'South
Park' and the Informal Fatwa
The veiled threats against the Comedy Central
show's creators should be taken very seriously.
'South Park" is hilarious, right? Not any more.
Last week, Zachary Adam Chesser—a
20-year-old Muslim convert who now goes by the name Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee—posted
a warning on the Web site RevolutionMuslim.com following the 200th episode
of the show on Comedy Central. The episode, which trotted out many
celebrities the show has previously satirized, also "featured" the Prophet
Muhammad: He was heard once from within a U-Haul truck and a second time
from inside a bear costume.
For this apparent blasphemy, Mr. Amrikee warned that co-creators Trey
Parker and Matt Stone "will probably end up" like Theo van Gogh. Van Gogh,
readers will remember, was the Dutch filmmaker who was brutally murdered in
2004 on the streets of Amsterdam. He was killed for producing "Submission,"
a film that criticized the subordinate role of women in Islam, with me.
There has been some debate about whether Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker should
view the Web posting as a direct threat. Here's Mr. Amrikee's perspective:
"It's not a threat, but it really is a likely outcome," he told Foxnews.com.
"They're going to be basically on a list in the back of the minds of a large
number of Muslims. It's just the reality." He's also published the home and
office addresses of Messrs. Stone and Parker, as well as images of Van
Gogh's body.
According to First Amendment experts, technically speaking this posting
does not constitute a threat. And general opinion seems to be that even if
this posting was intended as a threat, Mr. Amrikee and his ilk are merely
fringe extremists who are disgruntled with U.S. foreign policy; their
"outrage" merits little attention.
This raises the question: How much harm can an Islamist fringe group do
in a free society? The answer is a lot.
Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Muslim first thought to have been a
minor character in radical circles, killed Theo van Gogh. Only during the
investigation did it emerge that he was the ringleader of the Hofstad Group,
a terrorist organization that was being monitored by the Dutch Secret
Service.
The story was very similar in the case of the Danish cartoons of the
Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons, drawn by Kurt Westergaard, were published in
September 2005 to little notice but exploded five months later into an
international drama complete with riots and flag-burnings. The man behind
this campaign of outrage was an Egyptian-born radical imam named Ahmed
Abu-Laban.
Prior to this conflagration, Mr. Abu-Laban was seen as a marginal figure.
Yet his campaign ended up costing Denmark businesses an estimated $170
million in the spring of 2006. And this doesn't include the cost of
rebuilding destroyed property and protecting the cartoonists.
So how worried should the creators of "South Park" be about the "marginal
figures" who now threaten them? Very. In essence, Mr. Amrikee's posting is
an informal fatwa. Here's how it works:
There is a basic principle in Islamic
scripture—unknown to most not-so-observant Muslims and most
non-Muslims—called "commanding right and forbidding wrong." It obligates
Muslim males to police behavior seen to be wrong and personally deal out the
appropriate punishment as stated in scripture. In its mildest form, devout
people give friendly advice to abstain from wrongdoing. Less mild is the
practice whereby Afghan men feel empowered to beat women who are not veiled.
By publicizing the supposed sins of Messrs.
Stone and Parker, Mr. Amrikee undoubtedly believes he is fulfilling his duty
to command right and forbid wrong. His message is not just an opinion. It
will appeal to like-minded individuals who, even though they are a minority,
are a large and random enough group to carry out the divine punishment. The
best illustration of this was demonstrated by the Somali man who broke into
Mr. Westergaard's home in January carrying an axe and a knife.
Any Muslim, male or female, who knows about the "offense" may decide to
perform the duty of killing those who insult the prophet. So what can be
done to help Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone?
The first step is for them to consult with experts on how to stay safe.
Even though living with protection, as I do now in Washington, D.C.,
curtails some of your freedom, it is better than risking the worst.
Much depends on how far the U.S. government is prepared to contribute to
their protection. According to the Danish government, protecting Mr.
Westergaard costs the taxpayers $3.9 million, excluding technical operating
equipment. That's a tall order at a time of intense fiscal pressure.
One way of reducing the cost is to organize
a solidarity campaign. The entertainment business, especially Hollywood, is
one of the wealthiest and most powerful industries in the world. Following
the example of Jon Stewart, who used the first segment of his April 22 show
to defend "South Park," producers, actors, writers, musicians and other
entertainers could lead such an effort.
Another idea is to do stories of Muhammad where his image is shown as
much as possible. These stories do not have to be negative or insulting,
they just need to spread the risk. The aim is to confront hypersensitive
Muslims with more targets than they can possibly contend with.
Another important advantage of such a campaign is to accustom Muslims to
the kind of treatment that the followers of other religions have long been
used to. After the "South Park" episode in question there was no threatening
response from Buddhists, Christians and Jews—to say nothing of Tom Cruise
and Barbra Streisand fans—all of whom had far more reason to be offended
than Muslims.
Islamists seek to replace the rule of law
with that of commanding right and forbidding wrong. With over a billion and
a half people calling Muhammad their moral guide, it is imperative that we
examine the consequences of his guidance, starting with the notion that
those who depict his image or criticize his teachings should be punished.
In "South Park," this tyrannical rule is cleverly needled when Tom Cruise
asks the question: How come Muhammad is the only celebrity protected from
ridicule? Now we know why.
Ms. Ali, a former member of the Dutch parliament, is the author of
"Nomad: From Islam to America—A Personal Journey through the Clash of
Civilizations," which will be published next month by Free Press.