The Fiery End of Lars Vilks

 

'Say, 'Think: if the punishment of God should come to you, suddenly or foreseeably, would anyone but the evildoers be destroyed?'---Qur'an, 6: 48.

Mr. Lars Endel Roger Vilks, the Swedish man who created great international controversy over the last decade with his incendiary caricatures of Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) with the body of a dog, met with a fiery end on Sunday, 03 October 2021. A fatal car crash on a motorway literally burned him to death, and reduced the body into ashes within a short time. It appeared as though no amount of physical security arranged by the Swedish government, or other emergency services  could save him from being consumed by an explosive fire destined for him on that day of misfortune. Global media prominently reported on this traffic accident: “Lars Vilks was charred to death when his car caught fire after an accident with a truck. The incident took place near the southern town of Markaryd. He was travelling in a police car that collided with a truck. Two police officers were also killed”. 

Vilks was a deliberate offender; as he ‘knew’ what he was doing. Calling someone, anyone, a dog is deeply offensive- an insult of the highest order- least of all the spiritual father of a global Faith community, and he sought to justify his despicable crime on the so-called high moral high ground of ‘unfettered artistic freedom’ to offend and shock people’s sensibilities. No wonder, the deeply-insulting caricatures depicting their spiritual father, the Holy messenger of Allah (swt) Hazrat Muhammad (sa), caused profound anguish and much anger among the world’s Muslims. 

On the "Charlie Hebdo" Attack in Paris

The European religious history in the last millennium is stained with despicable attacks on Islam and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa). The culprits, in their ignorance and hostility, seek to insult and defame the faith of the Muslims, parading and projecting a most hateful image of the religion of Allah (twa) and slandering and caricaturing  the fair name of its Holy Founder so as to destroy his reputation in the eyes of the general public in their societies. Contemporary caricaturing of the Holy Prophet (sa) in the Western media essentially inherits this imbecility from that unfortunate legacy of hate speech and blasphemy, and all of this is indulged in the sacred name of liberty of expression and press freedom.   

As a Divinely-raised Warner and the Mujaddid (Reviver of Faith among the Muslims) of our times, Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius has, on several occasions in the last decade, spoken up against this caricaturing of the Holy Prophet of all Muslims in the western press, warning that such offences are punishable in this very world and the repercussions shall be worst for the culprits and their societies. In the aftermath of the recent incidents involving Charlie Hebdo, political analysts confirm that the attacks indeed constitute an "earthquake" for the French society, parading the inadequacies of the French Republic to come to terms with the societal transitions in its backyard and the collective failures in imagining a shared future that accommodates the diversities and integrate the people on the basis of its professed, foundational principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. The astonishing prophecy issued by Hadhrat Sahib (atba),  warning the Charlie Hebdo and the likes in 2011,  had been documented at that time in the Blog and can be read here. 

Presented below are brief remarks on the Chalie Hebdo attack in Paris made by the Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) in his Friday Sermon of January 16, 2015: 

Before coming to the heart of my Khutba Jummah (Friday Sermon) on the duties and obligations of parents towards their children, I would like to say few words concerning the Paris “Charlie Hebdo” attack.

As you all know by now, on Wednesday 7^th January 2015 some people opened fire on the newspaper staffs (among others) of “Charlie Hebdo” in France (12 victims), in one of the abominable bloodshed on the soil of France, as the news channel and other media do not hesitate to state. And as usual, Islam is being blamed for such atrocity and not the people behind it.

And as you all know, years ago, around 2006 and 2011, in the backdrop of the first cartoon calumniation of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), I issued a prophecy, a clear warning that those who shall play with the purity of the person of the Holy Prophet of Islam shall be punished by Allah, the Most High. Indeed liberty of expression is one thing and calumniating the heart of a religion on the basis of a so-called liberty of expression is another. Indeed the Messenger of Allah cannot tolerate that a single calumniation be brought on the person on the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) and I shall continue to defend his honour till my last breath.

