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The permissibility ofdepictions of Muhammad inIslam has been a contentious issue. Oral and written descriptions ofMuhammad are readily accepted by all traditions of Islam, but there is disagreement about visual depictions.[1][2] TheQuran does not place any explicit or implicit prohibition on images of Muhammad. Theahadith (supplemental teachings) present an ambiguous picture,[3][4] but there are a few that have explicitly prohibited Muslims from creating visual depictions of human figures.[5] It is agreed on all sides that there is no authentic visual tradition (pictures created during Muhammad's lifetime) as to the appearance of Muhammad, although there are early legends of portraits of him, and written physical descriptions whose authenticity is often accepted.
The question of whether images inIslamic art, including those depicting Muhammad, can be considered asreligious art remains a matter of contention among scholars.[6] They appear in illustrated books that are normally works of history or poetry, including those with religious subjects; the Quran is never illustrated: "context and intent are essential to understanding Islamic pictorial art. The Muslim artists who created images of Muhammad, as well as the public who viewed them, understood that these images were not intended as objects of worship. Nor were the objects so decorated used as part of religious worship".[7]
However, scholars concede that such images have "a spiritual element", and were also sometimes used in informal religious devotions celebrating the day of theMi'raj.[8] Many visual depictions only show Muhammad with his face veiled, or symbolically represent him as a flame; other images, notably from before about 1500, show his face.[9][10][11] With the notable exception of modern-dayIran,[12] depictions of Muhammad were never numerous in any community or era throughout Islamic history,[13][14] and appeared almost exclusively in the private medium of Persian and otherminiature book illustration.[15][16] The key medium of public religious art in Islam was and iscalligraphy.[14][15] InOttoman Turkey thehilya developed as a decorated visual arrangement of texts about Muhammad that was displayed as a portrait might be.
Visual depictions of Muhammad have always been rare in the non-Islamic West. In the Middle Ages they were mostly hostile, and most often appear in illustrations ofDante's poetry. In the Renaissance and Early Modern period, Muhammad was sometimes depicted, typically in a more neutral or heroic light; the depictions began to encounter protests from Muslims. In the age of the Internet, a handful of caricature depictions printed in the European press have caused global protests and controversy and been associated with violence.
In Islam, although nothing in theQuran explicitly bans images, some supplementalhadith explicitly ban the drawing of images of any living creature; other hadith tolerate images, but never encourage them. Hence, most Muslims avoid visual depictions ofany prophet or messenger such as Muhammad,Moses, andAbraham.[1][17][18]
MostSunni Muslims believe that visual depictions of all the prophets and messengers should be prohibited[19] and are particularly averse to visual representations of Muhammad.[20] The key concern is that the use of images can encourageshirk or "idolatry".[21] InShia Islam, however, images of Muhammad are quite common nowadays even though historically, Shia scholars opposed such depictions.[20][a] Still, many Muslims who take a stricter view of the supplemental traditions will sometimes challenge any depiction of Muhammad, including those created and published by non-Muslims.[22]
Many major religions have experienced times during their history whenimages of their religious figures were forbidden. InJudaism, one of theTen Commandments states "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image", while in the ChristianNew Testament all covetousness (greed) is defined as idolatry. During the periods ofByzantine Iconoclasm in the eighth century, and again during theninth century, visual representations of sacred figures were forbidden by theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and only theChristian cross could be depicted in churches. The visual representation ofJesus and other religious figures remains a concern in parts of stricterProtestant Christianity.[23]
