The more we talk about and vilify the Koran burners, the more we play into their hands.

So a pastor in the US wants to create a “Burn the Koran Day” because in his sick logic this is a fair way to commemorate the September 11 attacks. There’s a huge international outcry that included everyone from General David Petraeus to the Pope.

And yet I dare imagining something very good coming out of this: Nothing.

They will burn their Korans, go home, and nobody will die as a result. The Muslim world would have finally grown the thick skin it always needed. We would learn the lesson that most other religions have already learned: Just because a fool somewhere calls your religion evil/ignorant/foolish , it doesn’t mean it’s true.

It’s about time. We always played into the hands of the Koran burners and the prophet cartoonists. We fell for their provocations in stupid bouts of unnecessary and violent indignation. We’re like raging bulls that get angry at the sight of a waving red cloth, oblivious of the Matador’s sarcastic smile.

If we manage to ignore them this time, we will have passed an important phase in our maturation as an “Umma”. And the best thing of all? The world will notice.

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