So What’s the Big Deal With Drawing the Prophet?

I can’t understand why the media, the west and everyone else who engaged in the “Let’s Draw Muhammad” contest recently couldn’t, in all their secular intelligence, attempt to first UNDERSTAND and then to act instead of the other way round.  I am also extremely disappointed with Zapiro for simply “jumping on the bandwagon” which is very unlike him.  The Zapiro I’m used to has deep insight, sharp wit and gets to the heart of the issue at hand.  Zapiro’s cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) shows only deep ignorance… but I’ll analyse that later.

First, let’s get to the heart of the matter.  Why are Muslims going crazy when this happens?  Well, at the essence, we do not draw the Prophet Muhammad or represent him in any way or form even though we do have detailed, verified and ratified descriptions of him because it is mentioned in the Quraan not to fall into the trap of our Christian Brethren and end up worshipping the Prophet instead of God.  Secondly, Muslims believe in ALL of the prophet’s of God – Moses, Jesus, Noah, Jonah, Adam, etc. (peace be upon them all) and we don’t DRAW any of them.

But still… why is there so much passion in this issue? well look at the content.  The depictions are ignorant and horrible. There is no mistaking the intent behind them.  It more represents some Hard-line Iranian ‘Terrorist’ Mullah than have any insight into the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).  Muslims LOVE the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), I mean truly love. For Muslims he is the ultimate example of what a human being is supposed to be.  We actually implement the idea that whenever we’re faced with any situation in life the question is automatically… “Well, what did the Prophet (pbuh) do?” You can’t underestimate this point, it leads to the next point in this issue.

Let’s make it personal.  Take someone you truly love and would do anything for… say it’s your mother.  Now, if someone was talking badly (or drawing nasty pictures) of your mother but did it amongst themselves and, obviously, they have a right to say what they want. It’s all absolutely fine.  But when someone comes up to you and waves it about in your face and swears your mother to your face, what would you do?  Yes, it is the ultimate example we need to follow to hold our peace and deal with it in an intelligent and civilised manner (in fact this is what the Prophet (pbuh) himself would have done. But being realistic…  Your first move would be a punch in the gut of the offending perpetrator.  This is the line between having the freedom  to say what you want, but respecting the people around you.

Personally, this is the first time I’m writing about this because I can’t believe people’s stupidity and ignorance. In this day and age! For God’s sake (no pun intended) is everyone getting Stupider?  Why can’t anyone else see this?  Regarding the drawings themselves, I refuse to join any action AGAINST them on Facebook and shout out slogans, etc. because that only fuels the fire of the same idiots who created the group in the first place.  I’ve IGNORED them from the beginning and I implore all other Muslims to do the same, or even better, start telling these people who the Prophet (pbuh) was, his example and what he means to them.  This is the perfect opportunity.

Finally, I pray… that intelligence dawns on both sides of this conflict.  It’s a shame on humanity that BOTH sides are acting like this.  Let’s grow up.

Link to original Photo of Zapiro at launch of his book ‘Pirates of Polokwane’

Thoughts on the Future of Citizen Media #gv2010

The more I think about it, the more I see the future as being driven by citizen journalists, the news of on-the-ground local citizens taking precedent over the ‘professional’ journalism which has been the vanguard of all news since the dawn of the media age.

The structure of technology has changed, become more social and more “share-able” and this has made the dissemination of media far easier and quicker than any major news organisation could ever hope to accomplish with correspondents and all the logistics which go with it.

I’m sure journalists will have their place but I think their role will be much eroded in the coming age. I have no doubt of that, in fact it has already begun where bloggers and citizen news sources are becoming the norm in terms of reporting and gaining media footage. Professional journalists using citizen media for their news stories simply because there is no other footage or access to material covering that particular bit of news.

