faith, art and freedom

7/31/2019 Faith, Art and Freedom

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Verily all praise is for Allah, we praise Him and seek His aid and ask for His

forgiveness, and we seek refuge with Allah from the evils of ourselves andour evil actions. Whomever Allah guides there is none who can misguidehim, and whomever Allah misguides there is none who can guide him, and Ibear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah Alone,having no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and HisMessenger.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam and fellow seekers of the truth, I greetyou with the greatest greetings, the greetings of Islam:

As-salaamu 'alaikum...

Islam has been for a long time the main focus of many discussions all overthe world: whether in the news, street talks, international conferences etc.What stirs such commotion about Islam? What is Islam? Islam, comingfrom the two Arabic words Silm (submission) and Salaam (peace), is thepeaceful submission to the Will of Allah and complete obedience to Hisimmaculate Law. Allah said in the Quran:

This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favourupon you, and have chosen for you Islm as your religion [al-Maaidah5:3]

Allah also said in the Quran:

"He it is Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad SAW) with guidance and thereligion of truth (Islmic Monotheism) to make it victorious over all (other)religions even though the Mushrikn (polytheists etc.) may detest it" [As-Suaf]

One manifestation of the absolute truth underlying this message is that theVatican officially declared in 2008 that Islam has overtaken Catholic faith as theworlds largest religion, as reported in the Vatican Statistical Yearbook 2008 and

based on 2006 population data. This news was well publicized by major mediaestablishments including the CNN, FOXnews, the REUTERS, NEW YORKTIMES, WASHINGTON POST, GUARDIAN.CO.UK and many more. "For thefirst time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us,"Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican daily.

Islam's clear expansion, to the East and to the West, across the globe, is acontinuous phenomenon many fail to comprehend. Islam is arguably the most


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misunderstood religion, and it is through this misunderstanding that the so-calledunfounded Islamophobia arose, leaving many threatened by the rise of Islam.Some of the most misunderstood areas in Islam are freedom, freedom ofexpression and art, which is why I am honored to be here to shed some light onthis topic and help clarify some misunderstandings.

When we speak of freedom, a vast variety of subtopics come to mind. Theconcept of freedom of speech is derived from the Capitalist ideology that isbased on the belief that God and religion should be separated from lifes affairs(secularism). Human beings define how to live their lives free of the constraints ofreligion. The right to speak and what are the limits of speech are therefore alldefined by human beings.

This view completely contradicts Islam. In Islam it is the Creator of human beingsAllah who gave the right of speech to people and defined the limits onwhat is acceptable and unacceptable. This is why one of the names of the Qur'an

is Al-Furqaan, meaning the Criterion to distinguish between what is right andwhat is wrong.

Would anyone of you wish for all kinds of crimes to exist and thrive in society:murder, prostitution, rape, pornography, theft, child abuse? Who's to draw a line?Imagine with me for a second a simple example: roads without traffic lights andtraffic wardens: who can be assured of road safety? Who can claim one's right ofway? Such setting may simply not exist! A sound system is required! Penaltiesshould be laid down for those who disobey as a deterrent. But when we come toa greater picture, when we speak of the welfare of all mankind, the environmentand all else in it, who can claim perfect knowledge as to decide what is best for

all? To what extent may humans who err have the freedom to express anddemand for what they desire and lust? Is it not that the One who has created allof us, the One who sustains all, the One who is All-Knowing, All-Powerful, theOne True God Allah deserving to define for us what is good and what is evil?

Allah said:

He is Allh, the Creator, the Inventor of -all things, the Bestower of forms. ToHim belong the Best Names . All that is in the heavens and the earth glorify Him.

And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. [al-Hashr 59:24 interpretation of themeaning]

Contrary to what is being spread, freedom is inherent in Islam, which is whymany are reverting to Islam. The freedom we speak of here pertains to all that isright and good because Islam enjoins the right and forbids the wrong. Islam isalways in line with the good natural human instinct (what is also known as fitrah).

Allah says:


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"Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from Error;whoever rejects Evil and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthyhand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things.[Al-Baqarah2]

Islam's rich history and culture has produced numerous works of art. "The hugefield of Islamic architecture is the subject of a separate article, leaving fields asvaried as calligraphy, painting, glass, ceramics, and textiles, among others."[Wikipedia] Once again, Islam, being a complete way of life, has laid down theguidelines as to what is acceptable and what is unacceptable when it comes toart. Perhaps most relevant in this modern era, is that, while Islam allows forbeautiful paintings of nature and encouraging lines of poetry, it is completelyagainst the misuse of art to mock and slander anyone especially when this one inparticular is the best man who was ever created, the final Prophet andMessenger of Allah, Muhammad. Why do those behind those foolish cartoons

and those who support such "art" and "freedom of expression" resent the leaderof mankind, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?

