Press Release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Nigeria Muslim Public Affairs Centre, MPAC, wishes to express its strong condemnation for the way the noble prophet of Islam has been depicted in a section of the Danish media. The vicious and unrelenting attacks on the magnificent characters of the prophet of Islam, Muhammad (SAW), and the cruel tramping on his honour and dignity fall within the general trend of Islamophobia that is being fanned by a section of the so-called free Western media. It is irresponsible to attempt to hide behind the vague excuse of freedom of expression when such crimes are committed.

It is the duty of your government to uphold the right of your Muslim citizens and in fact the right of the Muslims all over the world who are appalled by the action of the newspaper, Jyllands-Posten.

Muslims are commanded not to abuse, ridicule or denigrate the personality of ALL the prophets of God, and even mere objects worshiped by idol worshipers, because such deeds, in the case of the prophets, are simply not befitting of the pre-eminence status of being prophets of God Almighty and that the same things may not be said against our prophets, in the case of idol worshipers. Muslims show restraint and modesty even in the face of provocation as shown in this crisis that has been going on for the past four months. The particular cartoons/caricatures in the Danish paper are a clear provocation that is uncalled for. MPAC believes that this type of behaviour may not be representative of the general morality and values of the Danish people and we ask that you intervene to curb the trend of increasing media onslaught on Islam, its prophet and the Muslims. This, we believe, will go a long way to reassure Muslims across the world that your government is not a party to the crises.

-END-

Contact:
Disu Kamor
Director of Media & Communications
Muslim Public Affairs Centre, MPAC
e-mail: kamor.disu@mpac-ng.org
website: www.mpac-ng.org

 

To: The Danish Ambassador in Nigeria

Cc: Nigerian Media