The Assault of Free Speech: Paris

Following the Paris massacre of the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo, USA Today allowed a London based radical Muslim cleric who “specialized in Sharia law” to state his view. Sometimes it is good to see what evil looks like, and Anjem Choudary made it clear that when the Prophet Muhammad is insulted, death follows. He wrote, “Although Muslims may not agree about the idea of freedom of expression, even non-Muslims who espouse it say it comes responsibilities. In an increasingly unstable world, the potential consequences of insulting the messenger Muhammad are known to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.” Note, he did not say, hey this wasn’t a good thing that happened or even apologize for the violence. What he did was state that the price of insulting Muhammad is well known to everyone. It is death.

How many times do we hear that these jihadist are not real Muslims and Islam a religion of peace, but Choudary dispenses with that thought as he began his essay, “Contrary to popular misconception, Islam does not mean peace but rather means submission to the commands of Allah alone. Therefore, Muslims do not believe in the concept of freedom of expression, as their speech and actions are determined by divine revelation and not based on people’s desires.” It should be pointed out that Choudary represents the view point of significant numbers of Muslims, and it is estimated that jihadists are just ten to twenty percent of the Muslim world, but this means some nearly 400 million worldwide and close to quarter of a million American Muslims believe in this radical interpretation of Islam.

Choudary makes it clear that the concept of freedom of speech doesn’t exist in his world as he writes, “Muslims consider the honor of the Prophet Muhammad to be dearer to them than that of their parents or even themselves. To defend it is considered to be an obligation upon them. The strict punishment if found guilty of this crime under sharia (Islamic law) is capital punishment implementable by an Islamic State. This is because the Messenger Muhammad said, 'Whoever insults a Prophet kill him…' So why in this case did the French government allow the magazine Charlie Hebdo to continue to provoke Muslims, thereby placing the sanctity of its citizens at risk? It is time that the sanctity of a Prophet revered by up to one-quarter of the world’s population was protected.” In Choudary's world view, there is no room for free speech or freedom in general for the state and individuals must submit to Allah. Freedom be damned.

What the media did miss was the address of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at Al-Azhar University on New Year’s Day to a roomful of imams in which al-Sisi called for a “religious revolution,” and the clergy must take the lead in rethinking the direction that Islam has moved.

Sisi stated, "I am referring here to the religious clerics. … It's inconceivable that the thinking that we hold most sacred should cause the entire umma (Islamic world) to be a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction for the rest of the world. Impossible!.."That thinking — I am not saying 'religion' but 'thinking' — that corpus of texts and ideas that we have sacralized over the centuries, to the point that departing from them has become almost impossible, is antagonizing the entire world. It's antagonizing the entire world! ... All this that I am telling you, you cannot feel it if you remain trapped within this mindset. You need to step outside of yourselves to be able to observe it and reflect on it from a more enlightened perspective…I say and repeat again that we are in need of a religious revolution. You, imams, are responsible before Allah. The entire world, I say it again, the entire world is waiting for your next move … because this umma is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost — and it is being lost by our own hands."

Sisi makes the case that the religion he worships along with nearly two billion people is being torn asunder by the radicalism, and he is pushing the Imams to lead a religious revival to make Islam that faith of peace. Let's be clear, many Muslims are not radicals and would love to live a peaceful life, but there are significant numbers in the millions who have declared war on Western civilization and are engaged in jihad against the civilized world. Sisi understands that and we should too.