Violence hits Sydney after Innocence of the Muslims Trailer

The explosion of violence last week was shocking and unexpected. I have grown up in a country known for its multiculturalism and tolerance, for being one of the few places that welcomes every nationality and every religion. I would never have expected these protests and violence to echo the radical ideologies of the Middle East.

What is the whole point behind this ferocity? Why are ordinary Muslims, like me, shouting death threats against the West because of a stupid movie trailer on YouTube? Nothing can justify such madness sweeping around the globe. It’s just a movie and as Muslims we need to accept this, we need to face the truth that not everyone is a believer and move on. Just because a single American created a movie against Muhammad, Muslims should not start a Crusade and attack people who have nothing to do with the trailer and the ideas behind it. This is 2012, not the Middle Ages.

 

The violence that we are seeing these days is counterproductive, undermining our legitimate pain in the eyes of billions across the world. The protests have not achieved anything except reinforce ideas Muslims as crazy extremists and Islam as an inherently intolerant, violent faith. They have already portrayed our culture negatively through the movie, why would we want to confirm their beliefs about us? We should demonstrate that we are not as they think we are.

 

Muslims should adopt a peaceful response towards ‘Innocence of the Muslims’. We must realise that we cannot continue to go through this kind of turmoil every time an ill-meaning action decides to mock our faith. The idiocy of the people behind the trailer (Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and Sam Bacile) is without question, but those who continue to protest violently against it are acting just as stupidly.

Freedom of speech means that you can say what you think; even someone doesn’t like what you are saying. It is a basic right, our parents fought for it when they moved to Australia. Others have the right to express their views about Muslims but we should be superior and ignore the provocations.

Let’s follow our prophet, Muhammad, and the teachings that we received from him. Whenever we see hatred and prejudice, we must show the best of our character, personify Muhammad and respond to the way he responded to insults. We need to let the hateful, ignorant opinion of one person against our culture flow over our heads.