ISLAMABAD, February 22, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The pan-Muslim organization denounced calls to kill cartoonists of drawings mocking Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) as running counter to the teachings of Islam.
"You have no authority to kill anybody," Reuters quoted Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary-General of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), as saying after talks with Pakistani leaders Tuesday, February 21.
Rewards amounting to over $1 million were offered by Pakistani religious figures to kill the Danish cartoonists of the anti-Prophet caricatures.
"This is not a joke to go and say kill this and that. This is a very serious matter and nobody has authority to issue a ruling to kill people," he said.
"Nobody is entitled to do this in the name of Islam and who does it in the name of Islam is harming Islam."
Twelve cartoons lampooning the prophet were published in September by Denmark's mass-circulation daily Jyllands-Posten and later reprinted by newspapers in many countries.
One of the drawings shows the Prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban and another shows him as a knife-wielding nomad flanked by shrouded women.
The caricatures, considered blasphemous under Islam, have triggered massive and sometimes violent demonstrations across the Muslim world, with no sign of abating.
Peaceful Means
The OIC chief also urged Muslims to seek peaceful means in protesting the European cartoons.
"Violence weakens us. Violence works against us. Anything except violence is helpful," he added.
At least 50 people have been killed and at least 280 injured in violent protests in Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan in protests over the insulting drawings.
Muslim scholars, including prominent Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, organizations and leaders have been united in condemning violent attacks over the cartoons.
Ihsanoglu said the pan-Muslim body and many Muslim countries were negotiating with the United Nations and the European Union to include an article on religious defamation in a UN General Assembly resolution creating a new human rights council.
"We are expressing the expectations of the Muslim Ummah (nation) with an objective that our values and particularly our Prophet be protected and never be insulted as such once again."
A cohort of Muslim dignitaries and organizations have called for the enactment of an international law banning the publication of any insults to religious symbols and values.
Misconception
The OIC chief said there was a misconception in the West that Muslims were encroaching upon their freedom of expression by proposing such legislation on religious defamation.
"We are not interested in challenging their freedom of speech but we say the freedom of speech and freedom of expression does not mean insulting others."
Many European newspapers reprinted the insulting drawings on claims of freedom of expression.
Ihsanoglu said European press laws already put certain restrictions regarding national symbols, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.
"What we are looking for is that you take our sensitivities in your definition (of freedom of expression). If you fail to do that ... it will be a problem of credibility and a problem of universality of European values which they say are universal values."
Despite his retraction, British historian David Irving was sentenced for three years in prison Monday, February 20, for denying the Holocaust.
"You have no authority to kill anybody," Reuters quoted Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary-General of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), as saying after talks with Pakistani leaders Tuesday, February 21.
Rewards amounting to over $1 million were offered by Pakistani religious figures to kill the Danish cartoonists of the anti-Prophet caricatures.
"This is not a joke to go and say kill this and that. This is a very serious matter and nobody has authority to issue a ruling to kill people," he said.
"Nobody is entitled to do this in the name of Islam and who does it in the name of Islam is harming Islam."
Twelve cartoons lampooning the prophet were published in September by Denmark's mass-circulation daily Jyllands-Posten and later reprinted by newspapers in many countries.
One of the drawings shows the Prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban and another shows him as a knife-wielding nomad flanked by shrouded women.
The caricatures, considered blasphemous under Islam, have triggered massive and sometimes violent demonstrations across the Muslim world, with no sign of abating.
Peaceful Means
The OIC chief also urged Muslims to seek peaceful means in protesting the European cartoons.
"Violence weakens us. Violence works against us. Anything except violence is helpful," he added.
At least 50 people have been killed and at least 280 injured in violent protests in Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan in protests over the insulting drawings.
Muslim scholars, including prominent Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, organizations and leaders have been united in condemning violent attacks over the cartoons.
Ihsanoglu said the pan-Muslim body and many Muslim countries were negotiating with the United Nations and the European Union to include an article on religious defamation in a UN General Assembly resolution creating a new human rights council.
"We are expressing the expectations of the Muslim Ummah (nation) with an objective that our values and particularly our Prophet be protected and never be insulted as such once again."
A cohort of Muslim dignitaries and organizations have called for the enactment of an international law banning the publication of any insults to religious symbols and values.
Misconception
The OIC chief said there was a misconception in the West that Muslims were encroaching upon their freedom of expression by proposing such legislation on religious defamation.
"We are not interested in challenging their freedom of speech but we say the freedom of speech and freedom of expression does not mean insulting others."
Many European newspapers reprinted the insulting drawings on claims of freedom of expression.
Ihsanoglu said European press laws already put certain restrictions regarding national symbols, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.
"What we are looking for is that you take our sensitivities in your definition (of freedom of expression). If you fail to do that ... it will be a problem of credibility and a problem of universality of European values which they say are universal values."
Despite his retraction, British historian David Irving was sentenced for three years in prison Monday, February 20, for denying the Holocaust.
:mmokay: 
