In response to all these comments regarding the NST cartoon controversy, let me humbly give my "two sen" worth of opinion as a devout Muslim albeit progressive in his nature. Firstly, I personally found it to be funny. In a nutshell, the artist was trying to put sense to all the hullabaloo surrounding the Danish cartoon fiasco.

With a limited knowledge of Islam and how Muhammad (peace be upon Him) occupies such an exalted stature in the religion, such an innocent display of artistic expression is not a big deal. And the cartoon did not even display any image or provocative drawings of the Prophet.

Muhammad is known as the Messiah, the last of all the Prophets and with him Islam is complete as a religion, a faith that not only demands obedience in terms of deeds (prayers, fasting, pilgrimage, etc) but also in protecting the good name and honour of our beloved Muhammad from being degraded to being mere fodder for someone's weekend comic sketch.

But nevertheless, I strongly disagree with the show of protest through violence which has been what has been undertaken by our perhaps not brightly educated brothers in Pakistan, Indonesia and other parts of the world. The way of dialogue and passive protest through strong diplomatic pressure and perhaps economic sanctions would be most prudent in my view, coming from one who believes in the good nature of peace and love in humanity.

But please do bear in mind that as Muslims, we are one as the ummah (brotherhood) and in solidarity (ukhuwah) much like the saying of Mohammad: "We (Muslims), are all brothers and kindred in spirit, and not one gets hurt without the others feeling it".

It is wise for me to believe in good faith that ignorance played a part in the NST cartoon depiction, but for the NST to reproduce it in a Muslim-majority country only provides ammunition for the zealots to further inflame the otherwise fragile yet stable relationship between the believers and the kafirs (non-believers).

Much lest I ramble on and be called a spin doctor for Muhammad's PR team, let me quote a passage of the history of the birth of Islam. While Muhammad (pbuh) was on dakwah (missionary work) to spread Islam in Taif (now part of Saudi Arabia), He was heckled and stoned by the people until His clothes was drenched in blood.

Then an angel appeared, and said he would wipe out the entire village and all its inhabitants if He (Muhammad) wishes it so. The great Prophet's reply? "No, for ignorance made them do so and I would only pray that some day this part of the world would embrace the religion that I bring."