The Messenger of Islam and Mbappe!

After making a statement likening himself to China’s dictator, he faced a massive backlash and lost three advertising deals from Chinese companies. This is what French player and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé said in an interview about the most mocking images of him that he liked. Regarding a photoshopped image, he said, “Someone… I think it was a Chinese dictator,” and then laughed. Not long after, the Chinese dragon’s anger erupted: 1) Chinese companies terminated their contracts with the player. 2) Boycotts targeted the club that includes the player (Real Madrid). 3) The situation escalated further, and they boycotted the Spanish league. Several entities intervened to contain the crisis, including the club, which issued an apology, the Spanish league association, and even the player himself, who apologized on his X account in three languages, including Chinese. As of the time of writing this article, the crisis has not ended, his apology has not been accepted, and the matter has not been resolved.

As I followed this crisis triggered by a player’s statement that was more spontaneous than calculated, I sadly recalled the situation of our people in the West, which is characterized by racism and knows no language of tolerance and freedom except when it comes to the constants and principles of Islam. This was evident when a Danish cartoonist named Kurt Westergaard published 12 offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) in 2005, followed by the Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders, known for his hostility toward Islam, who produced a short film criticizing the Quran and Islam in 2008. We must not forget the stance of French newspapers in support of the offense against the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), including the infamous newspaper Charlie Hebdo and many others, both in the East and the West. In our Islamic countries, however, we find hesitant statements in some nations. When peoples began campaigns for economic boycotts, dissonant voices from among our own people emerged, sometimes defending them and other times justifying them.

The question is: Could they gloat over their caricatures of the Jewish Holocaust, for example? Why did we not take a stance like China’s, escalating the issue? There is a vast difference between their stance and ours. The matter is simply about dignity, principle, and respect for us, even if they do not agree with our religious, cultural, and historical constants. May you remain under God’s protection. *Naksha: “Dignity is not borrowed; either it is within you or it is not.” (A proverb)