Danish Cartoons 2: What would Muhammad (S) do?

Prophet Muhammad (S) himself, as did all prophets, encountered enormous resistance, ridicule, harrassment, and insult during their lives as they sought to spread religion. In one story commonly told to children, and which I heard many times growing up, a woman would throw sheep intestines at him every morning on the way to the mosque. He never said anything, he never changed his route, he simply kept walking every day, and she would simply throw sheep intestines at him every day. One day he was walking and she wasn't there. Instead of burning her house, or attacking her, throwing things, he asked around to see what happened to her. He found out that she was sick, and he visited her with food and water.

She converted on the spot.

This is how Islam spread so fast in its early years. The Prophet showered his enemies with kindness, and you can imagine how the recipient of that kindness must have been amazed. What could inspire someone to endure so much and still return with kindness and concern for her well-being? Muslims see the Prophet as a role model for everything, and it's sad to see almost everyone abandoning this lesson of the Prophet in this controversy.

The violent responses, the flagburning, and even the boycotts are not shows of strength. Anyone can burn a flag or march in the streets. They show weakness and insecurity, not strength. This insecurity is understandable, a result of decades of humiliation and encroachment by the West, but it's an abandonment of the Prophet's teachings. As Islam emphasizes time and again, and as even Nietzsche has recognized, mercy is the ultimate show of strength: it shows security, that you don't need to respond, that the offense doesn't even matter. Muslims should be bigger than this. Stereotypes are not going to go away on their own, and by responding crazily to a stupid cartoon, Muslims can only appear weak, unreasonable, and just silly. All-powerful, All-knowing Allah doesn’t need us to defend Him from insult.

The American Muslim group CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) has had an impressive response to this. They've emphasized how the Prophet (S) responded to personal attacks with kindness, condemned violent responses, and encouraged Muslims to be examples of good character in response to abuse, while still expressing concern and anger that the cartoons were printed in the first place. They’re now using this as an opportunity to educate about Prophet Muhammad’s (S) example. CAIR is usually one of the more combative American Muslim groups, but they certainly follow when they find clear Prophetic guidance.

Put simply, Muslims should not have been lured so easily into a clear trap. Islam wins through virtue, patience, and conviction. If we abandon those principles, we've done far more damage to Islam than any cartoons could ever do.