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Facebook fiasco — III
Someone wrote to me expressing their anger when the whole Facebook contest was heating up. He signed off by saying,...
The writer is a columnist and TV and radio anchor (fasi.zaka@tribune.com.pk)
Someone wrote to me expressing their anger when the whole Facebook contest was heating up. He signed off by saying, “I can die for this issue.” My question, which irritated him, was “How?’ But he was doing what a lot of Muslims do; give a noticeable display of outrage, cite honour and machismo for something he could not actually do. Threats first, discussion later. Thinking almost never factors into it.
My first two articles detailed some of the erroneous facts surrounding the issue, this one will elaborate on why some of the emotional responses are so counter-productive.
Analogous to the Facebook issue, I once asked a friend in the Tablighi Jamaat about his foreign trips and the freedom to proselytise in western countries. He complained it wasn’t as free as one thought, but when I asked him if he thought it was just to give the same freedom to foreigners coming into our country, it raised his ire. His freedom of speech was hollow, to be belittled when it didn’t suit him. The world is seeing through this. That’s why it’s hard to take us seriously.
It’s true that this competition was Islam bashing under the guise of free speech. It’s also true that our demand for giving religion respect is hypocritical because we do not accord others the same. Increasingly, Islam and Muslims are becoming separate entities.
Nadeem Farooq Paracha quotes examples of depictions of Hindus in our cinema, there is no respect of their religion, they are always cast as inhuman villains. Cable TV will show egregious action films in Punjabi and Urdu that belittle them crudely. But again, no one cares and happily they consume the entertainment.
A blogger (a hafiz-e-Quran no less), wrote against the ban on her page. But her reasoning was nothing less than sterling. She bemoaned the hypocrisy of the “one click jihadi” prone to violent rhetoric, but unwilling to practice Islam. By that she meant people who scour the web to talk of ghairat, war and supremacy without living honest lives, without making difficult choices.
The Prophet (pbuh) himself made those tolerant choices; there are numerous examples when he forgave people for excesses upon his person, when he prayed enemies would throw garbage on him, the path he (pbuh) would take would be strewn with thorns. But it seems as if Pakistanis think they know better.
By the way the “I love Islam and “I love Mohammed” (pbuh) pages have many more members than the anti-Islamic ones combined. By banning Facebook should we delete those too?
In fact, the only logical next step is to ban the internet altogether because there will always be blasphemous material in one place or another. This implies two things: that the Muslim faith is so weak that being exposed to one cartoon will shatter it and that Muslims have impulse control issues — if something is available they won’t be able to stop themselves from looking at it. But which Muslim wants actively to see these cartoons?
The Muslim world is already behind in every indicator of education and development. Unfortunately, there is no silver lining to this, today’s Muslims are not morally superior either, Muslim countries are corrupt, violent and by and large without democracy. The internet is one tool to change that, to get access to information and education beyond the pale of those in power. But in our emotional turmoil, we forget all that.
Look at America. Despised around the world for championing freedom with a record of interference and violence globally that easily exposes its own hypocrisy. While the west has slowly brought itself to condemn the barbarity of Israel’s flotilla incident, America remains coy. But slowly, it seems like we are no different from America, saying one thing with conviction for public consumption, but thinking and doing something else.
Facebook is a toy, something we could conceivably do without, but it represents so much more. It represents our attitudes and reflective ability, both of which are in question. Delete your accounts if you are so offended, but don’t make the choice for the rest of us.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 3rd, 2010.
Reader Comments (27)
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Apologies, but I forgot to reference the blog I quoted: it is http://www.habloid.wordspress.comRecommend
Iqbal said: “Haqiqat Kharafaat men kho gai…..yeh ummat rivayaat men kho gai”Recommend
Brilliant and yes a standing ovation for Habiba for actually writing the article from which you quoted :) Thank you man, means a lot :)Recommend
Increasingly, Islam and Muslims are becoming separate entities.
I like that line loads. Ah…we’re all just a bunch of hypocrites, lets live and let live :PRecommend
Welcome knight errant Fasi Zaki and his strong (incoherent defence)of Facebook opening its networking page to offend 1.2 million Muslim populations. While all this talk about Facebook giving a helping hand to products of Pakistan fashion gurus and their help in earning foreign exchange for Pakistan, would Mr. Zaki, or some one else, quote earnings of Pakistan fashion industry in the fornight before Lahore High Court imposed its ban on Facebook and this action, in the opinion of some facebook fans, could have financial loss to the fashion industury in Pakistan? Then we will have some thing to talk about loss of hard cash due to ban on Facebook!Recommend
Well said ….. keep it up
“Delete your accounts if you are so offended, but don’t make the choice for the rest of us”
Agree 100%Recommend
@ JonaidIqbal
“Incorherent defense?”
