MAKKAH, 29 September — The Muslim World League yesterday blasted a venomous Fox News program abusing Islam and its holy Prophet and called upon the American media to be just and objective while reporting on Islam.
The league deplored the continuing smear campaign by a section of the US media to tarnish the image of Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and incite hatred against the divine religion and the Muslim community.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the league, said Islamic communities around the world strongly condemned the Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes” program on Sept. 18 in which televangelist Pat Robertson was given a free hand to abuse Islam and Prophet Muhammad.
About the Prophet, Robertson said: “This man was an absolute wild-eyed fanatic. He was a robber and a brigand. And to say that these terrorists distort Islam, they’re carrying out Islam.”
Instead of challenging those hate-filled remarks, program host Sean Hannity said: “Reverend, how widespread do you think that fanatical interpretation is? Do you think it’s mainstream? Or do you think it’s the majority of Muslims?”
After Robertson replied by calling Islam “a monumental scam,” Hannity said: “So Islam is a threat bigger than what most people are willing to say publicly?... Do you think it’s inevitable, then, that the world is going to be in conflict, perhaps even at war, with Islam for many decades to come?”
In the program’s second segment, Robertson said: “The Qur’an is strictly a theft of Jewish theology. I mean, this man (Muhammad) was a killer. And to think that this is a peaceful religion is fraudulent.”
Dr. Turki said, “These attacks against Islam by leveling false accusations against its prophet is a method followed by people in the days of ignorance. They accused the prophet of falsehood and madness. But it did not harm Islam. It only strengthened the religion and increased its popularity.”
Referring to Robertson’s provocative statements on the Prophet, the MWL chief said: “He was just repeating what the Jahiliya people said about Islam and the Prophet more than 1400 years ago.”
Turki said the anti-Islam media campaign would not divert public attention from the religion. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States. There are about eight million Muslims in the country.
He said the campaign was aimed at turning world opinion against Islam and Muslims. “The enemies want to give a bad impression about Islam and its culture and trigger confrontation with Muslims,” he said.
Turki warned that the spread of hatred against Muslims would promote violence against the community. “By carrying out this smear campaign, the American media is causing harm to the security and stability of the country and undermining peaceful coexistence among people of various faiths,” he added.
The MWL, Turki said, has already received reports of a shooting attack on an Ohio mosque and vandalism at an Islamic center under construction in Virginia.
Security authorities in Florida arrested a Jewish doctor in August for allegedly planning to attack about 50 mosques and Islamic centers in the state.
Turki called upon Muslims in America to show restraint toward provocative media reports. He said international Zionism was trying to trigger a confrontation between Muslims and other communities.
The MWL chief urged American Muslims to unify their ranks and cooperate with American organizations which promote dialogue between cultures.
Meanwhile, the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based advocacy group, expressed deep concern on the anti-Muslim bias by Fox News Channel citing “Hannity & Colmes” program as an example of how the network promotes anti-Muslim hate.
“Our office receives complaints daily from concerned Muslims and people of other faiths who say that Fox’s news and views on Islam, Muslims or the Middle East are neither fair nor balanced.
Venomous and hate-filled remarks such as those made by Robertson, and Sean Hannity’s failure to challenge those remarks, poison the minds of ordinary viewers and can incite acts of violence against American Muslims,” said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
As other examples of the network’s anti-Muslim bias, Awad cited Fox’s inflammatory coverage of last Friday’s “terror scare” in Florida and talk show host Bill O’Reilly’s comparison of the Qur’an to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” Awad did however note that Fox’s “On the Record” with host Greta Van Susteren often presents fair and balanced coverage of Muslims and Islam.
In a recent CAIR survey, 45 percent of Muslim respondents said Fox News was the media outlet that exhibited the most biased coverage of Islam and Muslims.
CAIR is seeking to counter anti-Muslim hate in American society with its Library Project, a campaign to encourage Muslim individuals and groups to sponsor an 18-item “library packages” of books, videos and audio cassettes about Islam and Muslims for distribution to as many as 16,000 public libraries nationwide.
