well first of all, i m sorry that i ve not gone thru all the valuable stuff given above
i wanna share only one thing that while condemning salman rushdie ( curse upon him), we should also look into our own attitudes. on one hand, we muslims rightly condemn rushdie, but on the other hand, we practically ridicule, consciously or unconsciously, many orders of PROPHET(PBUH).
dear fellows, my request is that we should prove not only theoratically but also PRACTICALLY that we love our HOLY PROPHET(PBUH).
let us promise to leave all the bad practices in which we r indulged.
KEE MUHAMMAD(PBUH) SE WAFA TOO NE TO HUM TERE HAIN
YEH JAHAN CHEEZ HAI KIA LOH-O- QALM TERE HAIN

well, according to west,literature or art should not have boundaries and anything blasphemous in literature or art is ignored by saying that ...oh, it is merely piece of art or literature....
This freedom enjoyed by writers has created trouble......i remember the time when in ma, i read 'john donne' divine poems.I was really surprised that one or two poems were blasphemous but west didnot had any concern ...
' james joyes ' has made fun of christian beliefs in his novels.
And in the last few decades the freedom enjoyed by the western writers is obvious from their output..
same is the case with art where according to west artists can,t b restricted.
and they should portray anything freely........
In movies west freely discusses religious subjects and makes movies on religious personalities....
since they are no more concerned with their religion, they donot care about blasphemy.....i remember one of american intellectual who was angry and much surprised why muslims are protesting against the sketches...and according to him something should b done for eliminating religion from the minds of muslims.
but, we , muslims knows the sin and punishment for blasphemy....
literature or art surely should have limitations.......
people like sulman rushdie can,t escape by saying that literature should have no boundaries and in the field of literature,every thing could b a subject of literature..
there is surely no need of making sacred personalities or sacred books a subject of literature....
The writers who write such thing, first of all, they donot have strong roots of love with their religion .secondly, they try to gain cheap fame without much thinking about the consequences.Because they know such topics will atttract the attention of the people.Especially if the topics are related to Islam because they know that muslims still have strong roots of religion in their heart...
problem is not that why muslims feel agitation and starts protesting against sketches or blasphemous books... problem is that the west has least concern with the religion .
whether england bestows knighthood to such devil as sulman rushdie ,we muslims knows what is the punishment for blasphemy and what,s going to be his punishment.....
Anything like that can,t lessen the respect ,honour and glory of our beloved prophet MUHAMMED (PBUH) .

@ Fouzia

Well said.
You have summed up the whole discussion in simply one short post.
JazakAllah

__________________
The Demand Of Faith Is To Bow Down After Hearing The Command. Faith Cannot Co-Exist With Ifs And Buts.

ENGLISH media gave an impression that this " nasty knighthood" was the just and timely reply to iran, for she had captured britian's naval officers few months back.....
according to ECONOMIST pak minister of religious affairs, reacted harshly but later took his words back when british council " asked him to do so"
what is the reality?
britian thinks she has returned the stone back to IRAN
why only iran to retaliate officially on such irreverent acts
WHY NOT SAUDIA, QATAR, UAE, OMAN, EGYPT,PAKISTAN...... N OTHER NAPPING MUSLIM COUNTRIES
we all are slaves of our interests.......

huriya

answer this

y we get angry when some one using fredom of expression makes comments on our prophet which we cant tolerate, but we dont feel sorrow in our bossom when we dont follow dogmas of islam and dont walk on the path idicated by muhammad pbuh.
had we had the dogmas of islam in our life people like rushdie would have never dared to do so as they have done uptill now. we must not go against people inlvolved in cases of blesphamy rather we should ameliorate our self and boost the spirit of IMAN , inshallah no rushdie will breath on this earth for the next time.

__________________
our struggles will not end but ,certainly,life.

junaid, it is easier to protest against blasphemy; easier still to throw stones at people's glasses who do not have anything to do with it but it is very hard to follow islam in its true essence.
we usually lean towards the easier part.

"log asan samajhtay hai mussalman hona"

__________________
Mahmood Khattak
Pakistan Customs Service
36th CTP

@ brother dr.junaid & mahmood

1. The discussion here is about the punishment of Blashmepy. And being Muslims, we are 100% clear about it. (I request you to go through all previous posts in this regard by forum members).

2. Follow dogmas of islam and walking on the path idicated by prophet muhammad (pbuh) is never QUESTIONABLE. We all know the importance of that. Alhumdulillah still there are lot of people following it like anything. Not everyone is corrupt. Do think about others but start improving your ownself.

