What India’s ruling political party BJP’s spokesperson Nupur Sharma lacked was foresight, when the BJP representative egged on by an infamous Islamophobic TV presenter obscenely, made insulting comments on Prime Time TV on the last and final Prophet of the world’s two billion Muslim believers. Following the abhorrent broadcast of the insult made to the Prophet Muhammad, in a ‘Karmic’ series of events, Muslims across the world have expressed their anger and outrage against the current BJP administration.
While the BJP’s politics of hate has thrived in the country with support from the majority population, this time around the right-wing political party has committed an international disaster by offending the religious sentiments of the Muslims worldwide.
Although the current regime has been successful in keeping its minority Muslim population under constant check whether by bulldozing their homes, mass incarcerations, imposing religious restrictions, or even sanctioning aparthiedic exclusion of Muslim women from places of education, on a global scale this particular instance of hate-speech has proven to be a mammoth hit to the country’s diplomatic relations with Muslim countries.
Unlike India’s disparity in power dynamics that often holds the minority Indian Muslim population in a place of political, social, and economic disadvantage, the right-wing government holds little to no power on the global scale against the coalition of Muslim nations that have otherwise had trade and international relations with India. In realizing the extent of the damage brought by the BJP spokesperson’s blasphemous statement against the revered Holy Prophet of the Muslims, the BJP has suspended Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal from the party’s primary membership.
The Islamophobic disposition of the Indian Media has encouraged Hindutva supremacists to spout unfettered anti-Muslim hate speech on TV. From militant monks and sadhvis to anti-Muslim politicians, the pro-Hindutva brigade has been enjoying absolute impunity to spread violent hate speech against India’s Muslim population.
However, this time around, the Hindutva brigade has been caught off-guard with the global outrage at their otherwise ignored hate speech. In reviling the Holy Prophet, the Hindutva elements have invited the ire of the powerful Arab nations.
After receiving summons from Qatar’s Department of Foreign Affairs, the Government of India has responded to the concerns put forth by Qatar and distanced itself from the BJP and its representatives referring to them as a ‘fringe element’ in its press release.
Including the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Libya, and Indonesia, 15 countries have registered their official protest against India concerning the defamatory, abusive comments made against the Holy Prophet.
Condemning the statements of the BJP spokesperson, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (IOC) has urged the UN to take appropriate measures to ensure the rights of minorities are protected in India.
Apart from diplomatic action against the ruling administration, supermarkets in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain have also removed Indian products from their shelves, while country-wise social media trends across the Arab world called for a boycott of Indian products in protest against the targeting of the Prophet.
Muslims worldwide respect, revere, and love the last and final Prophet of Islam in an act of faith. While his name is mentioned in all five calls to prayers in Mosques around the world, Muslims themselves testify to the faith of Islam by complete acceptance of the testimony of faith, the shahadah which states, ‘ashadualla ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna muhammadarrasulullah’ that translates to “I bear witness that there is no deity (none truly to be worshipped) but, Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”.
In a faith that holds such a strong tradition of love and reverence for the Prophet, any utterances against him are bound to hurt the sentiments of Muslims. Even as Indian Muslim bodies have been subjected to the worst form of oppression and tyranny, the hearts of the Indian Muslim believer is far more hurt by the inequities uttered against the Holy Prophet. For Indian Muslims and Muslims worldwide, insult and abuse of the Prophet are paramount to insult to the Islamic faith.
The world at large has a problem with hate speech disguised as free speech. It is of utmost importance for nations across the globe to define the limits of free speech. In the name of free speech, communities, tribes, and races across the world have been unjustly targeted with the most offensive of languages. In a civilized world, it is important to appeal to the sensibilities of the people in the interest of mutual camaraderie and coexistence.
When we address the historical accuracy of the outrageous claims made by the Islamophobic entities, especially concerning the Prophet, we have to acknowledge the virtues of civil discourse. Discourses on history and religion are subjects that require objectivity at the outset. When ill-informed people are allowed to spread false knowledge, there is a risk of ‘presentism’ blurring the lines of historical relevance. Presentism is the practice of judging historical figures by the moral and ethical standards of the present day.
The American Historical Association rightly calls out “the tendency to interpret the past in presentist terms.” It argues that “presentism encourages a kind of moral complacency and self-congratulation. Interpreting the past in terms of present concerns usually leads us to find ourselves morally superior.” In imposing the current social norms on times bygone, jarring errors are made in understanding history.
The historical personality of Prophet Muhammad cannot be perceived in tandem with the current day definitions of acceptable social norms. Learning and understanding the life of this great personality from the pages of history requires the onlooker, reader, and student of history to do so with an open mind in the context of 7th century Arabia.
Nevertheless, the impeccable moral character of the Prophet of Islam is an area that requires no further study. The two billion and ever-growing global Muslim population testify to his immaculate personality and humble disposition. All bad-faith arguments and insults against such a loved, revered figure are a direct attack on the sensibilities of Muslims worldwide. Insulting the Holy Prophet is a Muslim’s unwavering redline.
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