Islam and the Freedom of Conscience — Page 3
~ 3 ~ possible for this to excite God’s wrath and result in severe punishment…. I told the journalists present that the Jam a ‘at was not in favour of reactionary protests or rioting. An Ahmad i will never be involved in demonstrations that disturb the peace. A journalist later reported that Ahmad i s are a minority sect in Islam who have suffered at the hands of Muslims. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether the message of their Khalifah resonates among the wider Muslim world. . . The reporter from Newsnight, a current affairs program here in the UK, mentioned that he had seen the film and found nothing in it that would prompt such a fierce reaction within the Muslim world. He said that by delivering such a detailed and forceful sermon on the subject [I too had overreacted]. The movie was in his words a bit of joke. God forbid. This is what has become of the etiquettes and conduct of these people. I said to him that I could not understand how he could watch such a film. I further said that it was impossible for him to understand the status given to the Holy Prophet sa by Muslims and the love and affection they have for him. Though I had not seen the film myself, from what I am told, there are one or two things in the film which are completely intolerable and yet he says that there is