The only flaw in the plan lies in the question of ‘Access’. Not everyone can afford the modern miracle of simple communication technologies, let alone having any training of using a computer much less using and gaining access to the internet. There are MANY endeavours to close this gap but we are still a long way away from it being anywhere near acceptable levels.

Then there’s the question of priorities. Yes, the news should be reported and people on the ground should have all the resources available to them to make them a part of our global community. But, most of these people are having trouble getting basics like food, water and shelter. Here’s where correspondents will serve a greater purpose of reporting the situation in those areas.

This does, however, open up a bigger opportunity for charity organisations and NGO’s to begin fully utilising Digital Media in order to not only help the people on the ground but to spread information and knowledge world-wide. The platforms are there.

Citizen Media may be the home of the amateur writer, photographer, cameraman but information is information… and a badly taken photograph or video is much better than none at all. People are everywhere, news organisations are not. This us why citizen Media is the future and will most likely make up at least 80% of content from news organisations in the future.

I say this from the current context of cost-cutting by these news organisations (and many corporations in general) as well the rise in citizen journalists who do not ask for anything in reward, only satisfying the impulse to share and have their voices heard.

The Chilean Connection

The more time I spend in this Santiago the more I see the resemblance of so many disaffected developing countries with parts of town in urban decay and others in great development. I get images of Johannesburg town, Pretoria – specifically Marabastad, Durban town. Specifically South African Urban centres come to mind since that is my experience. Not so much London because London is first-world very clean and tidy urban settings. Even the decaying parts just don’t have the same feeling I get in South African and now in Santiago.

Pictures speak louder than words… I will need to find time to upload them. Right now the ‘official’ summit is over but the Global Voices meetings and breakaways are going to continue throughout the weekend. I’ve made a lot of new lifetime friends and am grateful to just be here.

Here’s the Flickr SlideShow for the GV Summit 2010…

Buildup to the Summit #gv2010

Day1: We’re sitting in the auditorium, funky Chilean music coming through the speakers, laptops open everywhere, wi-fi being stretched to capacity in the background. There is a definite feeling of excitement in the air as people from across the world who have only ever interacted over the digital landscape now meet each other face to face and exchange greetings and stories from everywhere.

If you didn’t already know… the tag is #gv2010. Follow it. The next couple of days is going to explode with all forms of media as ideas and opinions around Citizen Media are exchanged and processed through the hundreds of minds of bloggers, technology and media professionals.

This will trend on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, . Almost 10.15am and the auditorium is already three quarters full. Bring it on.

Global Voices Summit 2010 Blog

Touchdown Santiago

Touched down in Santiago at 11.40am local time. Back in the UK that’s 4.40pm. The 5 hour difference is driving my body insane, sleepy but it’s still too early. The trip itself was a blur, 13 hour flight with intermittent sleep, I remember watching The Departed somewhere in between. The flight was via Sao Paulo, I would’ve loved to see Brazil, the airport seems to be in the middle of the city because you can see houses and trees and mountains just outside the airport, and the sun was lovely.

I remember walking through the airport half in a daze with Paris and Public Enemy’s Remixed version of “Rebirth of a Nation” on my iPod trying to find my way to the “Connecting Flights” Section. Met some awesome people, all from Global Voices. Egypt, Tanzania, Macedonia, Fiji, Bangladesh, Japan, China, USA, Pakistan, India, Bolivia, Madagascar… and there’s going to be many more to meet tomorrow at the Summit itself.

Santiago is a big ass city, like all big ass cities, tall buildings with bustling people back and forth. In terms of culture and scenery its like a mix between Johannesburg and Egypt. Everyone speaks Spanish and I constantly chastise myself for not learning the language more. I have worse than basics to work with. I love it though, the city I mean, That constant buzz and noise and life just filtering all around me, I can sit mesmerised by it for ages.

I’m sitting in the hotel room taking advantage of the intermittent wi-fi and buzzing with excitement at the prospect of tomorrow’s Global Voices Citizen Media Summit. It’s gonna be HUGE.