Anyone who watches the simpsons knows that they mock almost all religions. But they stay very clear of mocking Islam. Alot of people, both Muslims and non-muslims have asked the question: why not mock Islam too. The author of “The Gospel according to the Simpsons.” (a book I own) guesses that it is because the writers that are represented on the staff poke fun of each other and at themselves. And that possibly there is no Muslim on staff. Some others speculate that the reason is because Muslims can’t take a joke thus they need to tip toed around. They often cite rioting due to the publishing of the cartoons attempting to demonize Muhammad as proof.

I tried to post my theory on someones blog but their authentication system was messed up so I’ll just share what I wante to say here:I’m a Muslim… and I think I can shed some light as to why the Muslim world can’t handle a joke about Islam. First of all you have to understand that the Satire that is used in the West is part of Western culture and has its roots in western thought and philosophy. The East (or the other side of the world), esp the Muslim world does not take raunchy, balsphemous, and other topics lightly. Aside from being sinful this kind of humor is corrosive to all moral sensibilities.The Danish Cartoons were seen as a direct assault on prophet Muhammad and by extension on Islam. Muslims do not like how Jesus (also a prophet of islam) is mocked in the west. We believe the prophets were chosen by God and were the best of mankind so out of respect we would never mock them. This includes Adam, Moses, Noah, Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad and many others.In the west I think we have become very desensitized. We ought to learn about the world beyond our hemisphere and treat others as human beings who have differing cultures and attitudes from us. (I say this as a simpsons watching American Muslim). I’d also like to think that Islam as a religion isnt made fun of on the simpsons, because there is nothing to make fun of But I do think Muslims would not mind if the cultural issues regarding Muslims are made fun of… but not when it comes to the religion itself. There are Muslim comedians you know, and they do poke fun of the Muslim community (but not of islam itself).

This is the tenth journal entry in a series of about 15 which I wrote
over a three week period while I was in Pakistan this summer. If you go
to the category Pakistan Journal
you can see all the entries. There are some really interesting
experiences and observations which I make throughout the trip(or well
at least in my opinion).

6/17/2004

After waking up we headed straight for my cousins house. Her
siblings all migrated to the U.S.
and Canada. Her
husband owns a company which exports jeans. He had a really huge house which he
shares with his parents and siblings. He had an armed guard who opened the gate
for us. He didn’t have a wimpy pistol, he had a huge semi-automatic rifle. Her
husband was not very talkative, although he did seem really religious. We took
pictures with her cute little kids. Then we went to two of my aunts homes which
were inside of a masjid. One of my aunts husbands is the imam of the masjid.
From their house you could climb up into the tower from where the adhaan is
given. We went up there to chill. There was a really nice breeze there, since
it was high up. I also finally met my cousin Atif who is studying to become an
alim. My mother had told him a lot about me. So he asks me a lot about what I
am doing and what the organization that I work with stands for. I guess he
wanted to know my aqeedah was, ha… or if I was a part of a sect or something. I
also asked him about what he was studying. He is Hafiz-ul Qur’an and he studied
multiple tafaseer. It turned out that in fiqh they were studying only Hanafi
fiqh. And the tafseer that they studied were from various Indian scholars. It
sort of made sense, but at the same time it was strange. The world is moving
towards becoming a global village. For Indian scholars to say that their brand
of Islamic thought is so developed that just concentrating on studying it by
itself is enough for its students of knowledge is strange to me. But then again
I come from a place where we are exposed to everything. I asked him if they
ever study comparative fiqh on specific issues. He said they do, and he
emphasized that they are taught to respect the other opinions and accept them
as valid opinions. We also had a long talk about priorities within Islam. He
asked me what my analysis was of Islam in Pakistan.
And I told him that I think it is very secular. I said that people have
abandoned Islam, and have left it in the masjid, and have run away from it,
thinking that the closer you are to it, the less material success you will
have. And the religious molvis have captured the masjids and are ruling them by
these same standards by making the application of Islam totally irrelevant to a
person living in this day and age by endorsing a very linear thought which does
away with all technological/modern issues with one word: haraam! And secondly
have focused on the most unusual aspects of faith: its external embodiment. He
totally agreed with me and gave me examples of the very points I was making. It
was really interesting that he asked me what my analysis was, because that’s
exactly what I was doing during the course of my entire trip. I was trying to
analyze the application of Islam in the country. Later on that night our eldest
cousin along with his wife and kids took us out to eat. We went to a really
nice restaurant called “Village” where rich Pakistani people dine. Due to my
stomach being really messed up all I had was chicken soup which was really
good. They had all sorts of food and it was set up buffet style. You could see
the chefs running around with trays of food. There was live music which was men
singing while playing the accordion, which was pretty funny. I took a picture
of that. They had waiters who served the drinks and handled refills. We had a
good time. Atifs brother Asif was also with us, who is one of my favorite
cousins. That night we swung by my grandfathers house so my father could have a
small meeting with him. My parents are always thinking that he is going to pass
away soon because of his health. So they try to meet him as often as possible. Oh
yeah at my aunts house (one of the two) has a son who sings naat! So I made him
do one in English, it was hilarious! On Friday at the masjid after Isha they do
naat for hours and the whole neighborhood can hear over loud speakers.   

