Islam vs. tolerance debated in wake of prophet film

Associated Press

CAIRO

Behind the anger over a film mocking the Prophet Muhammad, public protest is giving way to measured debate over free speech in the new Muslim world.

But though many crave more openness, few if any will go so far as to say that includes the right to blaspheme.

Angry shouts of “No, no to America!” and “No to Israel!” have been balanced by voices condemning the weeklong violence that has targeted U.S. and other Western embassies and left more than 30 dead in seven countries, including Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

“Muslims should know that Islamic extremist groups bear some responsibility for the uproar taking place now, and for the collision of the world cultures,” said Sheik Hameed Marouf, a Sunni cleric in Baghdad.

“The moderate people and clerics in the Islamic world should do their best to isolate and stop such groups that do not represent the true moderate values of our religion.”

Religious extremists — whether Muslim, Jewish or Christian — “will lead only to more killings and more blasphemous acts,” he said.

Anger still is palpable over the anti-Islam video made in California, as well as French political cartoons that denigrate Muhammad, but most of the Arab world has not seen protests for much of this week.

The streets around the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, where clashes raged for days, were relatively quiet Thursday. Egyptian security forces patrolling the area casually leaned their rifles against the same compound walls that were scaled by angry protesters just last week.

The easing of the violence reflects the balance that Egypt and other Islamic nations are trying to find as they work to nourish democracy in societies where blasphemy is a crime.

“There is no doubt that most Muslims take offense at anyone mocking the prophet,” said Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Geneva-based Gulf Research Center. “The great divide is over the response. The vast majority of Muslims understand that the world is now interconnected, and all kinds of material — good or offensive — pours in.”

“What we see now is a rage against both the film and, indirectly, the interconnected world,” he said.

The violent backlash stretched from Indonesia to Morocco, but nowhere did Muslims take to the streets en masse to protest the film.

In Cairo, there never were more than 2,000 demonstrators outside the U.S. Embassy at any point during four days of protests. And most were believed to be ultraconservative Islamists, known as Salafis, although U.S. officials say the crowd shifted over time and eventually was galvanized by gangs of rowdy teenagers. Salafis are seeking the creation of an Islamic state founded on a strict interpretation of Shariah law.