BY WAYNE PARRY
NEWARK, N.J. While satirical cartoons depicting the
Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist have drawn violent re-
sponses overseas leading to rioting and deaths, American Muslims say the
more muted response in this country is due to a combination of factors,
including greater assimilation and familiarity with western concepts of
free speech – even when it offends.
The drawings, first published in a Danish newspaper in
September, included one that depicts the prophet wearing a turban shaped
like a bomb. Islamic tradition widely holds that representations of the
prophet are banned for fear they could lead to idolatry and disparagement
of Muhammad is considered one of the gravest offences under Islam.
But while many American Muslims share their overseas
brethren’s outrage over the drawings, they have not responded with
violence.
"After 9/11, we learnt in this country that you can’t respond to an insult
with an insult," said Sohail Mohammed, a Clifton immigration lawyer who
represented scores of detainees caught up in the government’s dragnet
after the attacks. "The best way to combat this is through greater
understanding and tolerance."
He said the fact that few US media outlets have published
the cartoons, coupled with condemnations by the Bush administration of the
cartoons as needlessly provocative, creates quite a different scenario in
this country. The cartoons met with violent protests in countries
including Pakistan and Iran.
"What you’re seeing people here say is that we understand this is hurtful
but look at the response of the American administration and media, which
has been supportive of Muslims," Mohammed said. "When’s the last time that
happened?"
Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab-American News
in Dearborn, Mich., said US Muslims feel they are being listened to and
their feelings taken into consideration by government and the media, at
least regarding the prophet cartoons.
"The feelings are the same, here or anywhere else: Muslims
believe these cartoons are an insult to their religion," he said. "But in
the US the president has issued a statement criticising the cartoons and
that speaks volumes to American Muslims. It gives Muslims here a feeling
that their fellow Americans understand their feelings and respect their
religion. Therefore, they don’t feel a need to go to the streets and
protest."
Sayyid Syeed, secretary general of the Indiana-based
Islamic Society of North America, said American Muslims are more secure
here than elsewhere about their place in society.
"The day I stepped foot in this country and put my
citizenship here, my rights are the same as your rights," he said.
"There’s no difference based on who came from where and when. That’s not
true in Europe. Marginalisation of Muslims in France, Belgium, Denmark and
other countries is very pronounced.
"As Americans we should congratulate ourselves that it was not just an
accident that American media did not publish these caricatures," he said.
"The American media has come to terms with pluralism and doesn’t publish
something that is offensive to a large group of people just because they
can."
Aref Assaf, president of the Paterson-based American Arab
Forum, agreed that the cultural landscape for American Muslims is much
different from those in other countries.
"Unlike their US counterparts, who entered a gigantic
country built on immigration, most Muslim newcomers to western Europe
started arriving only after World War II, crowding into small culturally
homogenous nations," he said. "Unlike the jumble of nationalities that
make up the American Latino community, the Muslims of western Europe are
likely to be distinct, cohesive and bitter."
The controversy is also spurring American Muslims to
action. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is to unveil a campaign
on Tuesday (February 14) in which local Islamic congregations will hold
events to educate Americans about the life and legacy of Muhammad. Ibrahim
Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based Muslim civil rights group,
said such events give US Muslims a constructive outlet for their
grievances.
Some are already acting. Members of the Masjid Al-Taqwa
mosque in Atlantic City have written more than 1,300 letters to the Danish
embassy in Washington protesting the cartoons.
Yaser El-Menshawy, chairman of Majlis Ash-Shura of New Jersey, the state’s
council of mosques, said most US Muslims are steeped in the tradition of
free speech.
"We understand the concept a little better," he said. "We
understand that just because The Philadelphia Inquirer publishes
the drawings that is not an indication that the United States supports it.
"The other issue is the pent-up anger in the Middle East
that needs a vessel or a target," he said. "The very oppressive,
totalitarian regimes in the Middle East will not allow people to blow off
steam against them but they will against someone else."
(Courtesy: Newsday; February 13, 2006.)
http://www.newsday.com/news/