The defamation of Muhammed does not necessarily occur through pictures and representations of the the Islamic prophet. Muhammed is defamed by his own life and teachings. There are few things more embarrassing to modern Muslims than an accurate representation of Muhammed himself.
A Nigerian politician has recently called the bluff of Islamic revisionists.
A Nigerian senator has been briefly arrested and questioned before being released on bail for marrying an Egyptian girl who is alleged to be 36 years his junior.
Sani Ahmed Yerima, 49, is said to have paid $100,000 as dowry for the 13-year-old girl who became the senator's fourth wife.
Roland Ewubare, the executive secretary at the National Human Rights Commission in Nigeria, told Al Jazeera that Yerima had been detained and questioned for three hours by the Nigerian Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking persons.
"Police also took a statement from him in his own handwriting and he was released on bail. Yerima is expected to return in the next couple of days while investigations continue," he said.
Ewubare said Yerima was arrested because "he procured a child in Egypt and transported her across multiple borders and into Nigeria. Our position is very clear, he has to know that when you make laws in a civilised country, you have to respect them."
But Yerima defended his decision to marry a fourth wife even though the prospect of prosecution still looms.
"The Prophet Muhammad married at the age of nine, therefore any Muslim who marries a girl of nine years and above, is following the teachings of the prophet," Yerima told Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege earlier (emphasis, ours).
"If there's anybody who'll tell me that what you did contradicts Islam, I'll submit - and I'll do whatever they ask me to do."
"If you have a law that says you cannot marry a 13-year-old. If you have a law that says you cannot marry a-15-year old, then why on God's green earth will a guy who is a senator, who makes laws, violate or break that same law?" one rights-group official said.
"It's because he thinks the law is not applicable to him."
Yerima's problems have been compounded by the fact that the wedding took place in the nation's capital, Abuja, where it is illegal to marry under the age of 18.
But in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north, weddings of underage people do not often cause controversy. Indeed, many northern states have refused to recognise the law making marriage for people under 18 illegal.
They say that the ban is against the teachings of Islam.
OK, so here's the point. There is plenty of evidence that the Nigerian senator is right. What he has done is not contrary to Islam, but it is based soundly and squarely on the teaching and example of Muhammad. You cannot love and revere Muhammad if you deny his teaching and reject his example. Muhammad "married" a nine year old as his fourth wife. To an honest and conscientious Muslim this has to be regarded as a holy and good thing. It is Muhammad who has shamed and defamed himself.
Modern, liberal apologists for Muhammad are worthless unless they are prepared to confront these issues, and defend the "good" Senator from Nigeria.
No comments:
Post a Comment