After last week’s terror attacks on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket, social media site Twitter has been flooded with a number hashtags expressing solidarity with the victims of the attack.
The hashtag #JeSuisCharlie was used to show solidarity with the murdered cartoonists and journalists, #JeSuisAhmed was used to mourn the loss of a Muslim policeman who died protecting Charlie Hebdo‘s staff, and #JeSuisJuif was used to venerate the victims of the kosher supermarket hostage situation.
Attackers Cherif and Saif Kouachi shouted, “We have avenged the Prophet” after storming the offices the magazine and gunning down 12 people.
Now, Muslims around the world have stepped forward to positively reclaim the image of the Prophet Mohammad(PBUH) and to spread a positive and peaceful version of his teachings through hashtag #WhoIsMuhammad.
He was insulted and provoked but ordered his followers NEVER to insult others or provoke them. Qur’aan 6:108 #WhoIsMuhammad
— Mufti Ismail Menk (@muftimenk) January 14, 2015
#WhoIsMuhammad He never spoke with a loud voice, he would smile when he passed my others, he never laughed out loud because of his modesty
— Islāmic Truths (@IslamicTruths) January 15, 2015
I’m an atheist, but #WhoIsMuhammad trending has put a big smile on my face. Far too much scaremongering about Islam in the media.
— Barry Hutchison (@barryhutchison) January 14, 2015
#WhoIsMuhammad He reminded us all “You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness.”
— Raja OmarFarooq Khan (@RajaOmarFarooq) January 15, 2015
loving the calm reaction of my brothers and sisters in the umah have taken to educate rather than retaliate. #WhoIsMuhammad
— Modou Marenah (@modoum) January 14, 2015
Ranked as the most influential man in human history in a book by Michael H. Hart titled ‘The 100…’ #WhoIsMuhammad pic.twitter.com/xgMyQBf8Tb
— Nader | نادر (@BonsaiSky) January 13, 2015
He gave women their rights at a time when they were humiliated, when they would be buried alive. #WhoIsMuhammad pic.twitter.com/mFg5IXxapf
— Abdullah Abdus-Samad (@AbdullahPatel14) January 14, 2015
What non-muslims say about Prophet Muhammad #WhoIsMuhammad #GeorgeBernardShaw pic.twitter.com/rFVsBWm084
— Sana Dhalayat (@SanaDhalayat) January 14, 2015
The tweets come after three million issues of the first post-attack issue of Charlie Hebdo were published in France – the front page featuring a blasphemous caricature of the Prophet (PBUH).
“I hope this doesn’t trigger more attacks. The world is already mourning the losses of many lives under the name of religion,” Hamad Alfarhan, a 29-year old Kuwaiti doctor told a foreign news agency.
Abbas Shumann, deputy to the Grand Sheik of Cairo’s influential Al-Azhar mosque, said the new image was “a blatant challenge to the feelings of Muslims who had sympathized with this newspaper.”
Advising Muslims to ignore the latest move by magazine authorities, Shumann said that Muslims should respond “by showing tolerance, forgiveness and shedding light on the story of the prophet.”
He further said “An angry reaction will not solve the problem but will instead add to the tension and the offense to Islam.”