Cartoon Offensive, Perpetuates Stereotypes

Last Wednesday, March 10, 1993, The Crimson printed a comic strip called Sillee Sox that was blatantly offensive to Muslims and perpetuated sweeping misconceptions of Islam on campus. For those who missed the comic strip: It starts with a mouse in the middle of the desert lecturing three other mice about Satan in celebration of the bombing of the World Trade Center. Then the mouse goes on to say, "Now, brothers, what beloved symbol of the great Satan shall we strike at next?' And the rest of the mice pitch in, "By the beard of the prophet" and "Allah be praised." The comic strip ends with the mouse throwing a brick at a cat, which the author, for some reason, stereotypes as the Intifada.

In the midst of all the Muslim-bashing which has been going on recently, this comic strip doesn't seem out of place. Of course, the reason for all the anti-Muslim sentiment is not new, but recently it has been spurred by the fact that a Muslim is now suspect in the bombing of the World Trade Center. It might be worth noting that he is only a suspect, but in an environment full of misconceptions about Muslims that may be enough to prove his guilt. What is overlooked is that his suspect, even if he were guilty, is not representative of Islam. Almost any action which is not condoned (and committed by a Muslim) is readily called Islamic fundamentalism. But what these terms mean are very different from what the media seems to make them out to be. Islam means submission, that is to God, and a Muslim is one who has submitted. Obviously one who kills innocents cannot be considered to have submitted. Fundamentalism, on the other hand, means rigid adherence to fundamental or basic principles. Terrorism and all acts of violence are against the basic teachings of Islam; furthermore, the Quran prescribes a grave punishment for those who kill an innocent soul. Yet contrary to what it really means, Islamic fundamentalism is a term which seems to forever haunt Muslims everywhere.

When the Ku Klux Klan erects a burning cross, right-wing Protestants are not singled out, and all of Christianity is not blamed for their actions. Unfortunately this does not hold true for Islam. Whenever any of the nearly one billion Muslims is linked to a crime it is quickly noted to be due to some dreadful attribute of Islamic law. Nobody looks into how Islam really stands on the issue, but often the concept of Jihad is used an example of Islam's supposed barbarism, If we look at the teachings of Islam as opposed the malpractices if Islam, we will find that Islam prohibits the killing of innocent people. In fact, the prophet Mohammed, which the author of the comic strip so readily makes fun of, prohibited the killing of noncombatants in times of war. Not only were noncombatants not to be harmed, but also the razing of land and the destruction of trees or other means of livelihood were prohibited.

Maybe we should note here that secular ideology, which prides itself on humanitarianism, has not gone so far. A look at the destruction caused in Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be enough to remind us of this Neither of these cities were military targets, but were used to prove a point and crush the spirit of the people. No consideration was given to the fact that almost all of them were noncombatants, innocent from any guilt. Yet practically was favored over their lives. According to Islam law, a Muslim leader who ordered such an act would not only be impeached, but would also be tried in court.

Most disappointing, however, is the fact that Islam is portrayed in a fashion contrary to its teachings. Worse yet, The Crimson seems to have no respect for all the Muslims who go to school there, who live in the community, or Muslims anywhere. What sort of a meaning could a phrase like "by the beard of the prophet" have, except one of utter disrespect. And why would" Allah be praised" when a building is bombed and innocents are killed? At a time when The Crimson prides itself on being fair and unbiased, how would any Muslim reading The Crimson feel? In the future, I hope that this newspaper will be more sensitive to the view of almost a fifth of the world's population and the six million Muslims who live in America. Omar M. Maabreh'94   President, Harvard Islamic Society