MRN

The aspiration of the Media Review Network is to dispel the myths and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims and to foster bridges of understanding among the diverse people of our country. The Media Review Network believes that Muslim perspectives on issues impacting on South Africans are a prerequisite to a better appreciation of Islam.

Urgent press release

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

ISSUED BY THE UNITED MUSLIM FORUM OF SOUTH AFRICA

1. As a result of an offensive33published in the Mail and Guardian on the 21st of May 2010, an urgent meeting was called at which the following organizations, representing the broader Muslim community , being:-

Jamiat ul Ulema
Channel Islam International
Muslim Judicial Council
Media Review Network
Jamiat Ul Ulema Gauteng
Sunni Ulema Council of S.A.
Muslim Lawyers Association
Muslim Students Association – Wits
Association of Muslim Accountants and Lawyers
Call of Islam
Jameah Mehmoodiya Springs
KZN Society for the protection of Human Rights
Jamiat ul Ulema KZN
Islamic Research Organisation
Radio Islam
Somali Association of S.A.
Saaberie Chisty
Darul Ihsaan
Al Ansaar Foundation

Which formed the United Muslim Forum of South Africa

2. The meeting appointed a committee to meet with representatives of the Mail and Guardian.

3. This meeting was held on 26th May 2010(11 Jumada al-Thani 1431 A.H.). The meeting, although addressing very serious issues was conducted in a respectable and mature manner.

4. As a result of the meeting, attended by the Editor of Mail and Guardian, cartoonist Zapiro, and the CEO of the group, together with members of the United Muslim Forum of South Africa, the Mail and Guardian have agreed to issue a press release in which they record:-

a.    Mail and Guardian regrets the harm caused by the publication of the33and apologises for the effects thereof;
b.    Mail and Guardian record that they repudiate Isalmophobia in the strongest possible terms;
c.    Mail and Guardian record that they have learnt an enormous amount about the depth of reverence in which Muslims hold the Prophet Muhammad (saw);
d.    Mail and Guardian will commence reviewing their editorial policies on religious matters broadly and in particular the depiction of the Prophet Muhammed (saw) and will during this review period prohibit any representation of the Prophet (saw), and will consult with the Muslim community about this issue.
e.    Zapiro specifically regretted his association with Islamophobics / Facebook “Paint Muhammad day”

5. We welcome the regret shown, apology issued, prohibition on publication and the review of the editorial process undertaking.

6. We commend the Muslim community, for not over reacting, exercising restraint and behaving in a dignified and responsible manner as usual.

7. We as Muslims are committed to editorial independence and press freedom, provided that it is exercised with due regard to common respect and human dignity.

Issued by the United Muslims Forum Of South Africa

Convener: Zahid Asmal 0847868937 zahid@ciinetwork.net

Spokespersons: Iqbal Jassat – 0835943749 mrn_ij@telkomsa.net
Moulana Ebrahim Bham – 0837862859

Beware bigotry some thoughts on free speech the zapiro cartoons

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

Text of talk on receiving an honorary doctorate at the University of Johannesburg, 25 May, 2010

By Mahmood Mamdani, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

It warms my heart to see these flowing gowns. I congratulate you on work accomplished! For over a millennium, these gowns have been a symbol of high learning from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. Should anyone ask you where they came from, tell them that the early universities of Europe – Oxford, Cambridge, le Sorbonne – borrowed them from the Islamic madressa of the Middle East.

If they should seem incredulous, tell them that the gown did not come by itself: because medieval European scholars borrowed from the madressa much of the curriculum, from Greek philosophy to Iranian astronomy to Arab medicine and Indian mathematics, they had little difficulty in accepting this flowing gown, modeled after the dress of the desert nomad, as the symbol of high learning. Should they still express surprise, ask them to take a second look at the gowns of the ayatollahs in Iran and Iraq and elsewhere and they will see the resemblance. Education has no boundaries. Neither does it have an end. As the Waswahili in East Africa, which is where I come from, say: elimu haina muisho.

Taking a leaf out of the prophets life

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Mufti Zubair Bayat

(This article was published in the Natal Mercury Paper on Thursday, 27 May 2010 p.15)

The recent Mail & Guardian cartoon, which attempts to depict the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) lying on a psychiatrist’s couch and supposedly lamenting the lack of humour of his followers, has evoked an angry response and strong objection from the Muslim community.

Depicting40of God and the Prophet (pbuh) are strictly forbidden in Islam. The rationale for the prohibition of depicting the image of God is because He is beyond human perception. The rationale for the prohibition, inter alia, of depicting the Prophet (pbuh) is that he was too sublime to be truly portrayed. Furthermore, attempts at portraying him could result in his image being distorted. There are therefore no records of any authentic image or portrait of the Prophet (pbuh) anywhere in the world, from any period of Islamic history, which is a significant point to note.

Only a government that crossed all red lines

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Uri Avnery

(source: Gush Shalom.org)

This night a crime was perpetrated in the middle of the sea, by order of the government of Israel and the IDF Command
A warlike attack against aid ships and deadly shooting at peace and humanitarian aid activists
It is a crazy thing that only a government that crossed all red lines can do

"Only a crazy government that has lost all restraint and all connection to reality could something like that – consider ships carrying humanitarian aid and peace activists from around the world as an enemy and send massive military force to international waters to attack them, shoot and kill.