The insults to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), condoned and tacitly perpetuated by the French government, are a part of a larger aggressive secular project that seeks to achieve the impossible task of eliminating Islam, or at least disabling it enough to keep those who follow Islam as our way of life, in perpetual servitude and awe to a religion of state. This effort is wholescale - it runs from the government, through the municipalities and into the schools of France. It is supported by a society driven by fear and confusion - emotions that are nurtured by the numbing effect of media: the result of which is a tragic detachment from the profound emotions of compassion and empathy that make us human. What kind of people turn to the pathetic and fantastical excuse of “freedom of speech” to facilitate insults to a man that brought to the world the laws of God, and was sent, like Jesus and Moses (peace be upon them both) before him, to set a faithless and declining humanity right again? Perhaps it is not surprising. France’s bastions of “free speech” have mocked both Jesus and Moses (peace be upon them both) in the name of its self-made but spiritually vacuous constructs of “nationhood”, “values” and “moral advancement”. It is these ideologies, rudderless without Divine guidance, that have perpetuated a society of loss and numbness, a slow dissolution of humanity identified and reflected by European writers, artists and filmmakers.
It is the Muslims who will defend the light of faith
The problem that the secularists sit with is that people are spiritual beings, whose hearts yearn for their Creator, a yearning that must be buried or distracted in different forms of paradise-seeking and pleasure godheads provided or silently condoned by the state. Pure hatred - such as that displayed by the French government and which has so far been met with awkward silence from the counter-extremists who preach “tolerance” - is the attempt to sever this connection, and replace it with something else. And so, as in every age, it is the Muslims of France and Europe that have been tasked to defend this human right - the right to worship and revere God. They will do so by becoming the mirror to states and societies that have lost their spiritual anchors, whose hearts have been numbed to this truth. In a darkening climate, by continually speaking the truth, by asserting the right to worship and live fully, and by assuring ordinary people that they have nothing to fear, the Muslims will fulfil the promise that many good-hearted and searching people “will come to Islam in their droves”. In this, we will carry light.
The secular state will fall on its own sword
As the secularist bully appears to close in in the form of house raids, mosque closures, the intimidation of charities and attempts to shut down civil society organisations, secularism will only appear less morally superior, more rabid, more desperate, lashing out blindly in a darkness of its own construction. This is purely because the power of the Muslims does not reside in buildings, or in any form of material architecture. It resides in the heart, and a heart that is indelibly connected to the mind through the knowledge of its spiritual position as a slave of God. But the French government knows this too, and their frustration and envy knows almost no boundaries. While their actions stem from hate, our feelings for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are a wellspring of love. As Imran Khan has stated, “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lives in the hearts of the Muslims.” This is something France and other secular governments cannot fathom. There are those among us who are granted the blessing of seeing him in the mind’s eye, or in dreams. There are many who weep for missing him, despite never having met him. So, an attack on Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is felt as violence by Muslims, for it is an attack on the heart - and following that, the mind. The long-term desired impact of these low blows is confusion, and following that, a severance of the heart from its Creator - but what those that hate can’t fathom is that the response is, and always will be, the opposite. We only love him more. These attacks only lay bare the inhumanity of modern secularism, and the deep danger to humanity’s psychology and survival in following such a course; for it is empathy and compassion that facilitates the cooperation needed between humanity to flourish. It is also what makes us human.
Time for France to reflect on its past and find light in its future
France has a lot of work to do on itself. It must consider it’s long and brutal colonial history , it more recent bloody foreign wars against Mulsim nations and admit to its mistakes. Perhaps taking the lead from one of its greatest poets and statesmen, Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869) - who played a key role in the foundation and governing of the Second Republic and the decision to keep the Tricolore flag - would be a good start. Lamartine, when asked, described the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in this way: “If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. “[But] this man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls... the forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was twofold, the unit of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words.” "Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a religion without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?" May the peace and blessings of Allah (God) be upon him forever and ever. Ameen. Image courtesy of Unsplash/@rumanamin
The insults to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), condoned and tacitly perpetuated by the French government, are a part of a larger aggressive secular project that seeks to achieve the impossible task of eliminating Islam, or at least disabling it enough to keep those who follow Islam as our way of life, in perpetual servitude and awe to a religion of state.
