Burning the Book

Many often refer to the release of Salman Rushdie’s book `The Satanic Verses’ as a world changing event.

At the time the book was released, almost twenty years ago, the Muslim community was alarmed and felt their religion was being attacked due its blasphemous references. As a response Muslims all over the country protested and burnt the book, in what they thought, was Jihad in the name of keeping sacred their beliefs. But twenty years ago, was that the only way to get the message heard?

The protests also lead to the Muslim community being perceived as a completely separate entity to Britons of other religious backgrounds. At that time there was little understanding of Islam and awareness of its background. Did this incident then also lead to Muslims becoming more accustomed to each other in the face of hostility and building a united brotherhood in an aim to preserve their beliefs as opposed to approaching those unfamiliar personnel, namely MPs, who may have been able to help them?

Missed opportunities

Desi DNA, a British BBC programme covering a variety of cultural issues, recently posed the question, ”Is this single incident the initial cause for the misunderstanding of Muslims today?”

Many would say the release of the controversial book was a missed opportunity by Muslims, the media and leaders alike, to answer questions which nobody bothered to tackle. Issues such as social integration, teaching Muslims the power of politics and the media, changing our mosques to educate our masses, the list could go on. But nonetheless many would agree that the system overall failed initially and preventative actions taken then would have changed the Muslim community now. However nothing was done and the opportunity was indeed missed.

Since then, the events of 9/11 and 7/7 have seen a growing number of Muslims being seen as fundamentalists and their religious beliefs being subject to an increasing amount of questioning.

Had the Muslim community at the time been aware of lobbying and not simply the way in which to start a fire - a common method of protesting in many Muslim countries - maybe we would be better understood now.

Time for change

So in a world today where lobbying and politics dictate what happens to us all, why are Muslims still reluctant to change? It appears that many Muslims still think that burning things is the way you perform your duty of Jihad, yet there are other proven methods which get results.

Burning a book, simply because you don’t agree with its contents won’t get results. Yet, Muslims still react in an angry fashion. There are peaceful and democratic ways in which we can implement change.

If we are so passionate about the getting justice for Muslims, why aren’t we working hard to ensure justice is served? It is shocking that we are responsible for implementing the change we so badly desire, yet are too distracted by our anger or simply our lives, to make it happen.

Twenty years ago, we were under attack by a book. Twenty years on, we have become subject to ethnic cleansing and illegal wars. Muslims then reacted in the only way they knew how. Today we know better... or do we?

How much worse can it get before we stop the burning, stop the riots and start holding ourselves and those around us accountable for their actions?

Jihad is your duty, do it peacefully, but most of all, do it well. If you don’t, you too will be held accountable.

“Allah has given preference by a degree to those who strive hard and fight with their wealth and their lives above those who sit” (Quran 4:95)

---