Unrest Across the Muslim World as French Muslim Boy Murders Teacher Over Muhammad Caricature Display
Relations between Turkey and France have been strained over the past few months over several issues including but not limited to their oil and gas exploration amongst disputed waters, the Libyan civil war, and the currently ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The latest conflict presented itself when, upon the murder of a French history teacher Samuel Paty, Turkish President Erdogan announced his support for the boycott of French products based on the cause of the teacher’s murder.
Over a week ago on Friday, October 16th, 2020, a French history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded at the hands of an 18-year-old Muslim boy, Abdullakh Anzorov originally from Chechnya, because the teacher showed a caricature of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in class for the purposes of teaching freedom of speech and conscience. The Islamic religion stands completely against the caricaturization of any and all religious entities including the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). When asked to renounce the sketch, French President Macron refused to do so, aiding the emersion of the French Product Boycott and the Respect For Muhammad social media campaigns, most of which stem from Arabic hashtags that gained traction over the weekend.
After Anzorov murdered the teacher using a 30 centimeter long knife on Friday, he recorded an audio message in Russian saying that he had “avenged the prophet” for the way that the teacher had portrayed him “in an insulting way”. The message was tweeted in a two-part post with one being a video of Anzorov’s confession and the other being a picture of Paty’s severed head. Soon after discovery, the 18 year old boy who murdered the teacher was shot dead by the French police.
Alongside Anzorov, 6 other people were charged for “complicity in a terrorist murder” according to the prosecutor of the case, Jean-François Ricard. These include 2 students, 14 and 15 years old, who were bribed by Anzorov with €300 to €350 for identifying the teacher for him. Two others, 18 and 19 years old who were friends of the prosecuted, were charged for one of them driving him to the school where the teacher taught in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine and the other for helping him in purchasing the murder weapon. Another person faces lesser charges but is still involved. Two others include social media campaigners against the teacher based on their “direct link of causality” and evidence on Anzorov’s phone on verbatim notes about their posts: a father of one of Paty’s students, Brahim C., and an Islamist who showed outrage via Facebook and YouTube, Abdelhakim Sefrioui.
Since the murder, France has started cracking down on Islamist groups and organizations, with one mosque being foreclosed for a period of 6 months in Pantin, an area of north-eastern Paris.
While France, Macron and several European countries view this entire incident and its accompanying events as an Islamist and Jihadist move that must be weeded out immediately, the international Muslim community views it all as something that should urge their entire community to take action against the blasphemy and call for the protection and respect of the Prophet Muhammad. This includes Turkish President Erdogan’s publicly televised speech asking people not to “give credit to French-labelled goods” or buy them, questioning Macron’s mental health on supporting a hate campaign against Islam. Others to follow in boycotting French products include Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan who tweeting calling Macron out on “attacking Islam”, while shops in Kuwait, Jordan, and Qatar have removed French products from shops, and Bangladesh, Iraq, Libya, and Syria are protesting against Macron’s refusal to curb the hate campaign against Islam.
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Credit: Yasin Akgül/AFP/Getty