Sir, if we talk about incoherence, it is YOU who is sounding completely incoherent. And do you know why? Because you have no clue how to critique this brilliant piece. Your points are just not there. they are weak and not very convincing, plus the fact you have a clear problem with articulation.Recommend
Our point of view has been excellently put forward.Angered nonetheless by the disrespectful cartoon act, at hearing (and contemplating) the ban news ,my first thought was that we muslims should ve been advanced enough to have a social network of our own where we would ve been the authority to carry out all sorts of threats. The ban was like living in some non muslim country and asking them to live according to our rules. Recently i got a mail abt a local social network site and believe me i would never trust my personal info on a paki run social networking site,keeping in view the state of our moral sense.We really need to reflect on our own shortcomings and protest in a way thats bears fruit later on,not close all windows and sit in the dark.Recommend
Delete your accounts if you are so offended, but don’t make the choice for the rest of us.
what are you doing? Use facebook, but done make the choice for the rest of us.
Second, why we forget that facebook officially protect that page.
and your example about “tablighi jammat” will become a “blame” against tablighi jammat, you people just quote such kind of things and make “ideas” even this is not any “authorized reference”.Recommend
A simple question for those who are upset, what value added has facebook brought in your lives? The day I get so bent out of shape over a website that was created by under-grad kids for under-grad kids, is the day I will happily end my life.Recommend
**Salam Fasi bhai..hey there is no blog at above link..please mention correct link..Thanks**Recommend
I wonder what all this fuss is about, in the first place… Ok i agree that putting up a page with cartoons of our beloved prophet muhammad (pbuh) is not a sane thing to do, but it is their belief…. the problem with us is that rather than solving the problem, we try to either eliminate it or cover it up all together,,, rather than teaching such people ( who make such webpages), educating them, we cuss them, hence provoking them even further…
and an other point is,,, i didnt know about such facebook page ( even though i use facebook atleast twice a week) but after the havoc and fuss we created, i got curious and ended up looking at it.. the point is, unless you get on top of the roof and yell about it ( the way most of us behaved) no one will even notice it….Recommend
It is a brilliant piece, I must say. Where’s the thinking and discourse in all this saga? I also discussed this question on my blog.Recommend
Fasi i just want to inform you on this point which you worte in first part of your articles on facebook that Hate speech is actually constitutionally protected in USA no doubt this is true but it is not with out limitations
In landmark cases such as Cohens vs California 1971 USA S.C and gitlow vs new york 1925 USA S.C it has been clearly laid down that any thing
“behavior which has a tendency to provoke others to acts of violence or to in turn disturb the peace.” or any thing creating unrest in society is not protected under the right of freedom of speech
or hate speech
There is no doubt that the matter on facebook has the tendency to provoke any Muslim towards violence. Therefore i think that banning facebook was right and Muslims of Pakistan has registered there protest in a very peaceful manner. Saying that i also say that facebook must delete any page which spreads hatred or ridicules core beliefs of any religion and this is the voice which we should spread.Recommend
I agree with Hamza Baloch, you carried your point well. At times we try to portray ourself in such an exclusive manner that even we don’t get ourselves. “Confused Positioned” writers never get that point.Recommend
I really like how you’ve so honestly put forward your idea, and I agree with the gist of it, but not all of it mind you. Hypocrits we may be, but the west is just the same. Making caricatures of the Holy Prophet PBUH was an act that was bound to enrage so many of us, but the ban was not the ideal way to go about it.
But first, let me get back to the hypocrisy of the West with regard to freedom of speech. A student of IBA, Saad Warraich made a page hailing Hitler, soon after the page draw Mohammad (pbuh) Day was made, as a hitback to Fb maybe, because of which he was permanently banned from Facebook and the page removed because it was deemed to hurt people around the globe. That made me question if Fb cared for the sentiments of a billion Muslims around the globe in the same manner.
Oh and one more thing, Bb services were also blocked, alongwith facebook and youtube, but because businessmen protested against the blockage of the services, they were unblocked the same day.That made me ask, where did all the love and religious fervour go? Double standards? Hell yes.
So before we point fingers at others, I think we need to get our act straight first.Recommend
Ironic is the fact that we protest the ban on FB… and a few KMs away we have the largest PORN market in the region..
Ironic is the fact that we jump to the defence of our religion… but will cheat in the Islamiat exam…
our misfortune instead of educating we destroy..
