[IslamCity] Mayor of Kabul Hamid Karzai Backs Danish Position

[Alan Border]

“When they meet those who believe, they say: "We believe;" but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say: "We are really with you: We (were) only jesting." Allah will throw back their mockery on them, and give them rope in their trespasses;   So they will wander like blind ones (To and fro).  (Al-Qur'an, 2:13-15 -Al-Baqara [The Cow])     OIC, Arab League Seek UN Resolution on Cartoons  P.K. Abdul Ghafour & Abdul Hannan Faisal Tago, Arab News  http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=77052&d=30&m=1&y=2006     JEDDAH/RIYADH, 30 January 2006 — The Muslim world’s two main political bodies, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League, said yesterday they were seeking a UN resolution, backed by possible sanctions, to protect religions. This follows the outcry caused by publication in Scandinavia of cartoons denigrating Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).     Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the 57-member OIC told reporters in Cairo that the OIC would “ask the UN General Assembly to pass a resolution banning attacks on religious beliefs.”Ahmad Ben Helli, assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, confirmed that contacts were under way for such a proposal to be made to the United Nations.     “Consultations are currently taking place at the highest level between Arab countries and the OIC in order to ask the UN to adopt a binding resolution banning contempt for religious beliefs and providing for sanctions to be imposed on contravening countries or institutions,” he said.     Twelve cartoons defiling the Prophet, published in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten newspaper last September and reprinted in a Norwegian magazine earlier this month, caused uproar in the Muslim world where any image of the Prophet is considered blasphemous.     MWL Chief Writes to Annan     The Makkah-based Muslim World League said yesterday that it had sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, urging the United Nations and its subsidiary organizations to stop smear campaigns against Islam and Prophet Muhammad.     “The MWL, which represents Muslim minorities and Islamic organizations around the world, hereby conveys to you, the United Nations and other international organizations the indignation and outrage of Muslims over the smear campaigns
 being launched by a section of the Western media against Islam and Prophet Muhammad,” MWL Secretary-General Dr. Abdullah Al-Turki said in a letter to UN chief Annan.     Al-Turki said the MWL had received several messages from Muslims in Denmark and Norway and other European countries denouncing the sacrilegious cartoons. He urged the UN to keep a watch on such anti-Islamic campaigns. “International law is replete with resolutions which seek to promote peaceful coexistence and which prohibit abuse of religion and tarnishing their images,” the MWL
 chief said.     Officials in Muslim countries and various religious bodies have expressed anger at the cartoons, while the editors of the newspapers have defended their publications on the grounds of freedom of _expression_. Muslim wrath has spread rapidly in the Middle East with Gulf retailers pulling Danish products off their shelves and protesters gathering outside Danish embassies.     Syria, Bahrain Join Protest     Syria and Bahrain were the latest Arab countries to join the protest. “Syria calls on the Danish government to take the necessary measures to punish the culprits. The dialogue of civilizations is based on mutual respect,” said an official quoted by the
 Syrian News Agency yesterday.  The Bahraini Cabinet yesterday condemned the cartoons “which are a deliberate attack against the glorious Prophet Muhammad and have angered Muslims the world over.” State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Ahmed Al-Khalifa said the government “warned against the negative repercussions” of the cartoons.     Libya Closes Embassy in Denmark Libya said yesterday it had decided to shut down its embassy in Denmark to protest the Danish government’s silence about the cartoons. The Libyan Foreign Ministry added in a statement carried by the state news agency Jana that
 Tripoli will also take unspecified “economic measures” against Denmark. “Because the Danish media had continued to show disrespect to the Prophet and because the Danish authorities failed to take any responsible action on that, Libya decided to close its embassy in Copenhagen,” the Foreign Ministry said.     Jyllands-Posten’s Explanation Letter     Carsten Juste, editor in chief of Jyllands-Posten, meanwhile, is circulating a letter addressing Saudi consumers in his bid to offset the damage caused by the daily to his country’s business. Instead of apologizing, Juste reiterated the paper’s stand that the cartoons were published within the context of Danish dialogue about freedom of _expression_ and were not meant to attack anybody’s religion.     Arab News received the statement from the Danish Embassy here, along with a covering letter from Ambassador Hans Klingenberg, which was posted on the Danish daily’s website late Saturday
 night. We at Jyllands-Posten feel sorry that the issue has reached this level. We repeat that our intention was never to abuse anybody and we respect freedom of religion as does the rest of Danish society,” Juste said. Ambassador Klingenberg told Arab News that freedom of _expression_ should not be misused to abuse other faiths.     The ambassador emphasized his government’s stand that condemns any _expression_, action or indication that attempt to demonize groups of people on the basis of their religion or ethnic background. He hoped that the boycott would not affect Saudi-Danish business.     However, Al-Othaim Supermarket Manager Abdullah Al-Batthi said
 the Danish statement was not strong enough compared to the big damage caused by the cartoons. “Thirty percent of our imports are from Denmark and the boycott will have a big impact on Danish products in the Kingdom,” Al-Batthi said.     Karzai Backs Danish Position     In Copenhagen, Afghan
 President Hamid Karzai said yesterday that caricatures of the Prophet were a mistake, but that he backed the Danish government’s response to the controversy. Karzai’s position, expressed after a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, was conciliatory.     “Fogh Rasmussen explained Denmark’s position on that, which was very good, very satisfactory to me as a Muslim,” Karzai said. “He said he was very sorry for what happened, though of no choice to him or the people of Denmark,” Karzai said. “The press is free here as we now have it in Afghanistan. There are things that the political system cannot control.”“The mistake by the newspaper here was also corrected here in the form of apology, in the form of an editorial,” Karzai added.     Anchor Denies Danish Connection     In a related development, Anchor company said its milk powder comes from New Zealand, not from
 Denmark. The clarification comes as a result of reports about the boycott of Danish products which “have inadvertently included our New Zealand milk powder,” the report said.     AB  [EMAIL PROTECTED]  "For to us will be their return; then it will be for us to call them to account." (Holy Quran 88:25-26)
	
	
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} 
(Holy Quran-16:125)

{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
 
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] 

The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)  also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." 
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] 
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