'Innocence of Muslims' sparks outrage globally

The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) have been outraged by the release of a controversial film entitled, 'Innocence of Muslims' which projects the Prophet Muhammad in a defamatory and insulting way.

Video clips from the badly made and cheaply produced film have been posted on to YouTube and have sparked demonstrations in several countries across the world. The video clips have caused offence to Muslims; by defaming and mocking the Prophet of Islam Muhammad and displaying him and early practitioners of Islam in an insulting manner.

The most offensive comments about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad appear to have been dubbed onto the soundtrack afterwards and not spoken by the actors. This has led to some of the actors in the production condemning the film, claiming that they were led to believe that they were making a film about life in Egypt 2000 years ago, rather than a film which would be used for anti-Islamic propaganda.

MAB have condemned the film and have called on all governments, and especially those in the West, to work towards peace; and to legislate to prevent future attempts at offending religious people by ridiculing their religion or symbols of their religion. They have also called on Muslims to show restraint in their reactions; and to protest peacefully, avoiding escalation of matters.

Dr Omer El-Hamdoon, President of MAB said, 'As the international community prepares to propagate messages of peace by celebrating the International Day for Peace (21/9/2012); we find that there are still evil elements who seek to offend, insult and ridicule others; and hence cause instability in the World.'

MAB also reminded Muslims that this is an opportunity to show the world who Muhammad is and what his character and practices were. This should be an opportunity to demonstrate to the world the true undistorted message of Islam.

Francine Fernandes