5 of our people lost lives in protests the first time around a couple of years back.. while the artists survive..Recommend
Great going, Fasi!!! You rock!Recommend
this is what i’ve been arguing with friends and colleagues. why not ban the internet as well while we’re on a roll? it has scores of anti-islam and anti-muslim sites, not to mention ‘weird’ stuff, frowned upon by people of the cloth and our brethren and sisters in faith.
this whole ‘ban’ thing was a laughable fiasco from start to finish. and i’m still scratching my head over that ‘youtube’ ban…wtf? :ORecommend
Thank you, Mr. Masood, for letting me have it for (bad) articulation. Here I am trying to improve. Hence I will put it in simple language. Some one -and I do not remember who it was- wrote that Facebook ban had shrunk the money pie because Pakistani fashion people were in on the money through Facebook coverage. Now, I would like to know, the business (in)dollars that Facebook promoted in the two weeks before the Lahore High Court placed its ban on this web-site. The answer would be relevant in finding out the beneficial influence of this website.Recommend
‘Muslim countries are corrupt, violent and by and large without democracy’
Unfortunately a vast majority of us are missing the point. Ifrah and M. Usman did however raise some interesting points. If Muslim countries are corrupt, so are the best in the West. Not only financially but morally too. And how many Muslim countries have actually let their violence spill out of their borders by attacking and annexing other countries and nations? But yes most of us have come to think that we Muslims did the most we could by attacking the USA vis-a-vis the WTC attacks. And to the best of our advantage, right? Not to forget that former Iraq too invaded and then annexed Kuwait in August 1990. Had it not been for the champions of ‘democracy’ under the command (or so as we have been made to think) of one of the most enlightened and illumined of servants of the USA, George Bush Sr., tensions between the Muslim brethren on both sides of the border would have been tremendous. Thank God we had the democracy of USA step in to stop two silly looking Muslim brother nations fighting and bickering between each other. If only had they, along with all other Muslim countries allowed our 16 and 18 year old brains to have all rights as are envisaged in the US constitution and to allow them access to whatever and wherever they may so choose and then to go by each and every decision as the majority would so want; hence total submission to democracy, then all would have been toeing the same line and this war may very well have been avoided.
Now the catch is, if the majority of us would want to party all night, then why can’t our parents do the same too. No wonder Pakistanis are corrupt, violent, without democracy and at the back of beyond by all (worldly) standards. The philosophy of Geo aur jeenay do (Live and let live) seems to be rocking and rolling.Recommend
great fasi bhaiRecommend
da blog mentioned in da article…whose link given in da very first comment is not working…so here’s da link wid correction…
http://habloid.wordpress.comRecommend
thanks for the correction cehyr :)Recommend
@Cehyr, thanks for the correction :)Recommend
Its not a matter of injustice that outrages us. Its a matter of love for the Prophet SAW. Call me bad, call my family bad, call my country bad, fine ill deal with it. do whatever, ill deal with it, ill forgive it.
NO COMPROMISE WHEN IT COMES TO DEFENDING THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD SAW. Anything logical or illogical, violent or peaceful, sane or insane, done to discourage attacks on the Prophet SAW is worth it.
yea there is hypocrisy in us, our nations, our countries, but no matter what, we shall not compromise one bit in defending our Prophet when someome tries to character assassinate him. and even if its just by being angry, it still is a contribution.Recommend
I can’t imagine the limits of stupidity of author, or his narrow observation. He says, “The Prophet (pbuh) himself made those tolerant choices; there are numerous examples when he forgave people for excesses upon his person, when he prayed enemies would throw garbage on him, the path he (pbuh) would take would be strewn with thorns. But it seems as if Pakistanis think they know better.”
**I would ask him whether he has studied what companions of prophet used to do when someone tried to insult the Prophet. As far as it is Prophet, it is his greatness and forgiveness to forgive all which comes to him. But companions of prophet used to bring swords out of their covers, because it was their love and faith to die for prophet. Even companions used to say, our parents sacrificed upon you our beloved prophet. And prophet never stopped them doing so.**
I don’t know with a single elimination of social group in our live what will be damaged. Author has tried every effort to justify ban on it. I believe, we do not hate only because it was such a blasphemous group, but also due to thinking behind it is against Islam. They check our temperatures time-to-time, and they will know one day that this poor nation called Muslims will rise once again. Another Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi will emerge and will unite the divided nation into one.
**Last but not the least, although we have deleted our accounts, but we never forcefully asked some other so-called muslims to do so if their blood has gone cold for the love of our beloved prophet, who said at his last times to Hazrat Izrael (A.S.), if so is pain of dying give me all dying pain of my Ummah. He will do shafayat for his Ummah, and may Allah guide us to be eligible for that, although we are sinners, but may be due to a little love to our prophet, we can get a chance for it.**Recommend