Surely, There Are Less Provocative Methods of Expression, No?

By Soultari Amin Farid

noramin_dd@yahoo.com

I returned to Clermont Ferrand last night and was greeted by my group of friends at one of the kitchens. As much as we were eager to share about our recent escapades, a discussion about the recent terrorist attack in Paris became the main subject.

I was touched, somewhat, by my friends intention to talk about the matter. It was interesting for me to know that we all do not necessarily need to agree with one another. And what I appreciated most, was that they really valued and wanted to hear my view.

I told them how this has become such a repetitive task for me, as a Muslim, to denounce such attacks which I personally I feel I don't need to. I shared my view about the cartoons and why I was not offended by it because devout muslims living in this day and age will never know how our beloved Prophet looks like. When I look at these cartoons, I laugh because they were funny but I was not offended because even if it is to poke fun at Muslims, these cartoons don't look like me and I don't think it reflects what Islam truly is.

But a comment made by a Brazilian friend of Arab descent, struck me and I am made to rethink again about it. She said, "Probably those cartoons do not reflect who you are because you are Southeast Asian but for some I think those cartoons reflected features of Arabs (albeit exaggerated) and was mocking them".

Without having to go deeper into what she said, I am made to reflect whether I would have reacted differently if these cartoons was wearing Malay traditional wear (e.g baju kurung and a songkok). How would I have felt? To be mocked like that by people who don't (or maybe refuse) to understand who I am and what my religion/culture stands for.

Yes, those terrorists had no right to take the lives of these human beings for their desire to express (rather plainly) what they think of Islam. But the truth is, in cartoons or otherwise, surely there are ways we can try to express ourselves without such intent to provoke? Or maybe not.

I think we will always be stuck in this conundrum. But I am grateful that through such tragedies, I find discussions with educated and empathetic friends to be comforting and assuring. Probably, our mode of discourse is too traditional for the creative, but we don't provoke. Even if we did, we do it with a tinge of respect and love for humanity.