Severalahadith and other writings of the early Islamic period include stories in which portraits of Muhammad appear.Abu Hanifa Dinawari,ibn al-Faqih,Ibn Wahshiyya, andAbu Nu'aym al-Isfahani tell versions of a story in which the Byzantine EmperorHeraclius is visited by two Meccans. He shows them a cabinet, handed down to him fromAlexander the Great and created by God forAdam, each of whose drawers contains a portrait of a prophet. They are astonished to see a portrait of Muhammad in the final drawer.Sadid al-Din al-Kazaruni tells a similar story in which the Meccans are visiting the king of China.Al-Kisa'i tells that God did indeed give portraits of the prophets to Adam.[24]
Ibn Wahshiyya and Abu Nuʿaym al-Isfahani tell a second story in which a Meccan merchant visiting Syria is invited to aChristian monastery where several sculptures and paintings depict prophets and saints. There he sees the images of Muhammad and Abu Bakr, as yet unidentified by the Christians.[25] In an 11th-century story, Muhammad is said to have sat for a portrait by an artist retained bySasanian emperorKavad II. The emperor liked the portrait so much that he placed it on his pillow.[24]
Later,al-Maqrizi tells a story in whichal-Muqawqis, the ruler of Egypt, met with Muhammad's envoy. He asked the envoy to describe Muhammad and checked the description against a portrait of an unknown prophet which he had on a piece of cloth. The description matches the portrait.[24]
In a 17th-centuryChinese Muslim story, when the emperor asked to meet Muhammad, he responded by sending a portrait.. The king was so enamoured of the portrait that heconverted to Islam, at which point the portrait, having fulfilled its mission, disappeared.[26]
In one of the earliest sources,ibn Sa'd'sKitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, there are numerous verbal descriptions of Muhammad. One description sourced toAli is as follows:
[H]e was neither too tall nor too short, rather he was of medium height among people. His hair was neither short and curly, nor was it long and straight, it hung in waves. His face was neither fleshy nor plump, but it had a roundness; rosy white, with very dark eyes and long eyelashes. He was large-boned as well as broad shouldered, hairless except for a thin line that stretched down his chest to his navel. His hand and feet were coarse. When he walked he would lean forward as if descending a hill [...] Between his two shoulders was the Seal of Prophethood, and he was the Seal of the Prophets.[27][28]
From theOttoman period on, such texts have been presented on calligraphichilya panels (Ottoman Turkish:حلية,romanized: hilye, pl.hilyeler, fromArabic:حلية,romanized: ḥilya,lit. 'ornament', pluralḥilān), commonly surrounded by an elaborate frame ofilluminated decoration and either included in books or, more often,muraqqas, or albums, or sometimes placed in wooden frames so that they can hang on a wall.[29] The elaborated form of the calligraphic tradition was founded in the 17th century by the Ottoman calligrapherHâfiz Osman. While containing a concrete and artistically appealing description of Muhammad's appearance, they complied with the strictures against figurative depictions of Muhammad, leaving his appearance to the viewer's imagination. Several parts of the complex design were named after parts of the body, from the head downwards, indicating the explicit purpose of the hilye as a substitute for a figurative depiction.[30][31]
The Ottoman hilye format customarily starts with thebasmala shown on top and is separated in the middle byQuran 21:107: "And We have not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds".[31][32] Four compartments set around the central one often contain the names of theRashidun:Abu Bakr,Umar,Uthman, and Ali, each followed byradhi Allahu anhu "may God be pleased with him".
The most common visual representation of the Muhammad in Islamic art, especially in Arabic-speaking areas, is by a calligraphic representation of his name, a sort ofmonogram in roughly circular form, often given a decorated frame. Such inscriptions are normally in Arabic, and may rearrange or repeat forms, or add a blessing or honorific, or for example the word "messenger" or a contraction of it. The range of ways of representing Muhammad's name is considerable, includingambigrams; he is also frequently symbolised by a rose.
The more elaborate versions relate to other Islamic traditions of special forms of calligraphy such as those writing thenames of God, and the seculartughra or elaborate monogram of Ottoman rulers.
