The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has held a public meeting to condemn the tarnishing of the Prophet Mohamed’s character in anti-Islamic films.
“This meeting was organised to condemn the making of anti-Islamic movies which attempt to tarnish the Prophet Mohamed’s character,” explained Head of the Department of Religious Affairs, Moosa Anwar Hassan.
“We had a number of Islamic scholars speak at the meeting. They each covered one aspect of Prophet Mohamed’s exemplary character,” Hassan said.
Speakers at the meeting included Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali, Deputy Minister Mohamed Qubad AbuBakr, and State Minister Mohamed Didi, among others.
At the meeting, Shameem said although anger at the Prophet being mocked was justifiable, it had to be expressed in a calm manner through productive action. He shared an anecdote about American Muslims refraining from burning bibles even though an American priest had burned the Quran. He said they had instead distributed 1000 free copies of the Quran.
Shaheem said that this was a better cause of action in times of anger, calling it “a strategic and sensible decision.”
A crowd of protesters gathered in front of the UN Building last week, expressing anger after the release of the controversial movie ‘Innocence of Muslims’.
Speaking on the issue, Moosa Anwar Hassan told Minivan News today that the ministry would on no account encourage unrest, rioting or causing damage to property. He said the ministry calls on everyone to show restraint and control anger.
The National Bureau of Classification has announced that it is an offence to own or watch the offending movie on Tuesday, while the Communications Authority of Maldives has previously said it is working on blocking the offending video from being viewed in the country.
(0)Dislikes
(0)Related Posts
Saudi organisation to spend MVR 1.6 million to spread Quranic teachings in Maldives- Islamic Ministry calls for ban on mixed-gender dancing
- Reported increase in practice of female circumcision raises alarm
- Islamic Ministry to provide financial aid to private Quran classes
- ‘Halal certificates’ awarded to three companies
- Islamic Minister states MVR 35 million deposited in the Hajj Corporation to date
You and your types have incited so much hatred over so puny little things, you think now these calls for milder behaviour will be listened to?
Have another thought coming...
Cowards ... What are they trying to prove now?
I,m afraid you may have to get ready for more demonstrations, because a French magazine has just published another series of cartoons featuring your prophet.This is against all government and common sense advice..Try and ignore the cartoons if you can..
aaah! it just needs common sense, not high levels of qualification to know that we r living in a globalized world and if we r to go on rioting evry time something ofensive happens then v wont have any time or energy to focus on anything else. get over it people!
i don't believe him. His beard is too short.
"Honestly, if you have faith none of this really matters."
another minivan article written just to elicit foul language comments against muslims. The agenda is simple. Ridicule islam, muslims, muslim sheikhs, muslim ministers, their offices etc... very poor standard if minivan considers journalism
What other option does the Mulla have? Let’s be civilized and stop to have obsession with religions and its founders. It is free world now; you can’t stop blasphemy with swords and threats. Islam is no more hiding inside ignorance. It has got global attention with the help of Bin Ladin, Anti Islam knows Islam better than ordinary muslims and the Musilms have pictured their prophet’s image very badly throughout history by writing his biography as time went and according to the liking of those who wrote his biography.
A chain reaction has been set off by the disgusting behaviour of muslims around the world. More cartoons are being created, and I bet copycat videos will be up very soon in the future.
Perhaps then, we will see how peaceful muslims are in the form of more RPGs.
no matter what you all says and believes. Islam will never be able to eradicate from the earth and will stay as only the religion in Maldives.
All you hate , you can keep on swallowing and you will never be able to have multi religious freedom in this small Island nation.
did you know that 20th May is considered "Draw Muhammed Day"!! what are we maldivians doing to censor that!!
Laadheenee if we do, Laadheenee if we dont
Adhaalath please save us
I must say that I am impressed by the Honourable Sheikh's Gracious response.
Whether such a response is only politically strategic or a genuine esteem for the Power of Grace, I still think it is wonderful.
Who am I toJudge anothers heart.
It is a Noble transcendence of self to respond to insult Graciously, a beautiful ascension - so long as the motives behind the Gracious response are not routed in FEAR or political expediency.
IF insulting Prophet Mohammed is punishable by violence, can that come to imply that a ruler or a body of Rulers, or a Constitution cannot be challenged or beyond approach IF that rulership claims to be implementing the Prophet's Sunnah or Allah's Laws as revealed through the Prophet?
NO ruler, or system, is infallible.
If a ruler, or system is legally beyond criticism, that ruler, being unaccountable, will surely become extremely corrupt, tyranny INDEED.
The ONLY way to stop a human being or a system from being completely tyrannical, even if the most noble intentioned, self-disciplined leader had the power, is to criticize them when they do wrong, and make them accountable.
