Farish Noor Essay

I read with deep propensity the essay of Farish Noor published at Dr M Bakri Musa's blog. entitled:

Pope’s Speech: Slander Cannot Be Met With Slander

Farish A Noor

Abstract:

It has to be stated again that the choice of quotes used in the speech by the Pope was anything but enlightened, and that uttered by a man of his standing and delivered before such a public gathering, was bound to lead to a reaction on the scale that we have seen thus far.

But here it pays to take a degree of objective distance from the issue and look at the matter from a broader perspective. While the comments made by the Pope were morally questionable both in their content and intention, one also has to question the logic at work in the reaction of some Muslims to the event. It has also been reported that many an Islamist group had reacted to the speech of the Pope with calls for violence and retribution: A stupid and counter-productive reaction if any, for it simply reinforces the stereotypical view (repeated in the Pope’s speech) that Islam is a religion of the sword and that Muslims are fundamentally violent.

It remains an oddity till today that many Islamist groups react to provocation at a drop of a hat, and that their reactions often follow the predictable path of rhetoric and pyrotechnics.

It would also be hypocritical for some of these Islamist groups to demand an apology from the Pope while remaining blissfully oblivious to the venomous speeches and tirades that issue forth from their own ranks, be it in the form of mosque sermons, videos, pamphlets, recordings or death threats. Muslims cannot, and should not, demand respect for our faith as long as we are not prepared to show the same respect to the beliefs of others. Yet how many Muslims have criticized the extremists and conservatives in their midst, who continue to ply the crowd with sordid stories of “Christian conspiracies” against Muslims, or with lurid accounts of the alleged “decadent, immoral” lives and values of the so-called “infidels.”

If Muslims felt insulted by the Pope’s comments, then we need to realize that many non-Muslims likewise feel insulted by the barbed accusations and slander that have come from some self-appointed spokesmen for Islam.

Above all, Muslims need to remember that in our reaction to abuse and slander we are nonetheless guided by a moral principle that is higher: One cannot react to slander with even more slander; anymore than one can react to racism with even more racism. If the moral compass had been lost by the Pope, our duty – as Muslims and non-Muslims alike – should be to restore this balance, and not to let the ship of humanity flounder even more.

[Period]

What Farish said, you can derive the same from the Quran. Does Muslim follows the quran? I believed so! However, Farish essay produces some doubt!