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Source / Courtesy: Guardian UK
Five men go on trial over leaflet calling for gay people to face death penalty in first prosecution of its kind under new law.
Left to right, Ihjaz Ali, Mehboob Hussain, Umar Javed, Razwan Javed, and Kabir Ahmed.
Five Muslim men from Derby have gone on trial for allegedly handing out leaflets calling for gay people to be killed in the first ever prosecution under new legislation making such actions a hate crime.
The men, Ihjaz Ali, 42, Mehboob Hussain, 45, Umar Javed, 38, Razwan Javed, 27, and Kabir Ahmed, 28, are accused of handing out to passersby and posting through letterboxes a leaflet calling for gay people to be given the death penalty, and stating that gay sex is a great sin that leads to hell.
They are accused of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, the first prosecution under new legislation which came into force in March 2010. They deny the charges.
A jury at Derby crown court heard that the five men had handed out a leaflet entitled The Death Penalty? outside and near the Jamia mosque in Rosehill Street, Derby, in July 2010, as well as putting it through nearby letterboxes. The pamphlet showed an image of a mannequin hanging from a noose.
The leaflet was one of several that the men were distributing, but the charges relate only to one called The Death Penalty? the jury heard.
This is a very important case, covering a spectrum, from free speech on one hand to hate speech and slander on the other. One would hope that Justices rather than taking it as an opportunity to promote Islamophobia, use it as an opportunity to give us better guidance, what is free speech and what is hate speech. We need guidance, which is befitting our global village and not just one village, one town or one country at a time!
and also we may point out that there are things ‘displeased by Allah’ which we on this earth are not obliged to judge. Allah is the judge and will judge in the next life. We do not need to do His work in this life. – This refers to many other ‘bad deeds’ such as ‘leaving Islam’ for instance, and ‘blasphemy’…
Zia Sahib’s point is absolutely right. We must understand that the limits of free speech and hate speech; there is a very thin line between these, and thus, a higher and critical attention is required before any action.
Secondly we should keep in mind the guidance from the Holy Quran, that we should not speak of such ill in public as it may increase the bad. Allah says:
Great point Abu Numan sahab. This should define limits of free speech for Muslims. Insha Allah
We should speak and promote such things which we will comfortable to share with our own family and dear ones.
As Rasul Allah(sas) has said
“None of you will have faith till he wishes for his brother what he likes for himself.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 1, Number:12)
Unfortunately many of us(Muslims) are far from the essence of religion and faith. And have made religion of Allah (swt), a reason to breed hate against others. It’s really sad to say so, but this has become the reality of Muslims.
As for those who persist on such things: here is what we can do as per advise of the Prophet of God:
Further Bible says:
Ma’salama
The comments by Shah, Tshmannen, Numan and Haque are very good.
The British Muslims are entitled to free speech. However,even if they did not break any law, they did not use discretion (farasut). In American lingo,”don’t make it your business if it is none of yours.” They can do much better by trying to improve their own community.