I believe that this is also the foundation of Islam, NO GOD BUT GOD, no human being is infallible, beyond criticism, and, to be as such is to try and be a GOD. The liberal Democratic idea that NOBODY should have absolute Power is deeply compatible with the heart of Islam, if ONLY it could be understood as such.
There are many examples of Prophet Mohammed responding to insult Graciously.
A group once insulted Prophet, he was Praying earnestly, not for a Mountain to fall upon his insulters, as was assumed by one of His Companions, but for them to come to the Truth of Faith.
It was a Prayer of Mercy.
It is the Truly Divine Way, Self Sacrifice for the wellbeing of others.
It is a profound path which is far more beautiful than anything, even more beautiful than sex.
THAT is the path beyond the selfish, narrow, individual self to the the greater self, Union with the Sense of the Divine which is the Collective Self through self sacrificial LOVE.
We do not gain the fire of this beautiful ecstasy but though losing ourself to find the Greater Self.
Losing ourself does not mean yielding to another's will in fear, or obedience to another in a manner where we lose our creativity. It is about expressing our creativity in its purest form, the form of expression of Union with the interconnectedness of ALL Humanity which is connected through, the Divine.
If one human being is robbed by fear, or greed, or injustice of what makes them rich, humanity is robbed of its collective riches.
Yet if we use our treasures, our Gifts and character, to serve our petty ambitions, we lose ourselves because we lose our GREATER SELF.
The bliss of Self sacrifice is Jannah.
Jannah is described in the Qur'an using Metaphors such as Rivers of Wine and other metaphors, such as Virgins etc, but such are only metaphors, not literal, I believe.
If any sacrifice is motivated by selfish forces, it is not the path to Jannah, it is the path to Jahannum.
The true Shahid is, I believe, One whose Motives are truly routed in the Supreme Attributes of ALLAH, as recited by us all of the time in the Bismuth...
I'd like to explain the abstract concept of self I have used above. I just realized it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever because I have not explained what I meant at all.
By self I am referring to the concept of the 'Naffs' which is often spoken about in Islamic Religious circles.
By 'losing self' I mean, losing our comfort, security and personal safety, the price we pay for speaking out against tyranny, injustice, or for risking our 'selves' to help others.
The word SELF, then, refers to our own personal safety, comfort, reputation, health, finance, our own desire, our own ambition, our own wants and even needs sometimes. It refers to anything and everything we may need to sacrifice, or risk losing, in order to stand up for truth, justice, for the wellbeing of the sick, the poor, the oppressed and the weak.
When you sacrifice this 'self' for justice, humanity, truth, universal love, it hurts. Because this world is so damned corrupt, you cannot help but sacrifice these things, at least some of it - to be true to the 'greater self' of collective humanity by standing up for justice and for the oppressed in this world.
We have to lose our lives to find our greater life, union with the collective, even, the Divine.
Yet to give up ourself requires that we give our whole self with every bit of effort, struggle and energy we can possibly muster. THAT is what it means to give it all, it is a struggle of the self - a - "Jihad al-Naffs..."
There is no existential fulfillment without at least some of the pain of the 'sacred path...' in our lives.
We may run from fighting the dark forces because we wish to preserve our 'self' but we then become victims of an even darker force, the dark force of a sense of meaninglessness in our lives.
For a few spiritual seekers in this world, there is a deep yearning, a longing, an 'aching hunger' which is so deep and intense, it is a stronger hunger than hunger for even food, or for human love, or for sex. It is hunger for the Divine which requires the loss of self for fulfillment.
For Nietzche, this hunger is in fact human kind's hunger for power, misplaced through religion. Nietzche thinks we separate ourselves from our own power because we subconsciously afraid of the power we crave.
I disagree with Nietzche, although there MAY be some truth to some of his thinking in certain circumstances.
God could mean, that which we most desire. Buddha said that for a starving person, food is God. God could be, a sense of meaning which is Godless, routed in humanity alone, I actually love the purity of that.
That many ppl have been prepared to suffer, and even die, for humanity, for justice, for universal love, makes it clear to me that this hunger for meaning, for God, is not merely hunger for personal power.
Even in animals, the survival of the collective is often a more motivating force for some animals than survival of the individual. I was introduced to this concept on Hilath's blog, and, I am still exploring it. Monkeys had killed themselves to save other monkeys, for example.
There is a sense of the greater self, (the collective) which is more real, more powerful, which we need more, than our individual selves, but we need to give ALL of our individual selves to realize it.
I am still exploring this idea, but for me, it speaks of some powerful mysteries, mysteries I do not understand yet. These are the mysteries of eternity. I may never understand these mysteries, yet, being moved to self sacrificial love by these, is the most fulfilling thing I have known.