British Parliamentarian, Naz Shah, on Monday takes up the issue of the sanctity of the Holy Prophet Muhammad in her impassioned speech in the Parliament. Shah said that people’s disrespect of Holy Prophet Muhammad through cartoons causes emotional stress to the global Muslim community.
In her speech, she posits the sensitivity of Britons to Winston Churchill and Oliver Cromwell to elaborate the emotional sensitivity and deep reverence of Muslims for the Holy Prophet. Adding that cartoons and caricatures of the Holy Prophet Muhammad produced in the European countries hurt the Muslims all around the world.
Member of Parliament from Labour Party talked about the punishments proscribed for vandalizing statues of figures and causing emotional harm. If approved, the law will introduce a 10-year jail term for anyone found guilty of vandalizing a statue.
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“This proposed legislation will put a maximum 10 years sentence in place for those people that damage or attack statues – asserting into British law a significantly higher penalty for attacking a statue,” she said.
Today the Government proposed a bill to protect the emotional harm connected with the damaging of statues.
If people can understand the emotional connections to statues, then they can understand the connection Muslims have with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ #NotJustACartoon. pic.twitter.com/WIKbQNkGhG
— Naz Shah (@NazShahBfd) July 5, 2021
“Which begs the question – why? Why will a person be given a much more significant penalty for attacking a stone or iron statue compared to if they were to damage a stone wall or an iron gate, especially because in their physical form they’re identical; neither are alive, can’t be injured or have their feelings hurt and are made of the same elements, yet for one there is much more significance? I simply ask, why,” said Naz Shah in her speech.
Prophet’s sanctity needs to be protected
She discussed the problems the Muslims in the UK and the rest of the world face when it comes to the disrespect of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
“As a Muslim, for me and millions of Muslims across this country and the quarter of the world’s population that is Muslim too, with each day and each breath, there is not a single thing in the world that we commemorate and honor more than our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),” she said.
Naz Shah implied that Muslims feel the same love for Holy Prophet Muhammad as Britons feel for their historic figures. She demanded similar protection and legislation for the protection of the sanctity and honor of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
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“When bigots and racists defame, slander, or abuse our Prophet (peace be upon him), just like some people do to the likes of Churchill, the emotional harm caused upon our hearts is unbearable. Because for 2 billion Muslims, he is the leader we commemorate in our hearts, honor in our lives and forms the basis of our identity and our very existence,” Shah asserted.
“To those who say it’s just a cartoon, I won’t say it’s only a statue because I understand the strength of the British feeling when it comes to our history, our culture, and our identity. It’s not just a cartoon and they’re not just statues. They represent, symbolize, and mean so much more to us as human beings,” Shah said.
She also quoted author and playwright George Bernard Shaw, who said of the Prophet Muhammad: “He was by far the most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He preached a religion, founded a state, laid down a moral code, initiated numerous social and political reforms, established a powerful and dynamic society to practice his teachings, and completely revolutionized the worlds of human thought and behavior for all times to come.”
PM Imran Khan tackles West on Islamophobia
Prime Minister Imran Khan also took a strong stand for the respect and honor of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. From his first speech at United Nations General Assembly to interviews with foreign media and his social media space, he is using every platform to tackle Islamophobia while protecting the honor of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
Ever since becoming the premier of Pakistan, he has assumed the responsibility to fight for the honor and respect of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
In April, he had demanded the West to apologize for hurting the sentiments of Muslims. The prime minister, in his statement, also criticized elements worldwide who he said indulge in Islamophobia and racist slurs “under the guise of freedom of speech” to hurt and cause pain to the 1.3 billion Muslims across the globe.
“We Muslims have the greatest love & respect for our Prophet PBUH who lives in our hearts. We cannot tolerate any such disrespect & abuse.”
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Demanding an apology from those who hurt Muslims’ sentiments, PM Imran said that those in the West, including extreme right-wing politicians, who deliberately indulge in abuse and hate under the guise of freedom of speech, “clearly lack moral sense and courage”.
“I also call on Western governments who have outlawed any negative comment on the Holocaust to use the same standards to penalize those deliberately spreading their message of hate against Muslims by abusing our Prophet PBUH,” he added.
Notably, Imran Khan also sought a ban on Islamophobic content on Facebook, similar to the ban Facebook has for content on the Holocaust.
In a letter to the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the Pakistani premier said that growing Islamophobia was “encouraging hate, extremism, and violence across the world, and especially through the use of social media platforms, including Facebook.”