We all remember the fallout from those offensive cartoons of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) in Denmark some years ago. Many people died as a result of this expression of press freedom and the ensuing riots against it in different parts of the world. The image of Islam and Muslims as violent and uncompromising was fixed firmly once and for all in the minds of people in the West who knew nothing of Islam's real message and who depended for their knowledge of Islam on TV and newspaper reports. On the day those cartoons first appeared, there were two contrasting news stories that evening on Egyptian TV. The first item, which led that evening's news broadcast, was a statement from the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar condemning the cartoons and declaring the image they portrayed of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) as totally wrong. Sheikh Tantawi declared that day that Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was not a man of violence, nor a supporter of terrorism or extremism. He declared him, instead, to have been a man of peace, the greatest man to have lived. As a result of this, he went on, Muslims are men and women of peace, since Islam itself is a religion of peace. Anyone who thought otherwise, he declared, had not understood Islam at all. That was the first item of news. The second item couldn't have been in greater contrast to the words the Grand Imam had used. It showed an angry mob in one of the Muslim majority countries throwing stones and burning flags and denouncing countries in the West for defaming the Prophet of Islam (PBUH). With clenched fists and raised voices the mob called for revenge on those who had defamed the Prophet (PBUH). “We will sacrifice our lives for you, O Prophet," they chanted. In the weeks and months following the cartoon episode there appeared in Cairo many manifestations of people wanting to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives for the Prophet (PBUH). T-shirts and stickers on the back windows of many microbuses declared as much. There is a very wide gap, though, between words and actions. Words are very cheap, aren't they? Devoting one's whole life to live as a good Muslim, on the other hand, and to defend the honour of Islam by a life of upright behaviour is more difficult. Anyone can throw a stone. Not everyone can live up to the high ideal set us by Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). The events we have witnessed this week in Libya and Egypt have highlighted once more this gap between words and behaviour. It is a sad fact of modern life that a few individuals with a cheap camcorder can insult one and a half billion Muslims throughout the world. And let us be quite clear. The insult is real and deeply felt. It is not acceptable that people be allowed to defame the deeply held beliefs of others. Just imagine the uproar we would have heard in Washington if Judaism or Israel had been insulted. Islam may be a religion of peace, but Muslims are not to be taken for fools, nor expected to stand idly by when their faith is belittled. How to respond to such insults, though, and how to direct our anger at the right people is much more difficult. Life is like that. It is frustrating when you can't get at the one responsible. Just as George W. Bush looked for a tangible enemy in his War on Terror, finding who to direct one's anger at when Islam is insulted is not so easy. One thing is for sure: the American Ambassador to Libya was not to blame. The death of Christopher Stevens, US Ambassador to Libya, and his colleagues is a tragedy and our thoughts and prayers must go out to their families, as they do to all people who die as the result of mindless violence. Islam is not governed by mobs of youths, nor is the real Islam portrayed by crowds scaling embassy walls and burning flags. There are authentic voices who speak in the name of Islam and Muslims. Al-Azhar is one of them. It is for the likes of Al-Azhar to lead the way in channelling the anger of Muslims over such insults. This doesn't happen overnight, but comes through months and years of sound teaching and good example. After decades of being quiet, Al-Azhar needs to earn once more the respect of Muslims in the street looking for direction. By insulting Islam, these unrepresentative groups of men and women from the West have managed to do it again. They have managed to provoke a response where the only losers are the ones responding. They can sit back comfortably with their camcorders and watch the chaos they have caused, laughing at the way Muslims are being seen across the world, confirming the violent stereotypes they have tried to put into people's minds. The surest way of silencing such bigots who offend Islam is not to give them the publicity they crave. The response across the Muslim world has made their short film the talk of the moment. There is, though, another way. There are many Muslims who believe passionately that the only way forward in an imperfect world is through dialogue and good example. Instead of dying for the Prophet (PBUH), they believe that, instead, we should live for him by leading exemplary lives and showing by those lives that Islam is beautiful, gentle and sweet. This does not mean sitting back and allowing Islam to be insulted, but the response does not include burning flags. Islam is strong, but the strength which comes from Islam is a strength within. For better or worse, the world's eyes are once again this week on Islam and Muslims. Instead of playing into the hands of fools and allowing ourselves to be made fools of, we should seize the opportunity this attention has given us and tell the world what Islam and its final Prophet (PBUH) are really like. Muslims believe that Islam speaks to the hearts of all men and women, since it is the natural religion of mankind. There are many people in the world, of all faiths and of none, who are open to hear, but they will only hear if we have the imagination and the courage to stand up and reveal to them what Islam is really like. Burning flags is not at the heart of what Islam has to say. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University. The author of eight books about Islam, he divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com. and join him on Facebook at Idris Tawfiq Page.
