Anarchy is not the right answer,

A Humble Letter from Indonesia

By Mardiyah Chamim

Agony fulfilling the oxygen we breathe these days. We can easily find stormy anger crowd in every corner of the world, which triggered by Denmark’s paper, Jylland-Posten, cartoons.

Kind of mixed feeling inside me. I felt hurt watching those 12 cartoons spreading around the world and began to understand why those angry Muslim broke in tears defending their beloved prophet. At the same time, I also feel ashamed. How could Muslim defend their idol by doing anarchies? Is burning the flags can really help? Are throwing stones into Denmark’s embassy can truly solve the problem? Instead of repairing situation, those kinds activities would jeopardized Muslim image even more.

            As a Muslim myself, I do feel offended by those pictures. The most offensive cartoon, picturing Muhammad with angry big eyes, thick moustaches and bomb in his turban, truly made me shocked. My dear love, Prophet Muhammad, who taught us to be full of compassion, who shared his last meals with poor starving people, has been treated so cruel.

To be completely honest, I am not that religious, if you are wondering, but I do feel the same feeling of millions Muslim who’s being offended by those silly cartoons.

            I perfectly realize those keywords, freedom of expression and democracy, that used by western society as a main answers regarding Muslim protests. Even not as a perfect examples, I am proudly stated that my country also practising freedom of expression and  democracy. We elected our President directly for example. I myself, work as journalist in the most prestigious magazine in Indonesia, Tempo Weekly Magazine, who often criticizes government. We are not afraid of freedom of speech even when Soeharto, Indonesia’s dictator, banned Tempo Magazine for many years, 1994-1998.   

            But, in every way, freedom has its own limit. Freedom of speech is wonderful thing as far as not attacking other’s people right and freedom. That limitation manifest in law and order that make our society work in balance. My country, I have to admit, is not as organized as European countries. So many invalid order happening everyday that creating organized chaotic, from transportation, education and social life. Come and visit Jakarta, my friends, and you will know what I mean. As a developed European country, Denmark has more valuable experience practising and exercising law and order for many centuries. We expect that Danish as wise nation that respect other people cultures and principles.

            Those points made me difficult to understand what is going on cartoon’s case. How come a mature civilized country like Denmark lost their sensitivity? Are they just playing fool to test people reaction? Are they planning dirty games to create worse image of Muslim?

            Let’s do a little virtual journey. British Prime Minister Tony Blair last year proposed a new law extending protections against blasphemy to all religions, not just Christianity. He did not succeed. At least, it’s significant that he tried and his action showing that this religion blasphemy case is not only Muslim exception.

As mentioned in The Guardian (February 6, 2006), in April 2003, Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler submitted a series of unsolicited cartoons dealing with the resurrection of Christ to Jyllands-Posten. Zieler received an email back from the paper’s Sunday editor, Jens Kaiser, which said: "I don’t think Jyllands-Posten’s readers will enjoy the drawings. As a matter of fact, I think that they will provoke an outcry. Therefore, I will not use them." As we can see, the double standard clearly has been using here.

            

Then let’s move to Greece. Last year, Athens court convicted an Austrian illustrator Gerad Harderer of blasphemy and gave him six months of suspended sentence –in absentia—for creating funny cartoons in his book The Life of Jesus. Through his drawing, Harderer featuring an often-inebriated Jesus whose miracles happen because of luck rather than by divine intervention (CBC Art & Entertainment, March 23, 2005).

            

We are still having journey in entertainment stages. Great movies, The Last Temptation (Steven Spielberg), The Passion of The Christ (Mel Gibson) and Da Vinci Code (Ron Howard), also drove strong reaction from Christian for offering provocative assumption of Jesus having Maria Magdalena as his wife.

            

It is clear that Christian themselves does not like Jesus to be subject of jokes. Very true that Christian reaction regarding joke has never been as bad as Muslim reaction when Muhammad became the subject. Those are few factors that make Muslim reaction is distinctive that Christian.

            

First, picturing Muhammad is not totally taboo in Muslim world, though is not mainstream as well. We can find presentations of the prophet in the Muslim history, from Medieval and Renaissance into modern ages. Some of the pictures even can be seen in museums, including Museum Topkapi, Istanbul, Turk. Several books that published in France within last 20 years also presented Muhammad in their covers. So we can learn that the main issue is not the presentation of the prophet but the association of the prophet with terrorism. If the prophet were shown doing good deeds nothing would have happened.

              Second, I totally agree with Olivier Roy, French author of "Globalized Islam" and "La Laicite Face a L’Islam" ("Secularism in the Face of Islam"), in an interviewed with Asian Wall Street Journal (February 8, 2006). The cartoons incident has been spreading messages of discrimination.

Wrongly or rightly, Roy said, the idea is that the European newspapers could make fun of Muslims but they will not dare to make fun of Jews or Christians, at least as far as the respectable newspapers are concerned. “To me, for the Muslims in the streets in Europe — I am not speaking of the Middle East — it has been experienced as discrimination more than blasphemy,” Olivier Roy said. Mixed with politically air that heating in Iran, Syria and Lebanon, those stormy angry became even worse.

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Everything has good side, I believe. This case is not exception. Colleagues of mine who live in Europe’s told me that talk show that discussing Muslim and Christianity become daily menu on television these days. The dialog that we should do for long time ago with sincere intention.

Denmark government and Jylland-Posten apology also very important steps to repair situation. Though it is little bit utopias if we hope the artist who drew cartoons and the editor of Jylland-Posten would go on fair trial court –like Gerard Harderer had in Athens.

At the same time, Muslim society in the world should realize that prophet cartoons incident has very important messages. We have huge homework to improve our image that been deteriorating significantly after 9/11 tragedy. That image building would not work if we choose anarchy.

* Mardiyah Chamim, journalist with Tempo Magazine, muslim, live in Indonesia

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 12th, 2006 at 5:25 am and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.