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Muslims call for level playing field
-08/02/06
In what may be a challenge to conservative Christian groups who have often resisted additional protections for the Muslim faith, Muslim scholars who gathered for an emergency meeting have called for changes in the law to stop images of the Prophet Muhammad being published.
Members of the Muslim Action Committee (MAC) who met in Birmingham called for changes to the Race Relations Act and the Press Complaints Commission code.
They are to stage a protest march in London on 18 February, expected to attract 20,000 to 50,000 people.
The MAC met to form a response to the publication of cartoons of Mohammad.
Shaikh Faiz Saddiqi, who chaired the meeting, said Wednesday’s gathering of about 300 Islamic religious leaders was the largest meeting of its kind he knew of in his 25 years of living in the UK.
He said the MAC was meeting to bring cohesion to the debate among Muslims about how to respond to the publication of the cartoons in a Danish newspaper and their subsequent repetition in other countries.
The discussions among the religious leaders, who had travelled to an Islamic centre in Small Heath from across the UK, lasted for two hours.
Mr Saddiqi said they had concluded they wanted the Race Relations Act modified to give Muslims the same protection as some other faiths such as Sikhs or Jews.
Christian denominations such as the Methodists and other Christian campaigners who want equal treatment for all religions have previously called for Islam to enjoy similar protections to others.
In the wake of the controversy following the publication of images of the Prophet Muhammad, commentators have pointed out that Christians and some other faith groups have unfair privileges under UK law.
The Christian faith is the only faith to be protected by a blasphemy law, but conservative Christians have consistently resisted both the law’s repeal or its extension to other religions. They also opposed the government’s Racial and Religious Hatred Bill which would have given added protections to Muslims.
Mr Saddiqi said the Press Complaints Commission code of conduct should now be tightened to prevent publishing of any images of Muhammad, but added the clerics accepted criticism and discussion of Islam should be allowed.
He said the code was a voluntary code to ensure the media treated people with respect and called for that respect to be shown to Muslims, whose religion forbids any pictorial depiction of Muhammad.
Mr Saddiqi said: “That act in itself is deeply offensive, it’s akin to someone standing up in your face and abusing your mum, your sister, your dad, and it’s akin to a deliberate act of provocation.”
He said Muslims could accept a one-off publication of such an image as a misjudgement and said this was why it took several months for anger at the cartoons, first published in October, to gain momentum.
But he said other media organisations continuing to show the cartoons knew they were causing offence.
He said: “It happens once, it happens twice but a third time you are going to take action.
“Enough is enough, we have to get back to being a civil society.
“What kicks can you get out of seeing this caricature, except to insult the Prophet of Islam?”
He praised the UK media for not publishing the cartoons.
Related Searches(UK visitors only)
Muslim photographs
Muslim Action Committee
Islam
Racial and Religious Hatred
Blasphemy Law
Muslims call for level playing field
-08/02/06
In what may be a challenge to conservative Christian groups who have often resisted additional protections for the Muslim faith, Muslim scholars who gathered for an emergency meeting have called for changes in the law to stop images of the Prophet Muhammad being published.
Members of the Muslim Action Committee (MAC) who met in Birmingham called for changes to the Race Relations Act and the Press Complaints Commission code.
They are to stage a protest march in London on 18 February, expected to attract 20,000 to 50,000 people.
The MAC met to form a response to the publication of cartoons of Mohammad.
Shaikh Faiz Saddiqi, who chaired the meeting, said Wednesday’s gathering of about 300 Islamic religious leaders was the largest meeting of its kind he knew of in his 25 years of living in the UK.
He said the MAC was meeting to bring cohesion to the debate among Muslims about how to respond to the publication of the cartoons in a Danish newspaper and their subsequent repetition in other countries.
The discussions among the religious leaders, who had travelled to an Islamic centre in Small Heath from across the UK, lasted for two hours.
Mr Saddiqi said they had concluded they wanted the Race Relations Act modified to give Muslims the same protection as some other faiths such as Sikhs or Jews.
Christian denominations such as the Methodists and other Christian campaigners who want equal treatment for all religions have previously called for Islam to enjoy similar protections to others.
In the wake of the controversy following the publication of images of the Prophet Muhammad, commentators have pointed out that Christians and some other faith groups have unfair privileges under UK law.
The Christian faith is the only faith to be protected by a blasphemy law, but conservative Christians have consistently resisted both the law’s repeal or its extension to other religions. They also opposed the government’s Racial and Religious Hatred Bill which would have given added protections to Muslims.
Mr Saddiqi said the Press Complaints Commission code of conduct should now be tightened to prevent publishing of any images of Muhammad, but added the clerics accepted criticism and discussion of Islam should be allowed.
He said the code was a voluntary code to ensure the media treated people with respect and called for that respect to be shown to Muslims, whose religion forbids any pictorial depiction of Muhammad.
Mr Saddiqi said: “That act in itself is deeply offensive, it’s akin to someone standing up in your face and abusing your mum, your sister, your dad, and it’s akin to a deliberate act of provocation.”
He said Muslims could accept a one-off publication of such an image as a misjudgement and said this was why it took several months for anger at the cartoons, first published in October, to gain momentum.
But he said other media organisations continuing to show the cartoons knew they were causing offence.
He said: “It happens once, it happens twice but a third time you are going to take action.
“Enough is enough, we have to get back to being a civil society.
“What kicks can you get out of seeing this caricature, except to insult the Prophet of Islam?”
He praised the UK media for not publishing the cartoons.