With reporting from Shabina Khatri and Riham Sheble
Updated on January 9 to include information on ways residents can offer their condolences through the French embassy in Doha.
Qatar’s government and one of its most prominent imams have joined the global chorus of condemnation over yesterday’s deadly shooting at the headquarters of a French newspaper.
Three masked gunmen stormed the offices of Paris-based satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people – including cartoonists, the publication’s top editor and police officers.
Video posted by France’s state-run broadcaster reportedly shows the assailants shouting “Allahu Akbar” in Arabic (“God is great”) amid the gunfire. Other reports citing amatuer video say the attackers also shouted “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad.”
Al Jazeera reported that Charlie Hebdo has received multiple threats in the past for publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, among other controversial sketches.
In a statement, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it expressed “strong condemnation and denunciation of Wednesday’s attack” and “stressed that such acts against defenseless civilians contradict with all moral principles and human values.”
Meanwhile, in a series of tweets, prominent local cleric Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi condemned the attacks and stressed that Islam and the Prophet Muhammad never sanctioned the taking of innocent life.
ندين بقوة ونرفض نحن علماء الأمة وجماهيرها كل عمل يريق دماء الأبرياء، ويزهق أرواح الآمنين، وينشر الفساد في الأرض، أيا كان منفذه وأيا كان دينه
— يوسف القرضاوي (@alqaradawy) January 7, 2015
إن ديننا الحنيف يحترم النفس الإنسانية، ويرعى حرمتها، ويحرم الاعتداء عليها، ويجعله من أكبر الكبائر، ولا يجيز بحال القتل العشوائي للناس
— يوسف القرضاوي (@alqaradawy) January 7, 2015
(Translation: “We, the scholars of the Muslim nation and its people, strongly condemn any action that sheds innocent blood and takes away secure peoples’ lives, spreading evil on earth regardless of who commits this action and what religion they belong to. Our sound religion respects humanity and honors it. It forbids any attack on humanity, making it one of the gravest sins. It does not in any way endorse the arbitrary killing of people.”)
Residents’ reaction
Several residents also expressed similar sentiments on Twitter:
Being horrified at the murder of journalists ….#JeSuisCharlie #Paris #NousSommesCharlie #CharlieHebdo #France
— Nish (@duhenish) January 7, 2015
We Muslims condemned the attack. Till we know who did it and why… We must not pointing fingers #ParisShooting
— Dr Ihsan Rafie (@ihsan_rafie) January 7, 2015
http://twitter.com/samiromer44/status/552816431989944321
Mazen Abd Rabbo, a French national living in Qatar, told Doha News that he feared yesterday’s attack would have lasting implications on relations between people of different races in his home country:
“Who will suffer now? Muslims in France. Black people in France. Arabs. They will be even more marginalized in the already society that is looking at them as ‘different’ and not ‘of us.’”
A spokesperson for the French embassy in Qatar said those who wish to send a message of condolences can do so by email to contact@ambafrance-qa.org or through http://www.ambafrance-qa.org/
Local debates
Qatar and its neighbors have struggled with how to respond to religious insults similar to the ones that appeared to offend and motivate the attackers behind yesterday’s incident.
While universally deploring violence, lawmakers and religious authorities have debated how to balance residents’ right to freedom of expression with efforts to curtail religious defamation.
In 2013, Qatar presented draft legislation to the Arab League that would have allowed countries to prosecute individuals who defame, deride or denigrate religions or their prophets.
Ebrahim Mousa Al Hitmi, Qatar’s then-justice ministry assistant undersecretary for legal affairs, said:
“The law does not interfere in any way with the freedom of opinion and expression which is well protected and guaranteed…
Therefore, the main goal of this law is to deter all forms of defamation of religions and give each country that ratifies it the right to file lawsuits against those who offend religions, even if they are not residents.”
But it remains unclear if the draft legislation ever gained any traction.
Qatar’s proposal came a year after hundreds of local residents marched toward the US Embassy in Doha to protest a YouTube video that disparaged the Prophet Muhammad.
Shortly before the protest, Al Qaradawi spoke in a Friday sermon, saying:
“Going to the embassies and breaking it or throwing rocks at it or burning it is not the right solution. We need to ask the USA to have an official stand against such acts of insulting religions.”
Thoughts?
