In response to some queries on why I haven't written something specifically on the abuse of the Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam), then that is because:These are the people that scare me - seeming moderates who are against the current violence (like the editor of Arab American News who was on MSNBC tonight) yet when they speak frankly, they are only against the violence because it makes them look bad - but they truly believe that the cartoonists deserve to die for their "crime."
1. Many good people have written enough about it already
2. I feel too ashamed, living in Europe, to write when I know what the Shari'ah demands of us
Let there be no doubt: the crime of belittling the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) results in instant death for the Muslim by unanimous opinion of the scholars, and the majority believe it to be the case as well for the Dhimmi and the Musta'man (those who have peace treaties etc) living in the Muslim lands under Islamic Law. That is how serious a crime this is.
As for these Europeans that are reviling the Prophet under their 'law' then we're at a dead end. As these non-Muslims are our own people living under their own law, we are forbidden to do anything that would contravene that law. How shameful for us.
Want to get an inside opinion on how I'm feeling at the moment on this subject? Have a little read of al-Shifa by Qadhi 'Iyadh (r) or if you're feeling really upto it, al-Sarim al-Maslul by Ibn Taymiyyah (r) and then tell me to calm down.
Why do we not have Shari'ah to preserve the Prophet's honour? Where is our Ameer al-Mu'mineen to run and avenge the Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)? Where is that strength of the Believers that would make these criminals think twice before they lie under the banner of 'free speech'?
Seeing as we have no Shari'ah and seeing as we have no Leader and seeing as that we're struggling to gather even a motley crew of good enough 'believers' to grace the word 'Islam', then let us put our heads down in shame and humiliation, and let all those who can do something they feel worthwhile, do it.
Let us boycott, let us demonstrate, let us make our feelings known, let us educate, let us show the higher ethic - but let us also realise our individual pathetic state when we know the greatest of creation has been reviled and the criminals walk around smiling, and we just talk the talk and sell more European newspapers.
Wa Allahu Musta'an.
I know I shouldn't have written anything, because I find it difficult with such topics to control anything I write or say (cf the khutbah) descending into uncontrolled emotional rhetoric - so let me stop there and have mercy on my head and let the honourable Shaykh Riyad Nadwi put it a whole lot better than I ever will.
They sound so normal on TV, yet their goal is the exact same as Bin Laden and Ahmadinejad - world Islamic domination where they can enforce strict Islamic law on everyone.