Mehmed Yumer: No Religion Can Justify Terrorism

World | January 11, 2015, Sunday // 13:35|  views

Mehmed Yumer. Source: zaman.bg

No ideology, cause or religious belief can justify the terrorist act against the Paris headquarters of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that killed 12 people, Mehmed Yumer, editor-in-chief of Sofia-based weekly newspaper Zaman Bulgaria has said.

“All the more so this holds true for the Islamic religion, because a true Muslim believer cannot become a terrorist and  a terrorist cannot be a Muslim,” Yumer wrote in an opinion piece published on zaman.bg.

Only people whose souls are pervaded by the forces of evil could commit such atrocities, the author said, commenting on the attack on Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead and was followed by the fatal shooting of a police officer and the deaths of four hostages during a siege at a Jewish supermarket on Friday.

“All Muslims around the world should now condemn the barbaric assault on the journalists at Charlie Hebdo launched under the pretext they had depicted the Prophet Muhammed in an ironic way.”

Noting that most people in the Western world look upon cartoons as a way to express their view on a certain issue of public interest rather than a mockery, Yumer urged all people calling themselves Muslims to condemn the acts of violence against those who voice different opinions.

“Killing people just because you don’t like their behavior or way of thinking is intolerable,” said Yumer, adding that France, the cradle of Western European civilization, and its people had paid a very high price in defending the freedom of speech – one of the cornerstones of their civilization.

“Leaving aside the vitriolic caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed drawn by journalists at Charlie Hebdo and the rude and sarcastic jokes targeted at Islam made by them, after all they are human beings. And Man was born in this world to live. No one has the right to deny him this sacred right.”

Taking the law into one’s own hands, Yumer said, means imposing the law of the jungle.

“The journalists killed at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters had already been taken to court by Islamic communities in France over caricature drawings but the court had acquitted them, saying the freedom of speech cannot be curtailed.”

Yumer went on to say that according to one of the principles of Islam, the killing of one is like the killing of all mankind, and the saving of one is like the saving of all people.

“Therefore, acts of threatening and denying the right to life are acts of terrorism and tarnish the image of Islam,” the author concluded.

 

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Tags: Charlie Hebdo , Zaman, Bulgaria, Mehmed Yumer

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