3. I couldnot find any relation between "Following dogmas of islam and walking on the path idicated by prophet muhammad (pbuh) and boosting the spirit of IMAN " & "end of existence of rushdie like persons" ????? What is the point? How can you co-relate these two statements? Isn't it illogical?

4. Regarding your statement "we must not go against people inlvolved in cases of blesphamy....." i really feel sad.
Let us ask ourselves one question. What if someone come and starts abusing our Mothers? What will be our reaction? This reaction will be natural and is the demand of our love with our mother.

Similarly, Love for the Prophet Muhammad is a measure of one's iman (faith and inner conviction) and our iman is completed and perfected only when our love for the Prophet exceeds our love for everything else in this world, including our own lives.
The Holy Qur'an says:
"The Prophet is closer to the believers than their selves..."
(Al-Ahzab 33:6)

This is a definitional sentence which tells us what it takes to be a believer: preferring the Prophet even to one's own life. In confirmation of this the Prophet is reported in Hadith to have said:

"None of you becomes a believer until I am dearer to him than his children, his parents and all mankind."
(as reported by Bukhari and Muslim)
NOTE: Some versions add: "his life, his wealth and his family".

Decide yourself.

5. @ mahmood
U said:
it is easier to protest against blasphemy; easier still to throw stones at people's glasses who do not have anything to do with it but it is very hard to follow islam in its true essence.
we usually lean towards the easier part.

No one is questioning about following Islam.

I swear by the time,
Most surely man is in loss,
Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience.
(Quran: Al-Asr)

So,
1. Belief
2. Good Deeds
3. Enjoining truth
4. and enjoining patience

All of 4 conditions are necessary to be fulfilled. It's not only following islam as mentioned by you.

__________________
The Demand Of Faith Is To Bow Down After Hearing The Command. Faith Cannot Co-Exist With Ifs And Buts.

What is our response to Rushdie's passage? Chances are the reader's reaction will be divided or, at least, confused.In a search for words to define this clash we might well come up with the word "grotesque." Notice, also, how Rushdie leads us into the shocking scene almost completely unprepared for what is about to take place.Rushdie utilizes what we may term the "fantastic" grotesque. His powerful images border on the macabre; he relies largely upon frightful monsters to express an emotionally charged demonic world. Other writers utilize the grotesque in more subtle yet not necessarily less effective ways. Often coined the "satiric" grotesque, these writers reach the grotesque by way of satiric, caricatural, and cynical distortions. Unlike pure satire, however, which aims to separate laughter and anger in our reaction to a scene and unlike caricature, which distorts to produce a ridiculous or amusing reaction, the grotesque aims to produce a confusing tragicomic reaction to one particular scene.

Dear All,
There are bad and good people in all the places..in the following short essay west does not mean each and everyone.
Our behaviour is strange we dont let the people practice their freedom (a complete free world?) in the west...etc.
Is insulting some one is called freedom?..Is bulling and passing humaliating remarks about others is freedom of speech?
Should there be terms like self respect and self defence?
What west and so called modern people expect from these illiterate, ignorent Muslim people? What should be level of tolerance? Can every one behave similarly to diffrent stresses? Can any one of you guys guide these illitrate people..What they should do?...study? leave it? its not my problem?how should we behave? Is there any thing that provokes westren world as well? Should we do that?
I am pasting some stuff that my fellow in AbuDabi has written for Gulf news..but it is not publised..it might increase the gap between different religion that we are trying to narrow for our own interest. Who has advised Iqbal (writer)...Bin Laden, Mula Ummer? Is he also an agent of US? should I not read his essay?
We want peace...we all (Muslims, christians Jews..and others) need to sit together...who is not sitting then.
------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------


Noble Peace Prize for Arial Sharon, Knight Hood for Selman Rushdie and in near future, I am afraid to foresee Bush & Blair contesting for “noble” prize to defeat Changez Khan and Hitler for killing highest number of innocent people around the globe for peace. Muslims have always been blamed for not creating religious harmony, peace and respect for other religions. Muslims might win the trust of UK & US by nominating Bin Laden, Saddam and Mullah Omer for their unforgettable contribution to support ailing economies (based on arms trade and oil) of US & UK. May Almighty save & bless us with peace and justice!
Regards

Fozia Ghani

well, yes, there are various forms in literature and there is a variety of subjects for the writers.so , if there is a writer who has a real talent and wants to get fame,he can show his talent in various other undisputed subjects........