Throughout Islamic history, depictions of Muhammad in Islamic art were rare.[13] Even so, there exists a "notable corpus of images of Muhammad produced, mostly in the form of manuscript illustrations, in various regions of the Islamic world from the thirteenth century through modern times".[34] Depictions of Muhammad date back to the start of the tradition ofPersian miniatures as illustrations in books. The illustrated book from thePersianate world (Warka and Gulshah,Topkapi Palace Library H. 841, attributed toKonya 1200–1250) contains the two earliest known Islamic depictions of Muhammad.[35]
This book dates to before or just around the time of theMongol invasion ofAnatolia in the 1240s, and before the campaigns against Persia and Iraq of the 1250s, which destroyed great numbers of books in libraries. Recent scholarship has noted that, although surviving early examples are now uncommon, generally human figurative art was a continuous tradition in Islamic lands (such as in literature, science, and history); as early as the 8th century, such art flourished during theAbbasid Caliphate (c. 749 - 1258, across Spain, North Africa, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Mesopotamia, and Persia).[36]
Christiane Gruber traces a development from 'veristic' images depicting the entire body and face during the 13th to 15th centuries, to more "abstract" representations in the 16th to 19th centuries, the latter including the representation of Muhammad by a special type ofcalligraphic representation, with the older types also remaining in use.[37] An intermediate type, first found from about 1400, is the "inscribed portrait" where the face of Muhammad is blank, with "Ya Muhammad" ("O Muhammad") or a similar phrase written in the space instead; these may be related toSufi thought. In some cases the inscription appears to have been an underpainting that would later be covered by a face or veil, so a pious act by the painter, for his eyes alone, but in others it was intended to be seen.[34] According to Gruber, a good number of these paintings later underwenticonoclastic mutilations, in which the facial features of Muhammad were scratched or smeared, as Muslim views on the acceptability of veristic images changed.[38]
A number of extant Persian manuscripts representing Muhammad date from theIlkhanid period under the newMongol rulers, including aMarzubannama dating to 1299. The IlkhanidMS Arab 161 of 1307/8 contains 25 illustrations found in an illustrated version ofAl-Biruni'sThe Remaining Signs of Past Centuries, of which five include depictions Muhammad, including the two concluding images, the largest and most accomplished in the manuscript, which emphasize the relation of Muhammad and`Ali according toShi`ite doctrine.[39] According to Christiane Gruber, other works use images to promoteSunni Islam, such as a set of Mi'raj illustrations (MS H 2154) in the early 14th century,[40] although other historians have dated the same illustrations to theJalayrid period of Shia rulers.[41]
Depictions of Muhammad are also found in Persian manuscripts in the followingTimurid andSafavid dynasties, and TurkishOttoman art in the 14th to 17th centuries, and beyond. Perhaps the most elaborate cycle of illustrations of Muhammad's life is the copy, completed in 1595, of the 14th-century biographySiyer-i Nebi commissioned by the Ottoman sultanMurat III for his son, the futureMehmed III, containing over 800 illustrations.[42]
Probably the commonest narrative scene represented is theMi'raj; according to Gruber, "There exist countless single-page paintings of the meʿrāj included in the beginnings of Persian and Turkish romances and epic stories produced from the beginning of the 15th century to the 20th century".[43] These images were also used in celebrations of the anniversary of the Mi'raj on 27Rajab, when the accounts were recited aloud to male groups: "Didactic and engaging, oral stories of the ascension seem to have had the religious goal of inducing attitudes of praise among their audiences". Such practices are most easily documented in the 18th and 19th centuries, but manuscripts from much earlier appear to have fulfilled the same function.[44] Otherwise a large number of different scenes may be represented at times, from Muhammad's birth to the end of his life, and his existence in Paradise.[45]
In the earliest depictions Muhammad may be shown with or without ahalo, the earliest halos being round in the style of Christian art,[46] but before long a flaming halo oraureole in theBuddhist or Chinese tradition becomes more common than the circular form found in the West, when a halo is used. A halo or flame may surround only his head, but often his whole body, and in some images the body itself cannot be seen for the halo. This "luminous" form of representation avoided the issues caused by "veristic" images, and could be taken to convey qualities of Muhammad's person described in texts.[47] If the body is visible, the face may be covered with a veil (see gallery for examples of both types). This form of representation, which began at the start of theSafavid period in Persia,[48] was done out of reverence and respect.[13] Otherprophets of Islam, and Muhammad's wives and relations, may be treated in similar ways if they also appear.
