Muslim community angered by French president

Victor Mulangisi

There was a peaceful protest in Kuruman by the Muslim community after the French President Emmanuel Macron berated their Prophet Muhammad.

President Macron had mentioned that the religious sect was in a crisis following the death of a teacher under suspicious circumstances. This did not resonate well with the ever-loyal Muslim community.

Kuruman’s Muslim community gathered at the intersection of Voortrekker and N14 carrying placards denouncing Macron’s utterances. They said that singling out the Muslim religious leader was a mockery – not of the religion alone, but the entire following in the world. This was triggered by the death of a teacher Mr Samuel Paty on October 16, 2020. The teacher had shown caricatures of Prophet Muhammad to his students.

It is believed that the showing of these caricatures then linked the murder of the teacher to the Muslim people where Prophet Muhammad is the most respected personality. The head of Kuruman’s Muslim Association Mr Junaid Bagdadi said that an attack on their prophet was a direct insult to the Muslim world.

Mr Bagdadi said that their religion promotes peace throughout the world and as a result they are very careful in whatever they utter to the world. The French president had set a wrong precedence to the world in that an unfortunate incident had to be associated with a certain religion. It is believed that he was promoting Islamophobia where it should not exist.

The world is taken aback about the latest developments, especially the Muslim countries which have hinted at cutting trade ties with France if the president did not retract his statement that directly undermined their Prophet Muhammad.

The peaceful protest lasted about twenty minutes in solidarity with Islamic countries all over the world.