This effort is wholescale - it runs from the government, through the municipalities and into the schools of France. It is supported by a society driven by fear and confusion - emotions that are nurtured by the numbing effect of media: the result of which is a tragic detachment from the profound emotions of compassion and empathy that make us human.
What kind of people turn to the pathetic and fantastical excuse of “freedom of speech” to facilitate insults to a man that brought to the world the laws of God, and was sent, like Jesus and Moses (peace be upon them both) before him, to set a faithless and declining humanity right again?
Perhaps it is not surprising. France’s bastions of “free speech” have mocked both Jesus and Moses (peace be upon them both) in the name of its self-made but spiritually vacuous constructs of “nationhood”, “values” and “moral advancement”.
It is these ideologies, rudderless without Divine guidance, that have perpetuated a society of loss and numbness, a slow dissolution of humanity identified and reflected by European <a href="https://www.thenationalbookreview.com/features/2019/11/29/ptkqmub41icwm8hif7x1aqb84azjag">writers</a>, <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/jr_my_wish_use_art_to_turn_the_world_inside_out">artists</a> and<a href="https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/cinema-67-revisited-battle-algiers/"> filmmakers</a>.
<h3><b>It is the Muslims who will defend the light of faith</b></h3>
The problem that the secularists sit with is that people are spiritual beings, whose hearts yearn for their Creator, a yearning that must be buried or distracted in different forms of paradise-seeking and pleasure godheads provided or silently condoned by the state.
Pure hatred - such as that displayed by the French government and which has so far been met with awkward silence from the counter-extremists who preach “tolerance” - is the attempt to sever this connection, and replace it with something else.
And so, as in every age, it is the Muslims of France and Europe that have been tasked to defend this human right - the right to worship and revere God. They will do so by becoming the mirror to states and societies that have lost their spiritual anchors, whose hearts have been numbed to this truth.
In a darkening climate, by continually speaking the truth, by asserting the right to worship and live fully, and by assuring ordinary people that they have nothing to fear, the Muslims will fulfil the promise that many good-hearted and searching people “<a href="https://quran.com/110">will come to Islam in their droves</a>”. In this, we will carry light.
<h3><b>The secular state will fall on its own sword</b></h3>
As the secularist bully appears to close in in the form of house raids, mosque closures, the intimidation of charities and attempts to shut down civil society organisations, secularism will only appear less morally superior, more rabid, more desperate, lashing out blindly in a darkness of its own construction.
This is purely because the power of the Muslims does not reside in buildings, or in any form of material architecture. It resides in the heart, and a heart that is indelibly connected to the mind through the knowledge of its spiritual position as a slave of God.
But the French government knows this too, and their frustration and envy knows almost no boundaries.
While their actions stem from hate, our feelings for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are a wellspring of love. As Imran Khan has stated, “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lives in the hearts of the Muslims.”
This is something France and other secular governments cannot fathom. There are those among us who are granted the blessing of seeing him in the mind’s eye, or in dreams. There are many who weep for missing him, despite never having met him.
So, an attack on Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is felt as violence by Muslims, for it is an attack on the heart - and following that, the mind.
The long-term desired impact of these low blows is confusion, and following that, a severance of the heart from its Creator - but what those that hate can’t fathom is that the response is, and always will be, the opposite. We only love him more.
These attacks only lay bare the inhumanity of modern secularism, and the deep danger to humanity’s psychology and survival in following such a course; for it is empathy and compassion that facilitates the cooperation needed between humanity to flourish.
It is also what makes us human.
<h3><b>Time for France to reflect on its past and find light in its future</b></h3>
France has a lot of work to do on itself. It must consider it’s long and brutal colonial history , it more recent bloody foreign wars against Mulsim nations and admit to its mistakes.
Perhaps taking the lead from one of its greatest poets and statesmen, Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869) - who played a key role in the foundation and governing of the Second Republic and the decision to keep the Tricolore flag - would be a good start. Lamartine, when asked, described the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in this way:
<i>“If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. </i>
<i>“[But] this man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls... the forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was twofold, the unit of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words.”</i>
<i>"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a religion without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?"</i>
May the peace and blessings of Allah (God) be upon him forever and ever. Ameen.
<em>Image courtesy of <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/GMpORBOr6TY">Unsplash</a>/<a href="https://unsplash.com/@rumanamin">@rumanamin</a></em>
