Newsweek’s provocative cover story titled “Muslim Rage: How I Survived It, How We Can End It”, carrying an image which illustrates two bearded men scuffling amidst a mob, has spawned a terrific outrage and garnered huge response on Twitter.

The story written by Somali-Dutch activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali addresses the issue of freedom of speech in the wake of deadly violence in the Middle East that was sparked over an anti-Muslim film produced by an American.

Newsweek created a hashtag MuslimRage to invite opinions on the cover story. But, the move backfired for the magazine, as the subject was mocked about and the essay’s serious tone, ignored.

Storm of tweets were received from people who mocked at the article’s headline. Most of them seemed to be Muslims and the tweets were funny, satirical, and some bordering on profanity. Most of the journalistic world felt that this was a publicity stunt by Newsweek, to gather attention – good or bad.

Some of the tweets that were shared by Guardian, included:

Ahmed Al Omran : No halal condoms at the pharmacy? #MuslimRage
Samreen Hayat: My hijab doesn’t match my outfit #muslimrage
AssedBaig: There’s no prayer room in this nightclub! #muslimrage

Marc Lych, the director of the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University and the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald criticised the magazine for provoking Islamists.

Marc Lych tweeted, “Complete collapse of Newsweek into stupid sensationalism highlights how good @TIMEWorld has been over last year.”

Glenn Greenwald’s tweet read, “In its own ugly way, this Newsweek cover is almost as inflammatory as the Muhammad video itself.”

“To suggest that we are about to be engulfed by a wave of “Muslim Rage” is a sickening piece of shock journalism that cheapens a once great news magazine. And it is just plain wrong”, Rob Crilly of Telegraph was quoted as saying.

Related:
Blasphemous YouTube video sparks outrage in Muslim fraternity
Tony Blair calls for global intervention to contain Muslim protests