Assalam Alaikum,
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Danish editor expresses regret

Sunday 19 February 2006, 23:37 Makka Time, 20:37 GMT







Saudi newspapers have run full-page statements from the editor-in-chief of the Danish newspaper that first ran cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, expressing his "deep sorrow" and saying the paper had not intended to denigrate the prophet.


The statements, in Arabic, ran in advertisements in three of Saudi Arabia's main newspapers, Al-Jazeera, Al-Riyadh and Al-Youm, as well as the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat, which is distributed around the Arab world.
They were placed by the newspaper Jyllands-Posten in an effort to stem the wave of outrage in the Islamic world over the drawings.

The statement, which began with the traditional Islamic greeting, "Peace and God's mercy and blessings be upon you", was dated 5 February, and it was not clear why the newspapers had only published it 14 days later, on Sunday.

The newspaper said it was not involved in placing the advertisements but acknowledged the text of the apology was identical to what it had published on its website last month.


The following is the text:
"Allow me first of all to say that our newspaper values and believes in the freedom of religious conviction and supports democracy and respects every individual. We apologise for the great misunderstanding that occurred over the drawings that depicted the noble Prophet Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him) and that led to a growing feeling of animosity toward Denmark and the Danish, including the call for a boycott of Danish products. Allow me to clarify some points in order to end any misunderstanding.

"The newspaper JP published on 30 September 2005, 12 drawings of the Prophet Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him) that Danish artists had drawn. It is very important to state that the purpose of these drawings was not to detract from the personality of the prophet (peace be upon him) or to diminish his value. Rather it was an opening to dialogue on the freedom of expression, which we in our country value greatly. We did not realise at the time the extent of the issue's sensitivity for the Muslims who live in Denmark and the millions of Muslims around the world. The publishing of these drawings did not conflict in any way with Danish laws on freedom of the press or expression.

"But these drawings, it appeared, insulted millions of Muslims around the world. And so we now offer our apologies and our deep sadness over what happened, because this was far from the intentions of the newspaper, which previously received an award of excellence from the European Commission after we published a number of articles in a special edition calling for peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between the Danish and all other ethnicities in Denmark. This edition included a number of articles that reflected positively on Islam and Muslims. What happened later was that drawings intentionally insulting to Islam and its noble Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were published and shown to the Islamic world. These drawings have no connection to our newspaper, we know nothing about them and we are innocent of them, because they were never published in the JP. We always insist on high morals based on respect of principles, so we express our deep sorrow that some still believe we are connected to these intentional drawings.

"Getting back to the 12 drawings we did publish, (not an attack on Muslims) we reject this idea because we believe in freedom of religion, we consider sacred the freedom of the individual to perform his or her religious rites. We did not and do not think of harming or attacking any religion. We are sorry for this misunderstanding, and we underline that the intention was not to detract from anyone.

"In a serious attempt to eliminate the misunderstanding, we have held numerous meetings with members of the Islamic community in our country and these meetings took place in a positive atmosphere and the dialogue was constructive. Our desire is peaceful coexistence between peoples and we hope that a spirit of dialogue will prevail even if opinions differ.

"Finally, let me announce my apology in the name of the JP for what happened and my strong condemnation for any step that aims to harm particular religions, ethnicities or people. I hope that I have removed any misunderstanding, and success is with God." With best wishes,

Carsten Juste, Editor.

Courtesy: AL-JAZEERA

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Thanks.

Assalam Alaikum,

I think it was a great show of unity by 1 Billion Muslims around the world to the world saying that:

We may be different by race, color or gender, but we are ONE as believers.

I think this display of unity should continue until all of our oppressed Muslim Brothers and Sisters in all part of the world get justice, and we as believers live in harmony and undisturbed.

Thanks.

its easy to say sorry n apologise after having insulted the belief of billions of people. According to their law, the newspaper should be punished as blasphemy is a crime. They're gettin away with simple apologies and we tend to accept it.
anyways, this is the anti-muslim force at its best. We have to live in this world with such hypocrites; this is either our bad luck, or their good days. but everything has its limits...


Regards,

THE 1

Salam!

Should these trends continue, the world is heading towards a clash of civilizations. It is evident that in the non-Muslim world as well, there has been a rise in the influence of neo-cons and extremists who view Muslims as a threat to civilization. These circles have seized on the activities of Muslim extremists so as to distort the image of Islam and to portray Muslims as fanatical, narrow-minded people who have become a threat to world peace and security.

The truth is that Islam has always prided itself on its traditions of tolerance, peace and harmony. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was in his own life a model of kindness, tolerance and forgiveness. There was the story of an old, pagan woman who used to throw filth in the way of the Prophet when he walked in that street. One day, he found that no filth had been thrown in his path and enquired about the old woman and was told that she was sick. The Prophet visited her in her house to enquire about her welfare. One could expect that had he been alive today, he would have shown similar forbearance towards the Danish cartoonist. But the unfortunate part is that many of those who claim to be his most devout followers today have none of the attributes of a tolerant Islam and are instead steeped in hatred, violence and vindictiveness.

The Muslim extremists also need to ponder as to what would be the consequences if the path of confrontation eventually led to a conflict with the West, Russia and other perceived enemies of Islam. The latter have, at present, overwhelming military, economic and technological superiority over the Muslim world which is really in no position to take on them. To take one example, the Arabs have not been able to vanquish tiny Israel in all these years. Can the US and other perceived enemies of Islam be brought down through suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism? Anyone with even average commonsense should know the answer.

Of course, there are genuine grievances of the Muslims that should be set right, but this is not going to be achieved through confrontation and war. What the Muslim world needs is statesmanship, foresight and appropriate planning. In the first place, we have to set our own house in order through political stability, social reforms and establishment of democratic institutions. We have to eradicate illiteracy and acquire science and technology in order to compete with the rest of the world.

We have to build up our economies which will provide the base for military and diplomatic power. We need to have close cooperation and coordination between Muslim countries and make the OIC an effective organization. These measures will enable the Muslim world over a period of time to secure and protect Muslim rights. These rights are certainly not going to be secured by slogans, rallies and hate campaigns, nor by the Al-Qaeda-type terrorism.

Regards,

Sajid.