 3 previous posts - respect all prophets and had ordered Muslims to believe that they are the messengers to Mankind before the final prophet, Muhammed (PBUH). That’s why Islam denies portraying any prophet – not only Muhammed (PBUH), and it’s a basic law in Islamic Culture that must be totally understood.

Therefore, Islam respects the followers of other religions - Jewish + Christians - and can not criticize them because they are not following Islam. If anyone do this, he didn’t understand Islam well, simply because that’s not from real Islamic teaching, and Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) never forced any non Muslim to follow Islam.

On the other hand, I think that Lonely Canuck means anti-Zionist cartoons not anti-Jewish. Due to the Palestine-Israeli conflict, criticizing will last – from both sides – as this is normal, and this happens in any conflict.

Also, I can’t tell that boycotting = burning embassies; which means I can’t tell like jokhannan that there is absolutely zero fairness in boycotting or the embassy burning; is the first one – boycotting - is a legal act as I said in the previous post, while the other one – burning embassies or attacking any European citizen is not legal at all, and Islam dines threatening people, wither Muslims or Non. That’s why al-Qaeda acts are not welcomed among the majority who understand real concept of Islam which can be summarized in the following statement.

Islam came for the peace and mercy of Mankind, not to spread hate or violence.

Again as I told in the post: what had happened is insulting for Islamic symbol, not a normal person. That’s why everyday new demonstrations worldwide are raised. It’s important that real efforts should be taken to solve this problem.

Finally, violence is not from Islamic Teaching, and Muslims who act violently didn’t understand real Islam, and their acts are unacceptable. In parallel, Non-Muslims who think to burn the Holy Qur’an are totally wrong and will increase the problem.

PS: I hope that new readers read the last two posts too, because this post is related to them and can not be separated.

Christian theologians distinguish between hypocrisy and akrasia, or weakness. It seems to me this entire matter is not about cartoons, which are not and cannot possibly be, about cartoons. Seriously, if this is about observing Islam–and this goes for the boycott also–then why punish random Danes, or, indeed, random Europeans merely because of you are disastisfied with the diplomatic finetuning? Clearly, your pretensions of virtue are pure akrasia. There is absolutely zero fairness or rashid to the boycott OR the embassy burnings, since it is all intended to get back at cartoonists, not embassy staff, not regular Danes or Europeans, AND YOU KNOW IT.

Admit it, there’s nothing PM Rasmussen could do in this or any alternative universe to please you. You are merely doing this because it is AN outlet for your hurt and frustration. You are defaming Islam and insulting the Prophet (pbuh) by committing fitna in his name, without any regard for the congruence of the offense or the subject of your revenge.

And that goes for the quda who are just going along with the flow of public wrath. It takes strength and confidence in fiqh to stand against the general tide of fitna. Many evidently have shown themselves lacking. Ensha’allah they will come into more!
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PBUHA = peace be upon him also

Thank you for adding my blog to your links. I really like your blog. I also totally disagree with torching embassies, but agree with boycott of Danish goods.

In response to lonely Canuck, I will say that it is true, and anti-Jewish cartoons published in the Arab world should be stopped. But I will add that no one in the Arab world has the audacity to publish cartoons of the Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, not because he is considered a prophet but no religious figures as right-minded Muslims known should be disparaged on the idea of belief. But I as a Muslim fully agree that the Muslims need to do some introspection.

This controversy doesn’t concern only the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and is much more compicated than the anti-Israeli cartoons you speak of. Before the Holocaust, Jews were demonised similarly in Europe. And that is what scares me and other Muslims.

If the Muslim world truly believed that printing offensive political cartoons legitimized violent and non-violent retaliation, why not act against the slew of anti-semetic and anti-christian pictures that pepper most Arab newspapers on a daily basis?

The double standard screams hypocrisy. Why is it that their is an uproar over a cartoon printed 5 months ago in an unknown newspaper and no uproar over a greatly publicized beheading or suicide bombing?

I think anyone with the ability to reason will quickly realize that a masked man beheading a journalist in the name of Islam does far more damage to a peaceful faith than a cartoon printed in some small newspaper in some small corner of the world.