“Islam is a religion aimed at reforming humanity…And if anyone asks you how the world can be reformed, can you tell them that the masses of the world should not fight the tyrants of the world, and push away the hands of those who rape the dignity, life, and rights of humanity?”--Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmud Taleghani.
It is well known that for centuries, the Anglo-European colonial powers have carried out an ongoing crusade in an attempt to dominate the resource-rich lands of the Muslim countries. One front in this offensive, now spearheaded by the United States and the Zionist regime, is the denigration of Islam, the Holy Qur’an, our Holy Prophet (S) and Muslims in general through the intentional dissemination of lies, slurs, misinformation and other propaganda. This campaign, which naturally has led to widespread anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world, is fiercely denied by the Washington regime.
Adding to a long list of rapes of the dignity, life and the rights of humanity by the Euro-American-Zionist bloc is the recent offensive, anti-Islamic U.S.-made propaganda film “The Innocence of Muslims”. Offending not only the Holy Prophet (S), Islam and Muslims but also casting doubts upon the Divine revelation of the Holy Qur’an, this crude film is the latest attempt by the enemies of Islam to discredit, demean and disgrace the True Religion of Allah.
Here is a partial list of some insulting anti-Islamic acts in Euro-American countries, all of which the West staunchly defends under the ruse of “freedom of expression”:
• 2012 - Anti-Islam ads by the American Freedom Defense Initiative are posted in ten locations on the New York City Subway system equating Muslims with “savages”, and calling for support of the Zionist regime and to “defeat jihad”;
• 2012 - The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo publishes caricatures of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (S) including two depicting him (S) naked.
• 2012 - The September 24th issue of Newsweek features a photo of a crazed, rage-filled turban-bedecked protestor who “represents the mainstream of Islam”;
• 2011 and 2012 - “Reverend” Terry Jones burned copies of the Holy Qur’an in Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A.;
• 2008 - Fitna, a film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders charged that the Qur’an teaches hate, and Islam encourages acts of terrorism, anti-Semitism and violence against women;
• 2007- Swedish artist Lars Vilks participated in an art exhibition themed “The Dog in Art” by portraying Prophet Mohammed (S) as a dog;
• 2006 - German activist Manfred van H. received one year of probation for mailing toilet paper stamped with “The Holy Qur'an” to mosques and the media;
• 2005- the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten printed twelve derogatory cartoons of Prophet Mohammed (S);
• 2005- The Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet reported that celebrity preacher Runar Søgaard had called Prophet Mohammed (S) “a confused pedophile”;
• 2004 - Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali created the 10-minute film “Submission” about violence against women in Islamic societies;
• 2002 - Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Doug Marlette published a drawing showing Prophet Mohammed (S) driving a Ryder truck with a nuclear rocket attached;
• 2001 - Time Magazine printed an illustration portraying the Prophet Mohammed (S) along with the Archangel Gabriel waiting for a revelation from Allah; and,
• 1996 - Three radio disc jockeys entered a Denver, Colorado U.S.A. mosque disrupting morning prayers with a live broadcast.
I have watched the film’s trailer, may Allah forgive my abuse of His gifts of hearing and vision, to ascertain the level of corruption of the enemy. A reflection of the moral cesspool from which it emerged, the 14-minute promo for the movie posted on You-Tube 2 July 2012 is filled with vicious and slanderous insults to Islam and the Prophet (S) ranging from affronts to his (S) noble ancestry by calling him (S) a “bastard” to accusations the he (S) was “a murderous thug”. In one scene, the actor portraying the Prophet (S) appears with a woman in a sexually explicit posture then in the next scene, he calls a donkey “the first Muslim animal”. In another scene, a character states and writes for emphasis, “Man + x = Islamic Terrorist”. Elsewhere in the trailer, an actor, spouting an untruth, declares, “All non-Muslims are infidels”.
The clip suggests that the Holy Qur’an, instead of being a revelation from Allah, is a mixture of subversions from the Jewish Torah and the Christian New Testament. The Qur’an-burning, Florida-based “pastor” Terry Jones, who allegedly is involved in promoting the film, stated authoritatively, “It is very clear that God did not influence him [Mohammed (S)] in the writings of the Qur’an”. However, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey called Jones and asked him to withdraw his support for the film, perhaps after U.S. officials saw the growing protests in the Middle East and feared that the situation could be spinning out of control.
