RPK, a liar for Islam, or just incredibly ignorant?

A piece for all of your perusal, a rebuttal I have written in response to RPK's latest column. It's doubtful that anyone in Malaysia has the cojones to post this, but I'd like to be proven wrong.

by The Anti Jihadist

Today, here in fair Malaysia, it's the so-called 'Prophet's' birthday and hence a national holiday for everybody. Well, I certainly don't mind having a day off, so I cooked a nice tasty haram bacon breakfast, and now I'm going to write my first column in several weeks. What better way to celebrate the birth of that delusional, 7th century psychopathic 'prophet'?

My favourite Malaysian writer and provocateur Raja Petra ('RPK') has an annoying habit of writing pieces that apologise for Islam, the aggressive and intolerant ideology that somehow has won his allegiance.  His latest piece has a jaw-dropping title that is breathtaking in its audacity: Freedom of opinion and speech in Islam. And RPK's main idea here? Rather than paraphrasing, I shall quote from his piece thusly:

"The concept of freedom of opinion as applied by the Prophet is mentioned in various verses of the Quran revealed in both Mekah and Medina. The total freedom of opinion and speech is a principle that was guaranteed by Islam since the beginning of the revelation."

Wait an infidel moment…is he kidding?!? Islam guarantees freedom of speech? The idea is laughable, ridiculous and absurd, until one realises that RPK, that powerhouse writer, intellectual extraordinaire, is being absolutely serious. Hence, RPK's thesis deserves a careful and thorough debunking.

First of all, RPK fails to mention in his own article which verses of the Quran supposedly guarantee 'freedom of speech.' Perhaps we're supposed to just take his word for it, then? And what does RPK mean when he says 'freedom of speech', anyway? Does he mean that Islam or its founder can be criticised? It stands to reason that Mohammed, were he alive, would certainly disagree with RPK's notions; Mohammed had critics of his movement (the poet Ka'b bin Al-Ashraf, among others) assasinated on his personal orders, during his own lifetime [1]. In other words, Muslims have a word for 'freedom of speech' and 'criticism of Islam', and that word is blasphemy.

Mohammed's followers have diligently followed their prophet's example, killing untold numbers of people (Muslims and otherwise) over the years who dared to criticise Islam.  Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was stabbed to death in broad daylight on a street in Amsterdam in 2004 by a Muslim immigrant following the release of his film 'Submission' which was highly critical of Islam [2]. At the trial, Gogh's murderer Mohammed Bouyeri was unrepentant — and absolutely clear about why he murdered van Gogh. “I did what I did purely out my beliefs,” he explained, Quran in hand. “I want you to know that I acted out of conviction and not that I took his life because he was Dutch or because I was Moroccan and felt insulted….If I ever get free, I would do it again.” He was, he said, acting in accord with Islamic law: “What moved me to do what I did was purely my faith. I was motivated by the law that commands me to cut off the head of anyone who insults Allah and his prophet.” [3] Other well-known critics of Islam, like Geert Wilders and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, require round-the-clock protection and face nonstop efforts (litigation, death threats, etc) from Muslims and others to silence them.  

But this barbarous Islamic behaviour is not just a recent phenomena. Nor was van Gogh the first critic of Islam to be silenced.  Back in 1946, Islamic radicals of a group called Fadayan-e Islam murdered Iranian lawyer Ahmad Kasravi in court; Kasravi was there to defend himself against charges that he had attacked Islam [4]. Four years later, members of the same group assasinated Iranian prime minister Haji-Ali Razmara after a group of Muslim clerics issued a fatwa calling for his death. In 1992, Egyptian writer Faraj Foda was murdered by Muslims enraged at his 'apostasy' from Islam–a capital offence under traditional Islamic law. Foda's countryman, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Naguib Mahfouz, was stabbed in 1994 by more of RPK's co-religionists after being accused of blasphemy [5]. 

But Muslims are not content with the mere murder of individuals, however prominent they may be.  Criticism of Islam or of its prophet is against the law in virtually every country with a Muslim majority or with a Muslim-controlled government. To wit, in supposedly 'moderate' Malaysia, such activities are deemed as a "national security threat", punishable with fines and/or imprisonment, with or without trial or charge [6]. These blasphemy laws permit the arrest, detention and torture of suspects of either Muslims or non Muslims on the slimmest of evidence. In some of those countries, such as Sudan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, such criticism is a capital offense [7]. Curiously, these laws have never aroused the ire or disapproval of any Muslims or Muslim groups.  Rather, it is always the other way–Muslims continuously wish to shut down debate regarding Islam in their own nations and elsewhere, via censorship, blasphemy laws, lobbying, lawsuits, litigation and any other means at their disposal [8]. What kind of 'freedom' are Muslims peddling here?

Is it possible that all these Muslims, from every part of the world, over the course of decades (if not centuries) have all somehow 'misunderstood' the teachings of their prophet?  This is what RPK desperately wants everyone to believe. Or rather, have these Muslims faithfully carried out the core teachings of Mohammed? The traditional Muslim view, supported by centuries of Islamic jurisprudence and enunciated by Pakistan's Federal Sharia Court, is simply this: "The penalty for contempt of the Holy Prophet…is death and nothing else." [9]

Does this sound like anything remotely resembling 'total freedom'? RPK, what planet are you living on?

References

1. Website URL http://www.answering-islam.org/Muhammad/Enemies/kab.html. Accessed 9 March 2009

2. Robert Spencer, "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam"  Regnery Publishing, 2005, pg 214

3. Website URL http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4716909.stm. Accessed 9 March 2009

4. Website URL http://www.iranchamber.com/personalities/akasravi/ahmad_kasravi.php. Accessed 9 March 2009

5. Website URL http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=EF975B5C-FE43-4AD0-B748-C296AB891464.  Accessed 9 March 2009

6. Website URL http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=5707. Accessed 9 March 2009

7. Website URL http://www.trosch.org/bks/islm/blasphemy.html?_ptr.html. Accessed 9 March 2009