What does this whole thing teach us?
The word “Cartoon” will never mean the same to me!! I now hate the word and it makes me sick.
Cartoon was a word that referred to something nice; something that was bound and guaranteed to make us laugh, or at least see the humor part of it that reflects the point of view of the cartoon maker … sometimes we were able to recognize it and sometimes not … but it was always a creative tool to express a point of view or a criticism of some kind.
In our Arab world; we are more used to light comic; those who criticize with the faintest hints that you will comprehend with some intelligence. Only recently; we have started witnessing more creative cartoonists and looking for their work in the daily newspaper was a must for the majority of us.
Who can forget Naji Al Ali and his political caricatures that stand witness to a whole era of our lives? Who doesn’t follow the work of Hajjaj in the newspapers and on the official website? Such creative people have become a part of our lives and cultures, and they document history minute by minute.
I believe that each nation has its own Naji or Hajjaj, and they follow their work like we do with ours.
We have been going on an on about the effect that the latest Danish Cartoons are having on the whole world, but we never stopped to ask ourselves why they were drawn in the first place? What was the message they were trying to deliver? Was it worth it?
The effect and turn that things took over the notorious cartoons only proved one thing to me; our emotions lead us and we become angry for the sake of becoming angry. We totally forgot that great leaders like Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) spread Islam with the power of his personality first; his forgiveness and wisdom overcame any dispute or situation he or his followers ever came across.
I include myself despite that I am against the reaction that the majorities are taking, but I am also a Muslim and cannot and will not isolate myself from my brothers and sisters, but I will not be lead into rage and angry reactions without using my brain, my education and my religion.
What should we have learned from our prophet?
We should have learned that Islam came to wash our hearts from the hatred of tribalism and ignorance. We should have learned that when someone does not know, we teach them.
The early followers of Prophet Mohammed learned from him; they observed, they watched, they asked and he lead them by example. Do you remember Omar Bin Al Khattab? Didn’t we all read about his bravery and animosity towards Islam before he became a Muslim himslef? Didn’t we read the story of his sister when she hid the fact that she became a Muslim because she feared him? Didn’t we all follow his history as he became one of the most devoted Muslims of all ages? Didn’t we read about the era when he was a caliph? We all read how Islam turned this powerful man into one of the most just and honest people in history, and how he was named Al Farouq because of this.
How many Omars do we have among us? None!
Why didn’t Islam turn us into Omars? Because Islam is not to blame; we are.
Why don’t we learn from Omar and try to be more like him? Because we chose to retreat to the roots of ignorance before Islam lightened our way for us. We chose to walk in darkness and we chose to react and lead our lives so very far away from what our dear Prophet had taught us.
All Prophets have been insulted, they all suffered for the sake of their Godly message, they all showed leadership, forgiveness, wisdom and grace. They never hit those who hit them, they never insulted those who insulted them, they never threatened those who defamed them, yet; they were the ones who prevailed in the end.
If we don’t learn from the history of our own Prophet and religion; I don’t know what will make us see the light.
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Posted on Sunday, February 5th, 2006
Under: Thoughts on my mind | No Comments »