Demonstrations condemning the film have taken place in 33 countries throughout the Middle East and around the world including the U.K., Belgium, France, Australia and even Israel. Conspicuously absent from the list is the United States. Washington makes decisions on protests and demonstrations based on a simple criterion: Does the demonstration in question advance U.S. geopolitical goals and interests or not? If the answer is in the affirmative, then the demonstrators are fully defended by the Washington regime and lauded for expressing their views, and if not, the demonstrators are condemned as a “mob”, “thugs” or “religious fanatics”.
An outpouring of Muslim frustration and anger, accumulated after many years of injustice and oppression by the West, and triggered by this vile film, has regrettably turned some protests violent. According to most media outlets, demonstrators incited to violence by Islamic extremists attacked U.S. Embassies in several countries, resulting in at least 14 deaths. U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three staffers were killed in Benghazi on 11 September and three others at the American Embassy in Tunis were killed Friday, 14 September. However, other sources indicate that the attack on the American Embassy in Benghazi may have been in revenge for the June death of Libyan al-Qa’ida leader Abu Yahya al-Libi, since al-Qa’ida chief Ayman Zawahiri had called for such an attack. Stevens was Washington’s envoy to the Libyan rebels in 2011 to “support a democratic transition”, that is, to oversee a regime change.
According to the movie’s script consultant, anti-Muslim activist Steve Klein, the film, originally called “The Innocence of Bin Laden” was supposed to reveal “facts, evidence and proof” about the Prophet of Islam (S) and to shock people “into understanding how dangerous Islam is”. However, cast members claim they were “grossly misled” by the producer about the film’s content, one of whom even said that the name Mohammed (S) was not in the original script.
The Wall Street Journal, which must be viewed with the same skepticism as was Pravda at the height of power of the former Soviet Union, reported that the film was produced by an Israeli-American named Sam Bacile. A real estate developer and Islamophobe, Bacile called Islam “a cancer” during a phone interview and claimed to have raised $5 million from Jewish donors to make the film. Knowledgeable cinematic sources question the $5 million figure, saying the amateurish film appears to be a low-budget production.
Countering the WSJ account is a CNN report stating that Israel denies Sam Bacile is a citizen, and may even be a non-existent person. Likewise, Klein stated that Sam Bacile was the producer’s pseudonym and he did not know the producer’s real name. Corroborating his statement are documents filed with the Screen Actors’ Guild that show the producer’s name as Abenob Nakoula Bassely, a Coptic Christian. In fact, it was Egyptian-American Coptic Christian Morris Sadek who first drew attention to the film in a post on an Arabic language blog. Mr. Sadek,who is also an anti-Islamic activist, sent a link to the 14-minute trailer in an email to journalists around the world promoting an 11 September event organized by “Reverend” Jones.
Determining who is really behind the film has proven difficult, since its permit, which contains this information, has been pulled from public examination by the FBI apparently at the request of the U.S. State Department due to national security concerns. This, along with the Wall Street Journal report, the CNN rebuttal, denials by Israel and the call by General Dempsey to Jones suggests possible involvement of the U.S. Government and collusion with the Zionist regime in the production of the inflammatory anti-Islamic flick. One commenter writes, “With Russia openly accusing the West of using Al Qaeda as their direct, militant proxies in Syria and beyond, this latest attempt to purposefully provoke and incite Muslims across the Arab World is an attempt by the West to reestablish the perception that the US and Israel are at war with sectarian extremists, not partnered with them.” (Emphasis by the writer.)
Regardless who from among the Euro-American crusader powers is behind the film, we Muslims have every right to be enraged over such a blasphemous affront to Islam and the Prophet Mohammed (S), and have a duty to decry this evil. Fortunately, Egypt has boldly taken the lead by issuing warrants for the arrest of Pastor Jones, Morris Sadek and six others allegedly involved in this plot on charges of defaming Islam and Prophet Mohammed (S).
May Allah give us strength to continue our Jihad, our struggle for truth, against this and other hateful misrepresentations of Islam and our Holy Prophet (S), which the United States and its imperial partners in injustice continue to vomit out while oppressing Muslims who live under the domain of their illegitimate puppet governments. Meanwhile, we hope and pray for the expeditious return of the Holy Imam al-Mahdi (AS) and the establishment of a just worldwide government, may his inevitable reappearance quickly occur.
“Do you mean that since the Muslims have fought, Islam is a false religion? Isn’t it more reasonable to say, that because Islam is a true religion, it has not disregarded the necessity of warfare, and on the contrary has given a commandment to that effect?”-- Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmud Taleghani.
