Twitter was a happy place for Muslims today, who took turns to pour out their rage, 140 characters at a time. Some were even creative enough to share memes.
Earlier today, Newsweek tweeted its upcoming cover story: Ayaan Hirsi Ali on how she survived Muslim rage– and how we can end it.
Its next tweet read:
Want to discuss our latest cover? Let's hear it with the hashtag: #MuslimRage.
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) September 17, 2012
The hashtag #MuslimRage opened the floodgates of fun, ridicule and endless jokes. Tweet after tweet, netizens bashed the stereotype of the angry vengeful Muslim, following massive demonstrations held across the Muslim world in protest against the 14-minute trailer of a movie, deemed insulting of Prophet Mohammed and Islam. The movie, ‘The Innocence of Muslims’, was uploaded to YouTube.
An angry mob attacked the United States (US) Consulate in Ben Ghazi, Libya, where they killed US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other American Embassy staff. In Sudan, they burned the German Embassy in Khartoum, before heading down to the American Embassy.
Back at the #MuslimRage hashtag, Muslims show another face. Hijabi Girl screams:
You lose your nephew at the airport but you can't yell his name because it's JIHAD. #muslimrage
— Hijabi Girl (@HijabiGrlPrblms) September 17, 2012
One interpretation of Jihad, common name for Muslim males, is holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty.
@POCKETSARA shares the confusion of some with Muslim prayer rituals:
THIS!!! #Muslimrage pic.twitter.com/ccG2SjB7
— sara (@pocketsara) September 17, 2012
The Ruku is the act of bowing down while standing in the Muslim prayers. The number of ruka’as varies from two to four, depending on the time of each of the five obligatory prayers.
When you are smoking sheesha and you see hijabi smoking sheesha your reaction OMG SHE’S SO HARAM #MuslimRage http://t.co/aVaLtBmB
— ﷽ (@MuslimBeardo) September 17, 2012
A Hijabi is a term used to call women who wear the Hijab or Islamic headscarf; the sheesha is a hubble bubble smoked across the Middle East and Haram translates to a sin in Islam.
Meanwhile in Yemen Adam Baron, a journalist who works there, shares this photograph of the raging Muslims:
Yemeni friends wave to journalist Adam Baron at an anti-government protest during the Yemeni revolution. #MuslimRage
He tweets:
2 yemeni friends spot me taking a photo as they demonstrate against their US-backed (now fmr) president. #muslimrage http://t.co/haJAFNPS
— Adam Baron (@adammbaron) September 17, 2012
In another tweet, he writes:
Last Oct, an activist friend handed me a tear gas canister labeled ‘made in the USA.” “look,” he joked, “a gift from your govt” #muslimrage
— Adam Baron (@adammbaron) September 17, 2012
And, from Egypt, Sarah Carr jokes:
The other day I rang my friend Mohamed up but he said, "I can't talk now, I'm raging" and hung up violently #muslimrage
— المرشح أبو كار (@Sarahcarr) September 17, 2012
Global Voices author Jillian York has compiled reactions from Twitter on Storify:
Written by Amira Al Hussaini
