The Burden of anti-intellectualism

Je suis Musulman, mais je suis d'abord et avant tout un humaine and ça n'a rien à voir avec ma religion, parce que tous simplement j'ai pas besoin d'une religion pour être un humaine

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We live in a scary world that promotes anti-intellectualism and ignorance as pillars of freedom, nurtured  by a false notion that democracy means: My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

To anyone who contributed in the murder of innocent lives around the world by the name of Islam and Allah, know that there are millions of Muslim refugees (children, women, elders) dying from cold, hunger and shelter. If you really wanted "to obey God", you could have bought blankets to hundreds of kids with the money you instead used to buy a gun to kill innocent people. I can’t think of any worse offense than hypocritically using a religion to meet one's fascist personal objectives. 

Declare your "Jihad" on thirteen enemies you cannot see: Egoism, arrogance, conceit, selfishness, greed, lust, intolerance, anger, lying, cheating, gossiping and slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then you will be ready to fight the enemy you can see.

If you are so excited to defend the name of God, be mindful that nothing would ever insult God more than a lunatic fringe who believe that the right way to obey God in order to go to heaven is by cutting people's throats. God doesn't wait for a bunch of insecure lunatic killers to murder innocent people in order to protect his almighty's name.

The barbaric attack on Charlie Hebdo's magazine in Paris and the execution of 12 innocent people, including the cartoonist Charlie was nothing but a coward act of hate. It was a desperate attempt to kill freedom of speech and press in a European country such as France, a country known for its highly freedom of expression and strictly conditional freedom of religion, especially Islam.

There is no religion in the world that would command its followers to act as God and defend Him by executing anyone who slander or mock the religion! The evil attackers who stole the name Islam to commit this callous terrorist act will definitely not silent freedom of speech and expression in France or anywhere.

The massive shooting that happened in France is not about religion, it’s about two extremist ideologies: Islamism and Islamophobia. Both ideologies are using the name Islam and neither one has anything to do with the actual faith of Islam.

The picture below is a Quranic verse that commands how people should react and what to do if Islam and/or the prophet(s) are ever used as a subject to xenophobic amusement.

The cartoons illustrated by Charlie were senseless and offensive to me as a Muslim but I will never support any law to censor any type of freedom of expression, even if it would ridicule my religion or my culture. By defending Charlie’s freedom of expression to print repugnant cartoons about Islam and condemning the inhuman execution of 12 innocent people, I also defend my full right of freedom of speech to argue against these cartoons. This is what freedom of speech is about.

There is a lesson to learn from this massive shooting. Both Muslims and non-Muslims must stand up against Islamophobia. 

#IAmCharlie, the liberal cartoonist who was barbarically murdered because of a pathetic cartoon, and #IAmAhmed, the Muslim policeman and the first victim shot point-blank while protecting Charlie’s freedom of speech to ridicule his religion.

Respect to Charlie Hebdo, who died as he wished- standing on his feet- vowing to protect his freedom of speech and expression even if it would cost his life.

Respect to Ahmed Merebat, the heroic man who died protecting the magazine that makes fun of his religion.

 What will defeat all forms of hate, intolerance and fascism is:

- Muslims and non-Muslims; believers and non-believers standing up as one person against terrorism, oppression, and freedom of expression (including free expression of religion)

- The same level of passion and solidarity against Charlie’s attackers must be applied against Islamophobic attacks on Muslims and mosques in France and anywhere in the world

- Muslim and non-Muslims stand passionately against the two extremely evil sides, Islamism (Using Islam to politicize people's life) and Islamophobia. They are both the same, and neither one worse or better than the other: the outcome of Islamism is self-loathing and violence and the outcome of Islamophobia is hatred, intolerance, self-worship and narcissism.  

democracy can not exist without freedom and freedom can not exist without freedom of speech and expression

 Nafisa Elsed (Nafissa Assed)