FACEBOOK FURORE

By: Babar Bilal Advocate*

Yet in another nefarious onslaught on Islam and its values

Facebook launched an abominable contest of drawing
caricatures of the holy figures. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)
became the target of derision for the Facebook users. Be it
Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdi, Lajja by Tasleema
Nasreen, Danish Cartoon Crisis or contemporary desecration
of the beloved of Islam on Facebook__all hit the same point
i.e. to hold Islam and The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) up to
ridicule.
The only defense offered by Europe against this blasphemous act is the shallow slogan
of “The Freedom of Expression”. No stretch of imagination allows this so-called freedom
of expression to be used as a tool to lacerate the religious sentiments and rupture the
blissful aura of the messiahs of others. Europe, undoubtedly, crosses all boundaries of
moral norms and ethical virtues in stigmatizing the image of Islam and its patrons. What
the hell is this fucking freedom of expression? Why is this titular freedom of expression
being used only for character-assassination of The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) by these self-
appointed custodians of freedom? Why is this freedom of expression not evident in the
context of US genocidal atrocities and wholesale carnage of so many innocent civilians
in Afghanistan and Iraq and other countries of the world? Why is The Holy Prophet
(S.A.W.) meted out such an impish treatment? Why is this freedom of expression not
allowed to the Facebook consumers to express their opinion about Adolf Hitler and
others? Why isn’t the material about Socialism and Communism entertained with the
same broad-mindedness? This gross pulverization of human values and schisms in
general and Islam in particular has become the fashionable snobbery of the self-styled
educated people of the west manipulating the cyber world.
With black bands around arms and black straps of protest around heads, our Pakistani
masses brewed unparalled scenario of bedlam, anarchy, and turmoil to the daily life-
routine of other Pakistanis by burning tyres, blocking roads, arson, vandalism, forcible
shut-down of businesses and upraising slogans against biased principles of freedom of
expression. The daily life was brought to a fiasco. One wonders what objectives have we
achieved? Can we achieve our target by calling for strike? One also wonders what
conducive role has been played by our heavy-weight intellectuals. What effective
function has been performed by our easy-chair philosophers? What the state-run
“maulanas” have done except provoking a conflagration among the poverty-stricken
masses with their demagogic gimmickry? Their only job, it seems, is to declare when the
Eid-Moon has been sighted or how high should be the bottoms of a Nimazi’s shalwar in
return for drawing huge salaries from the government.
One ponders if it was the only way to register our protest? The misuse of cyber
technology by a pack of ill-advised people will continue in future even. Saudi Arabia and
Indonesia neither banned the website nor was any report of violence reported during
their peaceful demonstrations. The same policy of peaceful protests was followed by
Turkey, Egypt and Iran with no scene of mayhem on their streets. Then why are
Pakistani “over-Muslims” so violence prone? Couldn’t we convey our heartfelt
grievances yet in a stronger and more efficacious way to the cyber audience by using
the same medium? Couldn’t we give proof that we are the true followers of The Holy
Prophet (S.A.W.) __ a paragon of patience, perseverance, fortitude and forgiveness?
How by resorting to radicalism can we follow the teachings of our beloved prophet
(S.A.W.) who bore even the vilest actions of the aggressors with grace, poise and
quietetude? By rendering ourselves aloof from the global audience, we have lost the
medium through which we could have diligently recorded our dissent against the
western fanaticism and intolerance towards our religion and its mentors.Alas! We
innocent Pakistanis did what they wanted from us __to be known as the most
intolerable religious community in the world and get us disconnected from the world of
knowledge as well. The endgame is that they have achieved what they wanted to
achieve and we have lost what we wanted. It is ridiculous to imagine even that we made
an attempt to win the war on our own roads and markets (by paralyzing our own
infrastructure) which should have been fought in the cyber world!
First Facebook, then YouTube, then Wikipedia, then Flicker, then approximately 1000
websites were blocked by PTA! Where is the end? Where are we going? How will we
ban thousands of other sites out of our reach? How will we block millions of books
containing objectionable material against Islam? Should we ban all the SMSes sent and
received by non-Muslims? Isn’t it possible for us to launch a nuclear offensive against
the world? Over 40 million people are users of Facebook in Pakistan. It is a social
network sharing pictures, videos, ideas, experiences, debates etc. The business
community advertises its products on YouTube. It is not only infotainment but also
edutainment channel which is benefited by a large variety of people. Our beloved
Prophet (S.A.W.) enjoins on us to seek knowledge even if one has to go to a very distant
place and also to learn from kaffirs. What about the academic loss suffered by our