T. W. Arnold (1864–1930), an early historian of Islamic art, stated that "Islam has never welcomed painting as a handmaid of religion as both Buddhism and Christianity have done. Mosques have never been decorated with religious pictures, nor has a pictorial art been employed for the instruction of the heathen or for the edification of the faithful."[13] Comparing Islam to Christianity, he also writes: "Accordingly, there has never been any historical tradition in the religious painting of Islam – no artistic development in the representation of accepted types – no schools of painters of religious subjects; least of all has there been any guidance on the part of leaders of religious thought corresponding to that of ecclesiastical authorities in the Christian Church."[13]
Images of Muhammad remain controversial to the present day, and are not considered acceptable in many countries in the Middle East. For example, in 1963 an account by a Turkish author of aHajj pilgrimage toMecca was banned inPakistan because it contained reproductions of miniatures showing Muhammad unveiled.[49]
_of_Shah_Tahmasp_MET_DP107118.jpg)
_f%25C3%25BChren_die_ersten_rituelle_Waschung_-wudhu-_durch.jpg)
!["Muhammad at the Ka'ba" from the Siyer-i Nebi.[50] Muhammad is shown with veiled face, c. 1595.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSiyer-i_Nebi_151b.jpg)
Despite the avoidance of the representation of Muhammad in Sunni Islam, images of Muhammad are not uncommon in Iran. The Iranian Shi'ism seems more tolerant on this point than Sunnite orthodoxy.[51] In Iran, depictions have considerable acceptance to the present day, and may be found in the modern forms of the poster andpostcard.[12][52]
Since the late 1990s, experts in Islamic iconography discovered images, printed on paper in Iran, portraying Muhammad as a teenager wearing a turban.[51] There are several variants, all show the same juvenile face, identified by an inscription such as "Muhammad, the Messenger of God", or a more detailed legend referring to an episode in the life of Muhammad and the supposed origin of the image.[51] Some Iranian versions of these posters attributed the original depiction to aBahira, a Christian monk who met the young Muhammad in Syria. By crediting the image to a Christian and predating it to the time before Muhammad became a prophet, the manufacturers of the image exonerate themselves from any wrongdoing.[53]
The motif was taken from a photograph of a young Tunisian taken by the GermansRudolf Franz Lehnert andErnst Heinrich Landrock in 1905 or 1906, which had been printed in high editions on picture post cards till 1921.[51] This depiction has been popular in Iran as a form of curiosity.[53][better source needed]InTehran, a mural depicting the prophet – his face veiled – ridingBuraq was installed at a public road intersection in 2008, the only mural of its kind in a Muslim-majority country.[12]
Very few films have been made about Muhammad. The 1976 filmThe Message told the story of his life without ever depicting him directly. While unseen, Muhammad is quoted, addressed directly and discussed throughout the film, and a distinct organ music cue signifies his off-camera presence. Most members of his family were also not depicted, leaving figures such asHamza,Bilal andAbu Sufyan as on-screen protagonists to advance the story.
A devotional cartoon calledMuhammad: The Last Prophet was released in 2004.[54] An Iranian film directed by Majid Majidi was released in 2015 namedMuhammad. It is the first part of the trilogy film series on Muhammad by Majid Majidi.
WhileSunni Muslims have always explicitly prohibited the depiction of Muhammad on film,[55] contemporaryShi'a scholars have taken a more relaxed attitude, stating that it is permissible to depict Muhammad, even in television or movies, if done with respect.[56]
The earliest depiction of Muhammad in the West is found in a 12th-century manuscript of theCorpus Cluniacense, tied toHermann of Carinthia's introduction to his translation of theKitab al-Anwar ofAbu al-Hasan Bakri.[57] The image is intentionally defamatory, portraying Muhammad with a bearded human face and a fish-like body. It is perhaps inspired byHorace'sArs poetica, wherein the poet imagines "a woman, lovely above, foully ended in an ugly fish below" and asks if you would "restrain your laughter, my friends, if admitted to this private view?", a passage alluded to byPeter the Venerable in his account of Islam in theCorpus. This depiction, however, did not set the paradigm for later depictions.[58]
Western representations of Muhammad were very rare until the explosion of images following the invention of theprinting press; he is shown in a few medieval images, normally in an unflattering manner, often influenced by his brief mention inDante'sDivine Comedy. Dante placed Muhammad in Hell, with his entrails hanging out (Canto 28):
No barrel, not even one where the hoops and staves go every which way, was ever split open like one frayed Sinner I saw, ripped from chin to where we fart below.
His guts hung between his legs and displayed His vital organs, including that wretched sack Which converts to shit whatever gets conveyed down the gullet.
As I stared at him he looked back And with his hands pulled his chest open, Saying, "See how I split open the crack in myself! See how twisted and broken Muhammad is! Before me walksAli, his face Cleft from chin to crown, grief–stricken."[59]
This scene was sometimes shown in illustrations of theDivina Commedia before modern times. Muhammad is represented in a 15th-centuryfrescoLast Judgement byGiovanni da Modena and drawing on Dante, in theChurch of San Petronio,Bologna, Italy[60] and artwork bySalvador Dalí,Auguste Rodin,William Blake, andGustave Doré.[61]
Muhammad sometimes figures in Western depictions of groups of influential people in world history. Such depictions tend to be favourable or neutral in intent; one example can be found at theUnited States Supreme Court building inWashington, D.C. Created in 1935, thefrieze includes major historical lawgivers, and places Muhammad alongsideHammurabi,Moses,Confucius, and others. In 1997, a controversy erupted surrounding the frieze, and tourist materials have since been edited to describe the depiction as "a well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor to honor Muhammad" that "bears no resemblance to Muhammad."[62]
In 1955, a statue of Muhammad was removed from a courthouse in New York City after the ambassadors ofIndonesia,Pakistan, andEgypt requested its removal.[63]
In 1997, theCouncil on American–Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group in the United States, wrote to United States Supreme Court Chief JusticeWilliam Rehnquist requesting that the sculpted representation ofMuhammad on the north frieze inside the Supreme Court building be removed or sanded down. The court rejected CAIR's request.[64]
![Muhammad, seated on the left, possibly reading from the Quran, as depicted in the 15th century Nuremberg Chronicle[65]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aNuremberg_chronicles_-_Mohammed_(CLIv).jpg)
The 20th and 21st centuries have been marked by controversies over depictions of Muhammad, not only for recent caricatures or cartoons, but also regarding the display of historical artwork.
