In protest of what it calls a “religion of the devil”, a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, USA, headed by Pastor Terry Jones, plans to host an “International Burn a Qur'an Day” on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Pastor Terry Jones says he believes that “Islam is of the devil”; that it is “a religion that is causing billions of people to go to hell”; and that it is a “deceptive and violent religion”. The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to “remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam”. The center has been announcing on its website and Facebook page that members of the Christian faith should come and participate in burning the Holy Qur'an at the church site in Gainesville from 6 to 9 P.M. Many Christians, including some evangelicals, reject Pastor Jones' initiative. However, a survey done by LifeWay Research last April found that 42 percent of Protestant pastors believe Islam “promotes violence” and more than half of them agree with a statement formerly made by evangelist Franklin Graham that Islam is “an evil religion”. Muslims worldwide are already outraged by the prospects of a Qur'an burning ceremony. If this event takes place, we may see protests similar to those that followed the publication of Danish cartoons on Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) or the publication of Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses. In my opinion, however, an event like this, in which the Holy Qur'an is burned, will not affect Islam in anyway. What it will do for sure is hurt the reputation of the perpetrators themselves and the reputation of their Christian faith as well as focus the world's attention to the culture of bigotry and religious hatred that is well and alive in Western society today. Historically, Islam has survived challenges and confrontations from former superpower enemies and emerged a winner to later form a world civilization that stretched geographically and culturally from China to Spain and continues to exist today as one of the world's most influential civilizations. Islam or the Islamic civilization is surely not under any kind of threat. It is already rated – by Western sources – as the fastest-growing religion in the world. If anything, Islam and the Islamic culture are being harmed more from within. One only needs to look around and see the sectarian violence and bloodshed that plague various parts of the Muslim world. The problem is that every time a sick-minded individual in the West engages in a sacrilegious or blasphemous act towards the Islamic faith, taking advantage of Western democracy and freedom of expression, Muslims, especially in the East, react in such a way that not only offer free publicity for these foolish acts but also reflect a bad image of Islam and Muslims, as protesters express outrage through what many see as uncivilized means. The best way to defeat such symbolic desperate attempts of defaming Islam is to ignore them totally and not be publicly outraged by them because outrage gives these ignorant bigots what they want – publicity. Muslims everywhere should realize that every time an idiot – such as Pastor Terry Jones – does something to enrage Muslims, jumping and screaming in the streets and squares of Muslim cities, attacking embassies, and burning country flags in protest will not send a positive signal to the others, especially those in the West. It will only be counterproductive.