Pictures from this segment of the trip:

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The vision behind the Mirror International Weekly could have been best understood by engaging in a few minutes of interaction with its founder Br. Anver Beig. Through brief discussion you would have learned that his intention was clear: To provide a voice for Muslims to be heard. For those who missed out on getting to know this tremendous figure, one can still share in understanding his mission by simply picking up a copy of the Mirror International Weekly.

If you analyze the paper you will gain insight to his dreams and ambitions. The news section fulfilled his desire to keep Muslims informed of what was happening throughout every corner of the world. This universal worldwide perspective reflects the Islamic mindset he had of being a part of our global Ummah. His concern for the youth is vividly reflected in the youth corner of the paper. Br. Beig always appreciated a sophisticated, intellectual, well balanced, and non-sensationalist approach taken by an author of an opinion article, especially when dealing with the most striking of issues. The Centerpiece will always serve Muslims organizations, major Islamic personalities, Islamic concepts and issues which are not given the projection that they truly deserve. The centerpiece literally evens out the lopsidedness of the mainstream media. A witty cartoon which makes its point and injects a potent dosage of humor captures his sense of humor which when shared always enlightened one with a lesson to learn. The “What they say” (later renamed to ”Quotable Quotes”) section captures perfectly the type of information Br. Anver, an avid reader who paid very close attention to who is saying what, wanted Muslims to be aware of. The most important section to him clearly was the religion section, it is no secret that the Deen of Islam was his sole motivation, and the Mirror would not be the Mirror without it.

The name Mirror no doubt a reminder of the hadith of the Prophet (S): “A Muslim is a Mirror to a Muslim” serves as an ongoing reminder. The motto for the Mirror is “Justice and Peace for All”. And that is the dream that br. Beig lived every day. To promote Peace whenever he got a chance, and to stand up for those who were not receiving justice. That motto fit his spirit very well. I remember working on a center piece on the International Criminal Court. I remember how outraged he was that countries that have so much potential to do good would arrogantly not recognize any such international institution. He could not stand double standards and outright hypocrisy. Being a great family man himself, he found pleasure in getting feedback from families which told him that when the paper would arrive at home, everyone would pick it apart and would literally be tussling over its pages. Many of the brothers who knew him for a long time do not see the Mirror as his major contribution to Islamic Work. They are more affixed on his personal touch or graceful impact that he had on others in motivating them to work in the cause of Allah. I personally do not see this paper as his only legacy either, especially since that was never his intention. This paper was created to serve a much grander purpose: Its providing a voice for Muslims. Whether people want to listen to that voice is not the question, as long as it can clearly be heard his vision will be alive.

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