In a story on morals at the end of the millennium in December 1999, the German news magazineDer Spiegel printed on the same page pictures of “moral apostles” Muhammad, Jesus,Confucius, andImmanuel Kant. In the subsequent weeks, the magazine received protests, petitions and threats against publishing the picture of Muhammad. The Turkish TV-stationShow TV broadcast the telephone number of an editor who then received daily calls.[66]
Nadeem Elyas, leader of theCentral Council of Muslims in Germany said that the picture should not be printed again in order to avoid hurting the feelings of Muslims intentionally. Elyas recommended whitening the face of Muhammad instead.[67]
In June 2001, theSpiegel with consideration of Islamic laws published a picture of Muhammed with a whitened face on its title page.[68] The same picture of Muhammad by Hosemann had been published by the magazine once before in 1998 in a special edition on Islam, but then without evoking similar protests.[69]
In 2002, Italian police reported that they had disrupted a terrorist plot to destroy theChurch of San Petronio inBologna, which contains a 15th-centuryfresco depicting an image of Muhammad being dragged to hell by a demon (see above).[60][70]
Examples of depictions of Muhammad being altered include a 1940 mural at theUniversity of Utah having the name of Muhammad removed from beneath the painting in 2000 at the request of Muslim students.[71]
In 1990, the Indonesian magazineSenang published a letter to the editor by a reader who claimed to have dreamed of Muhammad. The letter was accompanied by a sketch by the magazine's resident artist featuring a "turbaned, faceless figure." No major repercussions immediately followed. However, soon afterwards, there was a separate controversy in which a Christian-owned Indonesian magazine namedMonitor published the results of a readers' poll about "most-admired leaders" that putSuharto at number 1 and Muhammad at number 11. The wake of this scandal led to a crackdown on "insulting Muhammad" in general, and so police announced they were investigatingSenang and would attempt to track down the author of the letter. Before anything further could happen,Senang voluntarily offered to cease publication.[72][73]
In 2005, Danish newspaperJyllands-Posten published a set ofeditorial cartoons, many of which depicted Muhammad. In late 2005 and early 2006, Danish Muslim organizations ignited theJyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy through public protests and by spreading knowledge of the publication of the cartoons.[23] According to John Woods, Islamic history professor at the University of Chicago, it was not simply the depiction of Muhammad that was offensive, but the implication that Muhammad was somehow a supporter of terrorism.[18] In Sweden, an online caricature competition was announced in support ofJyllands-Posten, but Foreign Affairs MinisterLaila Freivalds and theSwedish Security Service pressured theinternet service provider to shut the page down. In 2006, when her involvement was revealed to the public, she had to resign.[74] On 12 February 2008 the Danish police arrested three men alleged to be involved in a plot to assassinateKurt Westergaard, one of the cartoonists.[75]
In 2006, the controversial Americananimated television comedy programSouth Park, which had previously depicted Muhammad as asuperhero character in the July 4, 2001 episode "Super Best Friends"[76] and has depicted Muhammad in the opening sequence since that episode,[77] attempted to satirize the Danish newspaper incident. In the episode, "Cartoon Wars Part II", they intended to show Muhammad handing a salmon helmet toPeter Griffin, a character from theFox animated seriesFamily Guy. However,Comedy Central, who airsSouth Park, rejected the scene, citing concerns of violent protests in theIslamic world. The creators ofSouth Park reacted by instead satirizing Comedy Central'sdouble standard for broadcast acceptability by including a segment of "Cartoon Wars Part II" in whichAmerican presidentGeorge W. Bush and Jesus defecate on theflag of the United States.