They resent him because he called people to believe in the Oneness of God(Tawheed), and they do not believe that God is One.

They resent him because he venerated his Lord and declared Him to be farabove what these fabricators say, as they attributed partners to Him.

They resent him because he called people to the loftiest of morals and to give upthe lowest. He called them to virtue and to block all the means that lead to

immorality, but they want moral disorder and unlimited shameful liberty.

They want to indulge in the swamp of evil whims and desires, and they have gotwhat they want!

They resent him because he is the Messenger of Allah! Allaah is the One Whochose him above all mankind to convey His message and receive His revelation.

Would you wish similar works of "art" in portrayal of your brother, your sister,your father or your mother? Or to anyone you loved so dearly? We love ourProphet Muhammad, whose signs of prophethood are many, the best of them

being the Qur'an, for which none can truly spot any error.

Michael Hart said in his book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Personsin History (p. 13), where he put Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah beupon him) at the head of his list of one hundred:

"I chose Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to be top ofthis list because Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)


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was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religiousand secular levels."

The conflict between truth and falsehood is indeed an ancient one. And in spiteof all the hatred towards the truth that is Islam, Islam is the fastest growing

religion in the world today. CNN and FOXnews confirm Islam being the worldsfastest growing religion with CNN featuring Fast-growing Islam as winningconverts in Western world. In spite of all the Islamophobic propaganda, such asthe well-known hate-mongering Dutch film, many in Holland and the rest of theworld are rushing to buy Islamic books and copies of the Quraan, to see what isin them, and they will see in them that which will show the falseness andfabrication of what that failed filmmaker has produced.

There are certain situations where Islam has obliged Muslims to speak outagainst oppression and evil (munkar).

The Prophet said: "Whoever saw a Munkar, let him change it byhis hand and if he cannot then by his tongue and if he cannot then with his heartand that is the weakest of Imaan."

Many Muslims nowadays are attracted towards the concepts of human rights andfreedom of speech due to the medieval oppression waged against them by thecorrupt governments in the Muslim world.

In the majority of Muslim countries today, speaking out against the munkar and

oppression of the governments is made illegal by the rulers and their agents.They brutally suppress all political opposition and try to silence Muslims throughtorture and imprisonment. Even in the west they are also moving towardssilencing Muslims who criticize foreign policy or hold what they deem extremepolitical views under the guise of anti-terror policy.

Despite all these limits they are trying to impose on Muslims speaking out, thefact remains that it is Allah who defined what is acceptable andunacceptable speech.

The Prophet said: The master of martyrs is Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib and a man who stood to an oppressor ruler where he ordered him andforbade him so he (the ruler) killed him.15

Muslims who account their governments or speak out against oppression are notdoing it because of freedom of speech or because the west allows them tospeak. Rather they are doing it as an obligation from Islam even if it leads to


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death.

In the Khilafah/rule of Umar bin al-Khattab, some cloth from the spoils of war wasdistributed to the people, out of which each companion had one piece of clothingcut. One day `Umar got up to speak and said: Lower your voices so that I may

hear you. He was wearing two pieces of that cloth. Salman al-Farisi said, ByAllah, we will not hear you, because you prefer yourself to your people. How isthat? asked Umar. He said: You are wearing two pieces of cloth and everyoneelse is wearing only one. Umar called out: O Abdullah! No one answered him.He said again, O Abdullah ibn Umar!' Abdullah, his son called out: At yourservice! Umar said, I ask you by Allah, don't you say that the second piece isyours? Abdullah said Yes. Salman said: Now we shall hear you.20

Freedom of speech is a western concept that completely contradicts Islam. Inreality there is no such thing as absolute free speech. What exists is speechwithin predefined limits that differ between nations.

Allah , the Creator and NOT human beings decides the limits onspeech. We will be accountable for every word spoken on the Day of Judgement.

All have the right to freely express their opinions, whether in speech or in art, solong as they are within the bounds of truth and goodness, determined by Allahthe Most Great. Never should one be free to slander, as this is a major sin inIslam, or to spread evil as to cause harm to others and distort peace in society.

I conclude my speech by inviting everyone to the straight path, everyone toIslam, for there may never be true peace in the people's hearts, there may neverbe true peace amongst nations until everyone embraces the religion of peace,

that is Islam. Allah says:

If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), neverwill it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks ofthose who have lost. (all spiritual good). (85)

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