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Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, president of the
IUMS
|
All praise is due to Allah, and may the peace and
blessings of Allah be up on the Messenger of Allah and upon all the
prophets and messengers.
The International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has
observed with deep interest the issue of the publishing of cartoons that
ridicule the Prophet, which in turn insults the feelings of millions of
Muslims as they see the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) depicted
in an offensive manner. The drawings were first published in a Danish
magazine on December 30, 2005, after which they were republished on
January 10, 2006,
in a Christian Norwegian magazine. These drawings
were presented in a way that could never be acceptable to any person of
good faith, nor ever approved of by any person having sound morals. This
depiction is unbefitting of a prophet who delivered the divine
message.
The IUMS waited for a long time hoping that efforts
exerted by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Arab
League, the Muslim World League, and a number of Arab and Muslim countries
would result in receiving a proper apology for the offense that was
committed by the Danish magazine and followed by the Norwegian magazine.
However, this apology never came. The only reply from the Danish was that
their prime minister reaffirmed that country's commitment to freedom of
_expression_ and condemned any statement or acts against certain groups or
people because of their religion or ethnicity.
The IUMS considers that unclear statement as an
attempt to intentionally avoid addressing the issue of these disturbing
cartoons by speaking about minorities in general terms. This injures the
feelings of millions of Muslims around the world as well as those of the
180,000 Danish Muslims who represent three percent of the population.
The IUMS asks Arab and Muslim governments to express
to the Danish and Norwegian governments their Muslim people's anger at
this direct insult of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by the
publishing of these offensive cartoons. Arab and Muslim governments should
also exercise all possible political and diplomatic pressure on the Danish
and Norwegian governments so as to halt all such organized anti-Islam
campaigns that aim at spreading hatred of and contempt for Islam, its
sanctities, and its believers.
The IUMS asks Arab and Muslim countries to boycott an
upcoming Middle East exhibition organized by the Danish Center for Culture and Development
(DCCD).
The IUMS urges officials in Denmark and Norway to
take a firm stance against these repeated insults to the Muslim nation and
the Prophet who is followed by 1.3 billion people across the globe, in
order to preserve the positive relationship that exists between these two
nations and their citizen Muslims as well as other Muslims worldwide. If
this does not happen, the IUMS will be forced to urge millions of Muslims
across the world to boycott all Danish and Norwegian products and
activities.
If the Danish and Norwegian governments make so little
of Muslims' feelings, then boycotting is the least that every Muslim
should do, and the least that every da`iyah and scholar should call
for in response to the flagrant abuse of depicting the Messenger (peace
and blessings be upon him) in such offensive caricatures. We call upon
these countries to come to their senses and to offer a proper and clear
apology to the international Muslim community.
And Allah has full power and control over His affairs.
All praises be to Allah, the Lord of all the
worlds.
President of the
Union
Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
|
Secretary General
Dr. Mohammad Salim
Al-Awa
| |