students and teacher community because of banning even the education-based
channels. How long will we deny ourselves the right to learn? Shouldn’t we equip
ourselves with the knowledge that befits the changing scenario? Couldn’t we have
achieved our goal simply by removing objectionable links and make them inaccessible to
Facebook users in lieu of imposing a complete ban on it? The better sense dictates that
the tumor should be removed in place of killing the patient! How many patients will be
exterminated by us one may ask? Wouldn’t it be better to invent the panacea to this
disease?
The reaction of the legal fraternity was commendable as peaceful demonstrations on its
part were held throughout the country. It emphasized on the government to register its
protest with the perpetrators of such a detestable conspiracy. The ban on different
nuisance sites was ordered by the Lahore High Court which was timely in this sense only
that it totally evaporated the premonition of further paralysis of life for a common
Pakistani. The sick man of our economy cannot bear at all a protracted violence as ours
is a country without electricity, without gas, without pure drinking water, without petrol
and now without communication with the world at large.
Shouldn’t we use the epithet “Jumping Jacks” for the Pakistani slogan-mongers who
claim to be the disciples of Islam but behave in a most un-Islamic way by resorting to
violence and rowdyism instead of following the example of The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)
who would react in a graceful manner in case such insolence had been committed on
him? Are we really so devout Muslims? When I look at a young man with a “Lathi” in his
hand, a politician with a miraculous agenda for the welfare of Pakistanis and a
“Maulana” igniting the raw youth of the nation to wage a war against all the
blasphemies, I feel like asking them: isn’t the exploitation of the poor at the hands of
the rich a blasphemy? Isn’t the gang-rape of the young woman by the influentials of the
society a blasphemy? Isn’t the miscarriage of justice a blasphemy? Isn’t the gap between
what we claim and what we practice a blasphemy? Isn’t the visiting of the easily
available porn sites on internet a blasphemy? Isn’t the cry of the baby who can’t sleep
because of hunger a blasphemy? I do agree with the religious Scholars and common
Pakistanis about their condemnation of the mentioned impious action relevant to
blasphemy but I don’t agree with the way they reacted.
I humbly exhort on Pakistanis to follow the suit of The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) who
bestowed on us a complete code of conduct instead of fake ritualism and slogan-
mongering. The sacrilegious actions hatched by the conspirators can’t be compromised.
We can better convey our point of view with Islamic literature, books, journals and the
exchange of debates of active Muslim Scholars with the Westerns think-tanks. By
arranging seminars and discussions among religious scholars of different beliefs on
global level we can help develop a consensus among faiths and finish once and for all
this growing unethical tendency of blemishing ISLAM by the Westerns. Although
Pakistan is rich in IT Experts having a comprehensive knowledge of internet and cyber
world yet they are poor in Islamic Knowledge and persuasive logic. Although the
Religious Scholars are rich in the knowledge of Islam, The Hadith and Sunnah of The
Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) yet they don’t have ample knowledge of internet and its related
fields. The need of the hour is that we want Religious Scholars who are well-versed in IT
Technology as well and IT Experts who also have sufficient knowledge of The Quran and
The Teachings of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.). The irony of the situation is that we
Muslims are dependent on the Europeans for their achievements in Science and
Technology. If we want to save ourselves from any future fanatical invasion from them
we need to be two-in-one__the head of a technologically rich man and the heart of a
religiously-charged Muslim. Only by adopting these measures we can safeguard our
values and traditions against the machinations of the white man of Europe who is still
groping in the darkness of disbelief and is oblivious of the all-embracing spirit of Islam.
In lieu of taking any drastic step we, as Muslims, need to feel the pulse of time and react
accordingly.
Today’s world is undergoing scientific and technological advancement at a revolutionary
momentum and it will not be un-called for on our part if we wage “Jihad” on intellectual
level and revive the Islamic renaissance with a missionary zeal. Just like we have
developed an Islamic mobile phone with the times of the calls for prayer and knowledge
about Islam and The Quran why don’t we endeavour to develop our own IT systems and
our own Islamic social network parallel with the Facebook as a role model where the
non-Muslims should be given an example of how respect should be given to other
religions as well. It is not by hurting the emotions of others they can elevate themselves
but it is by venerating the religious sentiments of their fellow creatures they can
upgrade their image as human beings. They should learn that Islam means Peace and
Love for all irrespective of caste, creed or color.

ALLAH Subhanau Wa Ta’ala BE WITH US!

MA English, MA TEFL, MA Political Science and LLB

161- District Courts, Faisalabad-Pakistan
Cell: +92-333-7862425