Comedian’s New Anti-Muhammad Video Excoriates Islamic Prophet, Juxtaposes Him with Jesus: ‘Very Wrong and Twisted’
Conservative comedian Steven Crowder is likely to incite rage from Muslim groups over his new video,
“Jesus vs. Muhammad.” In it, he makes comparisons between the founder
of the Christian faith and the central prophet of Islam. Characterizing
of Muhammad as a violent figure who preyed upon a 9-year-old girl,
Crowder juxtaposes Muhammad against Christ. TheBlaze interviewed the
comedian earlier today about his contentious video.
In the clip, Crowder starts by
comparing Muhammad’s and Jesus’ personal decisions pertaining to
marriage. While the latter never wedded, the former had numerous wives.
Among them, Crowder notes, was Aisha, who was, according to early
Islamic sources, 9-years-old when the marriage was consummated.
To make the point, the comedian, who
called himself “Not Muhammad” while acting out actions associated with
the prophet (it is considered offensive to portray Muhammad), staged a
scene in which he used a lollipop to try and entice a young girl
(coincidentally, a 9-year-old) to get into a car with him.
Following this scene, he framed Jesus
as “raising young, adolescent girls from the dead” and Muhammad with
having an unhealthy romantic interest in at least one young girl.
Photo Credit: YouTube
Crowder also said that Muhammad
commanded the killing of women and committed domestic violence against
Aisha, among other grievances. In comparison, he said that Jesus never
owned a servant, nor did he kill or abuse anyone. The teachings of the
Koran, in his view, focus upon “punishment over compassion.”
In an interview with TheBlaze, Crowder shared his motivation for creating “Jesus vs. Muhammad,” a follow-up to a previous video he made about the Koran back in 2009.
“It was inspired obviously by the
Benghazi incident and then the terrorist attacks — the Boston bombings,”
the comedian said of his latest project. “I did the Koran Challenge a
long time ago and experienced the wrath.”
This
time, he said he wanted to get to the root of terrorism by comparing
the “model citizens” of both faiths. While it’s certain that many
Islamic adherents will be offended by his assertions, Crowder said that
isn’t his intent. Calling Muhammad’s relationship with Aisha “very wrong
and twisted,” he wanted to visually convey the same message to viewers.
“It’s designed to shock,” he
continued. “I wanted to show people an actual 9-year-old and what that
would look like … all I’m doing is showing an actual 9-year-old with a
full-grown adult. It creates a visceral reaction that is disturbing —
and it was.”
Watch the video, below:
Naturally, considering that videos
which are perceived as being anti-Islam have sparked furor in the past,
TheBlaze asked Crowder about safety concerns. While he said he does his
best to keep himself and his family safe, he didn’t seem overtly
concerned.
“If God calls it my time to punch out, it’s my time to punch out,” he said.
So, how will Muslims actually respond?
It’s too soon to tell, although Crowder’s video is spawning a variety
of YouTube comments. Below, see just a few:
Screen shot from YouTube
After watching the video, Tarek Fatah,
a well-known Canadian activist and a Muslim, chuckled during an
interview with TheBlaze. While he didn’t necessarily agree with the
statements presented within the video, he did claim that Islamic
adherents need to learn to laugh at themselves.
“I thought it was very funny and my
feeling is, in studying the Muslim psyche, that the way Muslims view
such a video and laugh it off — that’s the day they have arrived in the
20th century,” said Fatah, whom TheBlaze profiled last year.
Fatah also delved into the tricky
views surrounding Aisha’s age. He said that there is some cognitive
dissonance on behalf of Muslims who maintain that she was a young child
when her marriage was consummated (while her age is not in the Koran, it
is in “Sirat Rasul Allah,” biographical documents that purport to tell
about Muhammad’s early years), but who get offended when others label
this as pedophilia.
“What I find funny is that it is
Muslims who insist she was 6 years old,” he said. “The evidence doesn’t
show [that], but you cannot have it both ways — you can’t say that the
text says she is 6-years-old [then get upset when people criticize such a
stance].”
Fatah also noted that belief in
Aisha’s age has given license to pedophiles in Arab caliphates who
believe, based on the disputed account of Muhammad’s life, that it is
permissible to marry children.
Photo Credit: Tarek Fatah
While Fatah laughed-off Crowder’s
comedy, he did say that the comparisons between Jesus and Muhammad are
not fair, as the two lived in different locations and during very
different times. Plus, he noted that the former was known for peaceful
living; as for the latter, he was a political and a religious leader who
has a divergent life story.
And views on Muhammad vary, he said, depending on the type of Muslim one asks.
“The Arab view of Muhammad is that he
is one of their leaders. The non-Arab view of Muhammad is of their
favorite uncle,” Fatah said. “They, as children, fall in love with the
man.”
The Muslim activist didn’t include
Crowder’s comedy in his claim, but he did note that reckless lambasting
of the Islamic faith does little good. In fact, he said that it actually
spawns more hatred on behalf of radical Islamists, emboldening them to
commit additional crimes.
“I think we are at war with
Islamofascism and reckless attacks on Prophet Muhammad or calling him a
pedophile not only are not accurate, but serve no purpose,” he said.
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