When I read the front page of The Daily Campus this morning, I felt a feeling of comfort – sadly, a feeling that I haven’t felt for quite some time now, being a Muslim American in a world increasingly antagonistic towards Islam and its message. I thought to myself how thankful I was for the sensible editors of the University of Illinois campus newspaper to put a stop to the great offense our entire community has faced, throughout the world, as a result of the hideous portrayal of our Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

I realized that the American public understands the responsibilities that accompany freedom of speech, granted to us by our Ffrefathers, and we have finally stood up as an example to the rest of the world and checked our media – just as the media serves as a check on the government. However, it is with great regret that I read what our Editorial Board had to say on the last page …

Islam does not preach hatred. Islam does not preach anger. Islam does not preach revenge.

As Imam Zaid Shakir points out in his article, “Clash of the Uncivilized,” whether we are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist – people undoubtedly react to issues propagated by the media, a phenomenon known as the “Issue-Attention Cycle” you can learn about in Media and Politics class.

Unfortunately, the reaction to the current cartoon crisis has evolved into a violent frenzy throughout the world, but the question to ask ourselves now is are these people really as radical and extreme as some have made them out to be? These mobs of protestors – many of whom do not have the infrastracture of political discourse that, as Americans, we take for granted – have no constructive means of expressing their displeasure.

Although it is a shame that the values of Islam and the Prophet’s teachings have been contradicted by bloodshed, the people out on the streets are not radicals or extremists – they are all normal people like you and me.

The Ed Board claims to “understand” why Muslims around the world find the cartoons offensive, when in fact they do not. How many people on the Ed Board really know the Prophet’s (PBUH) message or even know the fundamentals of Islam? The depiction of any prophet of God – Abraham, Jesus, Moses, Muhammad – is forbidden, not to mention images as extreme as those depicted. Furthermore, can it be assumed that the cartoonist knew any more about the Prophet (PBUH) than the average inattentive public does?

As an active member of SMU’s Muslim Students Association, it is our duty to take this ignorance as a challenge and to educate others about the message of Islam – not to demand for apologies, but to take on yet another test of faith. I encourage the entire SMU community to come out to our Islam Awareness Week – March 6 through March10 – in the Hughes-Trigg Commons to learn and educate themselves before forming opinions, and I encourage our Editorial Board to carefully choose their word choice before generalizing and stereotyping the masses of Muslims throughout the world.

By no means am I justifying the atrocities that have been committed as a result of the protests, but to blame “these radical Muslims [who] don’t understand the freedom of the press” is no more of an educated response as the Muslim nations blaming the Danish governments for the actions of a private newspaper.

Are nations “misguided” and “foolish” when they fight wars in foreign countries based on the actions of a few? If so, we should first look at ourselves before pointing fingers at others.

The public has the right to check the media. It is us who will prevent the media from preaching hatred, preaching anger and preaching the right to offend.

Aisha U-Kiu is a sophomore political science major. She may be reached at [email protected].