How should a Good Muslim respond to
the anti Islam movie ? It's heart breaking. What should we do?
Answer: Every Muslim would naturally feel hurt by the movie depicting the Prophet of mercy in the most negative way. For a Muslim, the Prophet (peace be upon him) is dearer to him than his own soul, parents, children, and all of mankind. Our love of the Prophet is second only to our love of Allah.
Therefore, we ought to condemn such despicable acts by using every peaceful means possible and seek to protect the honor of our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him).
It is necessary for us to remember, however, that those who have done it, has a singular agenda: to spread hatred against Islam and Muslims and to provoke Muslims to react emotionally and violently, and thus give fodder to the Islam bashers to justify their negative portrayals of Muslims and perhaps to justify the wars of aggression and occupation of the Muslims lands.
Muslims cannot give in to those who call for endless wars. War for us is not an option, for how can we justify wars that result in wholesale destruction of innocent lives, environment and virtually devastating the entire countries as the occupation of
Therefore, we cannot afford to give in to the agenda of those who spread hate and provoke violence, thus calling for endless wars of aggression and occupation.
So, the only response from Muslims should be not to give in to such provocations but to counter evil with that which is good. Allah says, "But [since] good and evil cannot be equal, repel thou [evil] with something that is better and lo! he between whom and thyself was enmity [may then become] as though he had [always] been close [unto thee], a true friend!" (Qur'an: 41:34)
Thus, we may do well to think of creative ways of channeling our anger in positive directions, which would alone defeat the hate mongers and turn the tables on them. Here are some tips we effectively use to counter them and ultimately defeat them:
Arm yourself with the sound knowledge of Islam; learn about the noble character of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and mold yourself by it. And do so solely sake of your love of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and your love for Allah. In this way, you would save yourself, and influence others positively.
Take this as a challenge to show the true message of the Prophet through your acts of compassion, for it is a fact that people will only value us for our actions and not for our words. Allah asks, "O You who believe, why say what you do not practice?" (Qur'an: 61:2). So, our priority is to improve our performance.
Get to know your non-Muslim neighbor or colleague at work through your amicable and friendly demeanor, and prove that he or she can trust you and count you as a person who can be of help in time of need: Show that you care for others through your small acts of kindness. The Prophet said, "best of people are those who people can look up to for their goodness and others feel secure around them".
Try to engage in good works that would make a real difference in the life of the people around you. Take the initiatives to feed the hungry, to help the homeless, and help those who are unemployed to get jobs, etc.
Condition yourself to channel anger in positive directions. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "The strongest person is not the one who can knock out someone in a physical fight. Rather it is he who can master his anger when provoked." (Reported by Bukhari).
In
conclusion, it behooves us to think of the positive ways of defeating the
Islamophobs, and thus turn the tables on those who wish to fight Islam. This
was the example of the Prophet of mercy as, in a short span of 23 years, he
managed to win over his enemies and bring peace and reconciliation to a milieu
ravaged by internecine warfare.
I pray to Allah to bless us to be the ambassadors of peace and reconciliation in a world torn asunder by hatred, greed and xenophobia.