Charlie Hebdo’s insult to Supreme Leader of Revolution, against all the rules of freedom of speech: Ayatollah Ramazani

News News of Secretary General

Tuesday, 10 January 2023

The Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly stated, “For the freedom seekers, the Supreme Leader of the Revolution is a religious and social reformer and insulting this figure is against all the established rules of the freedom of expression.”

ABWA Official Website – On Monday, January 9, 2023, at the beginning of his Fiqh class, the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly denounced the heinous action of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo in insulting to Shiite Marjaiat and describing it as contrary to the principles of human rights.

Ayatollah Ramazani stated, “It has been several decades that the desacralizing project of religious sanctities has been started in the West. Although Westerners claim to defend freedom of expression, what is actually happening is insulting the sanctities of others, which will lead to increase hatred and grudge among human society.”

Regarding the Westerners’ view of Lady Mary (a.s.) and Prophet Jesus (a.s.), the professor of the higher levels of the seminary expressed, “Some Westerners claim that there is no sacred thing. Some Christians do not consider Lady Mary as holy, and even some Westerners do not consider Prophet Jesus (a.s.) as holy. While we Muslims consider religions and divine prophets as holy and respectable. Also, we Shiites consider the children and descendants of our Imams to be sacred and respected because of their attribution to the AhlulBayt (a.s.). Therefore, sanctity is an accepted and certain issue among Muslims, and they are sensitive to it. We consider Imams (a.s.) as holy and we have rational and narrative arguments for this belief.”

“In the dialogues I had with Western intellectuals, they argued that they don’t even consider Lady Mary (a.s.) as holy! We told them that the Quran has introduced Lady Mary (a.s.) as a holy and respectable woman: “إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَىٰ نِسَاءِ الْعَالَمِينَ” (O Mary, Allah has chosen you and purified you, and He has chosen you above the world’s women) (Holy Quran, Surah: Al Imran, Verse: 42). Of course, according to Islamic hadiths, Lady Mary (a.s.) was the master of women in her time, and Lady Fatimah Zahra (a.s.) is the master of all women in the world from the beginning to the end of creation. As a woman, she is unique and incomparable,” he continued.

“The West considers nothing as sacred, rather it desacralizes everything,” Ayatollah Ramazani added, “In Germany, we had many meetings with the religious community of the state of Hamburg. Some religious leaders said that desacralizing is common in the West. But we emphasized that Muslims are sensitive to sacred things. Especially, a government where most of its citizens believe in a particular religion is more sensitive about the sanctities of that religion.”

“Unfortunately, Charlie Hebdo magazine is one of the flagships of desanctification in France and the West. Certainly, insulting the sanctities of religions is a hideous and heinous thing that is clearly mentioned in international laws. For instance, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has listed restrictions and stipulated that any provocation for war is prohibited by law, and any invitation and incitement to grudge and national or racial or religious hatred that causes incitement and violence is prohibited by law,” stated the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.

“Also, this international covenant states that freedom of expression requires specific duties and responsibilities, and subjects it to certain restrictions, and considers it necessary for important matters, such as respecting the rights or honor of others, preserving public security or order or health or ethics. Also, from 1999 to 2010, the United Nations Human Rights Commission has addressed the issue of “confronting the presentation of negative images of religions” and has approved many resolutions in this regard. Moreover, the United Nations General Assembly has also published several documents in this regard, and despite the approval of these resolutions in various institutions, unfortunately, they have not been supported by the western member states,” he added.

“The insult of Charlie Hebdo magazine has deeply hurt the feelings of millions of Muslims. In his speech, Pope Francis distinguished between freedom of expression and sacrilege, and stated that human sanctities should not be insulted under the pretext of freedom. There is no doubt that the freedom of speech has its boundaries, the most important of which is to preserve the freedom, honor, and respect of others. Certainly, harming others in the name of freedom is not acceptable. Aren’t the actions of Charlie Hebdo hurting the feelings and harming the believers?! Therefore, it is very clear that the West should not insult human sanctities under the pretext of freedom of speech,” Ayatollah Ramazani added.

Regarding the dark history of the West in insulting the sanctities of Islam, Ayatollah Ramazani noted, “The West insulted the Prophet and the Infallible Imams (a.s.), drew cartoons or produced films insulting the sanctities of Muslims. Some people who were involved in these actions, by studying Islam later converted to this religion. These actions are insulting, and insulting is different from free speech. According to freedom of expression, fair and scholarly criticism should be carried out. In an article published in Vienna, the desire for power and violence was attributed to the Prophet (p.b.u.h). They have no knowledge of the Prophet (p.b.u.h). The Prophet (p.b.u.h) is a pure and holy figure who invites humanity to spirituality, rationality, and justice. His whole life was according to ethics, and his mission was to realize ethics in society. God praises his morals in Quran: “وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ” (and indeed you possess a great character.) (Holy Quran, Surah: Qalam, Verse: 4). Unfortunately, the Prophet (p.b.u.h) as an outstanding spiritual figure, who is the most comprehensive human being in the eyes of us Muslims, is insulted in the West, and Insulting him is insulting 1.7 billion Muslims in the world.”

About the characteristics of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, he said, “Marjaiat is also considered as sacred in the eyes of Shiites. Grand Ayatollah Khamenei is a figure who dedicated himself to Islam and the Islamic system. He considers himself a servant of Islam and in his whole life he has been serving Islam. The entire life of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution is full of wisdom, and the world considers him a reformer. Once, some Yemenis said to Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, “We believe that an imam is someone who is from Sadat (the descendants of the Prophet and AhlulBayt), gathers some people around him, and rises to an armed uprising. You have these characteristics. Therefore, we want to pledge allegiance to you.” In response, the Secretary General of Lebanese Hezbollah said, “Change the direction (from Lebanon), go to Iran and pledge allegiance to someone I have pledged allegiance to! The imam you are looking for is none other than Ayatollah Khamenei.”

The Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly stated, “For the freedom seekers, the Supreme Leader of the Revolution is considered as a religious and social reformer and insulting this figure is against all the established rules of the freedom of expression. In western countries, insulting some people is also a crime. In some European countries, those who insult the king or queen, successor and royal family are criminals and may be sentenced to 5 years in prison and a fine.”

“If the West does not criminalize sacrilege, it will hurt the hearts and feelings of Muslims, and this will lead to the conflict and problems in human society. Therefore, insulting the holy things is not acceptable in any way, and everyone should denounce it,” concluded the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly. /345/

AhlulBayt (a_s_) World Assembly Ayatollah Ramazani freedom of speech Supreme Leader of Revolution