We recently saw how certain Western nations — first Denmark, then Sweden — have gone from being bastions of free speech and expression to banning any “hate” speech or expression against Islam (for example, burning the Koran).
At one point, I wrote, “rather than ban the burning of the Koran, it seems that Scandinavia might have served itself better had it banned the Koran altogether.”
Such an assertion is not as whimsical as it might seem. In fact, if the West followed its very own laws, that would be the inevitable outcome: the Koran would have to be banned for overflowing with hate speech against the “other.”
The UN Defines Hate Speech
Consider how the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech defines the term:
Any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor.
That is precisely what the Koran does: Islam’s holy book repeatedly “attacks” — including by using “pejorative and discriminatory language” — people “based on their religion.”
Consider just these passages about Christianity:
- “[T]he Christians say the Christ is the son of God … may Allah’s curse be upon them!” (Koran 9:30)
- “Infidels are they who say God is one of three” (a reference to the Christian Trinity; Koran 5:73)
- “Infidels are they who say God is the Christ, [Jesus] son of Mary” (Koran 5:72)
It is impossible to understand how much animosity for Christians is being expressed in these verses without first understanding the Arabic word kafir (often translated as “infidel” or merely “non-Muslim”). The Koran refers to kuffar (plural form of kafir) as inherently “guilty” and “unjust” (10:17, 45:31, 68:35); terror is to be cast into their hearts (3:151); they are the “vilest of beasts” (8:55, 98:6), comparable to “cattle” and “devoid of understanding” (47:12, 8:65); they are natural “enemies” to Muslims (4:101), “disliked” and “accursed” by Allah (2:89, 3:32, 33:64), who further declares himself their implacable “enemy” (2:98).
This is how the Koran describes all who believe Jesus is the Son of God, even if they have never once spoken against or harmed Islam. This also is why Islam commands Muslims to hate every non-Muslim — even if they are related or married to them.
A Double Standard
Now imagine if a core Christian text — or just a cartoon editorial — declared: “Infidels [kuffar] are they who say Muhammad is the prophet of God — may God’s curse be upon them.”
If Muslims considered that to be hate speech — and they would, with all the attendant rioting, violence, murders, etc. — then by the same standard, it must be admitted that the Koran contains hate speech against Christians and Christianity.
Christians are, of course, not the only peoples specifically named and targeted with hate speech in the Koran; so are the Jews. According to the Koran, Jews are accursed (4:47), perverse (9:30), and eager to accept and pass on lies (5:41); they are obstinate, rebellious, and blasphemous, and Allah has cursed them with enmity and hatred for spreading mischief (5:64). As punishment, Allah literally transformed some of them into apes (2:65).
Incidentally, we haven’t even begun to look at the many verses that are not just hate-filled but actually call for violence and killing people on the basis of their religion. Koran 9:5 calls on Muslims to “kill the polytheists wherever you find them — capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them on every way.” (Is it any wonder that Muslims have slaughtered some 400 million Hindus?)
Koran 9:29 calls for nonstop war against Christians and Jews (collectively known as the “people of the book”) until they convert or pay tribute (jizya) and accept living as second-class, regularly humiliated and oppressed subjects of the Islamic state.
The Grand Irony
The grandest irony of all is that the “hate” Muslims claim to experience — and to which they respond with great violence and bloodshed around the world — revolves around silly things like cartoons or the burning of a book, which are performed by individuals who represent only themselves. On the other hand, Islam itself, through its holiest and most authoritative book, hates on and calls for violence against all non-Muslims.
It is this issue, Islam’s perceived “divine” right, not only to hate on but violently attack and kill others, that the international community and UN should be addressing. Instead, they are outlawing the desecration of the very book that canonizes such hate and violence — leaving us to cry with the prophet: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness!”
Raymond Ibrahim
Photo: raymondibrahim.com
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