A few posts back I commented on a report of Author Sebastian Faulkes and  the “elephant in the room” that he was brave enough to point out after reading the Koran in order to research a new character for one of his books (click here to read the original post). Faulkes gave a very forthright and honest opinion saying:

“It’s a depressing book. It really is. It’s just the rantings of a schizophrenic. It’s very one-dimensional…With the Koran there are no stories. And it has no ethical dimension like the New Testament, no new plan for life. It says ‘the Jews and the Christians were along the right tracks, but actually, they were wrong and I’m right, and if you don’t believe me, tough — you’ll burn for ever’.”

Today we learn that a respected Muslim has issued what could be called a veiled warning and after all, how could anyone be surprised. Ajmal Masroor, an imam and spokesman for the Islamic Society of Britain said Faulks’ statements ran the risk of stirring religious hatred against Muslims. He said:

“Attacks on Islam are nothing new, but the danger is this will have a ‘drip, drip’ effect… People don’t seem to understand the consequences of saying things like this could be quite severe. History tells us it can encourage hatred.”

Firstly, both what Mr. Masroor says and the fact that he was asked for his opinion and quoted in the first place is pathetic. There are plenty of smarter and younger Muslims to ask who have a better understanding of what it is to live peacefully in the West. Why wasn’t Maajid Nawaz or anyone else at the Quilliam Foundation asked for their opinion? Why were none of the members of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain asked. Are cultural Muslims who happen to have left the actual faith of Islam unworthy of an opinion?

Sebastian Faulkes is an author who has the right, just like we all do, to give an honest opinion about a literary piece of work. To accuse him of “stirring religious hatred” simply because he gave his opinion is unfair.

Secondly, Ajmal Masroor is being foolish when he says that “people don’t understand the consequences” because the consequences are plainly there for all to see. We do understand is that any criticism of Islam or the Koran is liable to be met with violent thoughts, words and deeds. This is not our problem. It is an Islamic problem and therefore it is up to Islam to get its own house in order.

We have learned from history that what “encourages hatred” more than anything else is a dogmatic adherence to a hateful belief system. Islam hates freethinkers, atheists and homosexuals. It is a racist ideology that oppresses women and essentially looks down on all those who who disagree with its doctrine. Branches of it quite openly advocate killing these people who it sees as “enemies”.

We are very “respectful” of Islam already and most of the time we, who hold western values, keep our mouths shut even when criticism is warranted. Sebastian Faulkes is a mild-mannered and humble author who has had the temerity to criticise Islam. His view is based on his own values and Ajmal Masroor’s attempt to redefine his values as prejudices must not be allowed to succeed. When Mr. Masroor says that Foulkes’ words “encourage hatred” he is wrong. It is Mr. Masroor who is doing all the encouraging and the hatred is coming from within Islam rather than being directed towards it.

“Words are being used quite shamelessly to try and engineer an artificial sense of guilt in western society, to redefine our values as prejudices and to silence legitimate opinion and the free exchange of ideas that have made us what we are and that have given us our strength and that’s why this is damaging our society in a fundamental way and it has got to stop.”

“All over the western world we’ve become so intimidated into watching every word and thought in case it might offend somebody’s precious faith. It’s as if the free world has forgotten to inhale. What happened to our birthright? We need to take a deep breath. We need to get the oxygen of freedom flowing through our veins again and through our brains again and get things back in perspective.” (Pat Condell)

Nice try Ajmal, and who could blame you for trying? You are simply using the same tactics that most of Islam has used against its perceived “enemies” for countless generations; fear and intimidation. It just won’t wash. Even the apologist “new liberal left” is starting to realise the folly of giving in to people like you for the sake of appeasement. Our culture is founded upon freedom rather than submission and we will stand up to any twisted values that are based on blind faith alone. We will attempt to do this with the pen rather than the sword because reason is the most powerful weapon of all and however many senseless killings there are we have empirical evidence that the path of violence and fanaticism ultimately leads to failure.

Issuing warnings, threats and fatwas against authors for airing their opinions, amongst a majority who expect that of them, is a misguided way to deal with what is essentially in internal Islamic problem. The West has come a long way towards attempting to accommodate Islam. We are inclusive by nature. We are ready to accept people for what they are but we are not ready to compromise our hard-won freedom to do that.

See:
“Is it really “courting controversy” to say that there is an elephant in the room?” (TEWNC 24.08.09)
“Sebastian Faulks: Koran has ‘no ethics’” (The Times 23.08.09)
“Author Sebastian Faulks risks Muslim fury by describing the Koran as the ‘depressing rantings of a schizophrenic’” (Mail Online 24.08.09)
The Quilliam Foundation
“Apologists for Evil” (by Pat Condell – Video & Transcript)
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain