Non-Muslim fans of the Prophet
February 21st, 2008
“If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astonishing results are the three criteria of a human genius, who could dare compare any great man in history with Muhammad?” Alphonse de La Martaine, 1854
Here’s a great post on the Danish cartoon controversy, which is unfortunately resurfacing as they’ve decided to republish the cartoons that mock the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be God’s peace and blessings. It is so aggravating to watch a few jerks tease and taunt us by ridiculing the Prophet, and then watch the media swarm around the tiny minority of Muslims who do react violently. One-fifth of the world is Muslim, and most of us shook our heads at the Danish newspaper and whispered, ‘Man, do they hate Muslims, or what’ and then went on with our day. But that isn’t a story.
But for those of us who do have some hate in our hearts, it is time to stop burning flags and start burning desires, indeed. And time to stop expecting Islamophobes to give credit where it’s due. And time to model what being Muslim really is: Recite the Qur’an always. When necessary, use words.
I would have thought that it’s highly unlikely that the four-fifths of the world who don’t believe in the prophethood of Muhammad would ever give him the respect he earned. But I would have been wrong. Even the Encyclopaedia Britannica calls Muhammad ibn Abdullah “the most successful of all religious personalities of the world.” And check it out — among the non-Muslim fans of Muhammad are Mahatma Gandhi and George Bernard Shaw!