Vilification of Holy Prophet: Prophecy on the Culprits

Today, in the garb of freedom of speech and expression, press freedom and European liberty, the common faith of the Muslims and the sacred symbols of Islamic spiritualism are under attack in Europe. The ‘creative spirit’ of ‘libertarian’ (and ‘liberated’) individuals does not seem to respect any notions of limits. Nor do they recognize any restraints whatsoever. In the name of opposing radical Islamic elements, the European Press is targeting the founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet (sa), hurting and bruising the spiritual sensibility of millions and millions of common Muslims everywhere, leading to protests and even violence and police clashes and demonstrations. When a society stretches liberty on its head and encourages anarchical voyage of the mind, it invites certain, negative consequences in its wake. That is why in most civilized societies, notions of reasonable restraints and proportionality are part of the judicial tests to preserve the social order in tact. Confusing individual freedom to express oneself with the liberty to abuse the faith and feelings of others is a sure way to invite social trouble and communal disharmony.

With the gradual ascendance of Muslim populations in western Europe with an upsurge of immigrants from North Africa and also the other regions of Europe where the genocidal killing of Muslims have taken place in the last decades, historic prejudices and jaundiced perceptions on Islam and on the common Muslims, are increasingly regaining currency among Europeans, in a social and political milieu where radical elements among the youth resort to terror as a political strategy to take on despicable, imperial regimes that oppress and destroy Muslim lives and lands. In a society and culture where nothing remains as sacred and spiritual, the hatred against ordinary Muslims transforms itself into the satirical raping of Islam's holiest symbols and the abuse and vilification of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) on a daily basis in newspapers. 

The recent explosion of hatred against Muslim immigrants in Europe and especially, the eruption of more disgusting cartoons on the Holy person of Hazrat Muhammad (sa) in Denmark, Sweden “Nerikes Allehanda” (at the end of August) and France “Charlie Hebdo” (November 2011) must be seen in this backdrop . While the Swedish newspaper pictured the Holy Prophet of Islam as a dog (God Forbid!), the French magazine has depicted “a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad on the cover as “guest editor”. 

In the aftermath of the first cartoons made on the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) in Denmark (Jyllands-Posten) [Inset: Kurt Westergaard – Danish cartoonist who pictured the Holy Prophet having bombs on his head], Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim (atba) of Mauritius had sent a warning letter to the Prime Minister of of Denmark, Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, calling his attention to the dangerous trends in his society. Reminding the people concerned that all are children of Adam, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) pointedly asked them:  “If one brother is hurting another, do you call that “civilized, democratization, liberty, freedom of expression” to sadistically rape the pure religion of Islam and going beyond the limits of morality and ethics?” 

The Khalifatullah (atba) advised them to “repent for your actions and asks God forgiveness and stand before the Islamic World and apologize sincerely towards your Islamic brothers because you have hurt us in the most atrocious ways”. He further WARNED: “What is really needed is that you must fear the great calamity, destruction and divine punishment; a severe punishment, which comes from God Almighty, if, you do not repent. If you continue to tarnish the pure reputation of the Holy Prophet of God, God Himself will deal with you. God Almighty has said in Chapter 21 “The Prophets” of the Holy Quran: ‘And how many a township that acted wrongfully have We utterly destroyed, and raised up after it another people!’  So reflect well on this verse of the Holy Quran before it is too late”.

Instead of benefiting from the wisdom of the message, the Caricaturists are parading their crime before the world more and more. In a Divinely-inspired message on December 07, 2011 Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) reiterates his warnings and passed on this message: “[t]he consequences of these people shall be grievous after what they have done. Allah Almighty shall seize them for the way they depicted His beloved Messenger (sa). “These wretched ones shall burn in the greatest of fires, and they shall neither die nor live. Divine malediction shall pursue them in this world till they meet their final destruction.”

The previous warnings (to Danish culprits) can be found in section “Letters” on the Official Website and can be read here and here.