Everybody Draw Mohammed Day was a protest against those who threatened violence against artists who drew representations of Muhammad. It began as a protest against the action ofComedy Central in forbidding the broadcast of theSouth Park episode "201" in response to death threats against some of those responsible for the segment. Observance of the day began with a drawing posted on theInternet on April 20, 2010, accompanied by text suggesting that "everybody" create a drawing representing Muhammad, on May 20, 2010, as a protest against efforts to limitfreedom of speech.[citation needed]
TheLars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy began in July 2007 with a series of drawings bySwedish artistLars Vilks which depicted Muhammad as aroundabout dog. Several art galleries in Sweden declined to show the drawings, citing security concerns and fear of violence. The controversy gained international attention after theÖrebro-based regional newspaperNerikes Allehanda published one of the drawings on August 18 to illustrate aneditorial onself-censorship andfreedom of religion.[78]
While several other leading Swedish newspapers had published the drawings already, this particular publication led to protests fromMuslims in Sweden as well as official condemnations from several foreign governments includingIran,[79]Pakistan,[80]Afghanistan,[81]Egypt[82] andJordan,[83] as well as by the inter-governmentalOrganisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).[84] The controversy occurred about one and a half years after theJyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy in Denmark in early 2006.
Another controversy emerged in September 2007 whenBangladeshi cartoonistArifur Rahman was detained on suspicion of showing disrespect to Muhammad. The interim government confiscated copies of theBengali-languageProthom Alo in which the drawings appeared. The cartoon consisted of a boy holding a cat conversing with an elderly man. The man asks the boy his name, and he replies "Babu". The older man chides him for not mentioning the name of Muhammad before his name. He then points to the cat and asks the boy what it is called, and the boy replies "Muhammad the cat".[citation needed]
The cartoon caused a firestorm in Bangladesh, with militantIslamists demanding that Rahman be executed forblasphemy. A group of peopletorched copies of the paper and several Islamic groups protested, saying the drawings ridiculed Muhammad and his companions. They demanded "exemplary punishment" for the paper's editor and the cartoonist. Bangladesh does not have ablasphemy law, although one had been demanded by the same fundamentalist Islamic groups.[citation needed]
In 2008, around 180,000 people, many of them Muslims, signed a petition protesting against the inclusion of Muhammad's depictions in theEnglish Wikipedia'sMuhammad article.[85][86][87]
The petition opposed a reproduction of a 17th-century Ottoman copy of a 14th-centuryIlkhanate manuscript image (MS Arabe 1489) depicting Muhammad as he prohibitedNasīʾ.[88] Jeremy Henzell-Thomas ofThe American Muslim deplored the petition as one of "these mechanical knee-jerk reactions [which] are gifts to those who seek every opportunity to decry Islam and ridicule Muslims and can only exacerbate a situation in which Muslims and the Western media seem to be locked in an ever-descending spiral of ignorance and mutual loathing."[89]
Wikipedia considered but rejected a compromise that would allow visitors to choose whether to view the page with images.[87] The Wikipedia community has not acted upon the petition.[85] The site's answers to frequently asked questions about these images state that Wikipedia doesnot censor itself for the benefit of any one group.[90]
On 2 November 2010, the office of the French satirical weekly newspaperCharlie Hebdo at Paris was attacked with a firebomb and its website hacked, after it had announced plans to publish a special edition with Muhammad as its “chief editor”, and the title page with a cartoon of Muhammad had been pre-issued on social media.[citation needed]
In September 2012, the newspaper published a series of satirical cartoons of Muhammad, some of which feature nude caricatures of him. In January 2013,Charlie Hebdo announced that they would make acomic book on the life of Muhammad.[92] In March 2013, Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, commonly known asAl-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a hit list in an edition of their English-language magazineInspire. The list includedStéphane Charbonnier,Lars Vilks, threeJyllands-Posten employees involved in the Muhammad cartoon controversy, Molly Norris from theEverybody Draw Mohammed Day and others whom AQAP accused of insulting Islam.[93]
On 7 January 2015, the office wasattacked again with 12 shot dead, including Stéphane Charbonnier, and 11 injured.[citation needed] A May 3, 2015, event held in Garland, Texas, held by American activistsPamela Geller andRobert Spencer, was the scene ofa shooting by two individuals who were later themselves shot and killed outside the event.[94] Police officers assisting in security at the event returned fire and killed the two gunmen. The event offered a $10,000 prize and was said to be in response to the January 2015 attacks onCharlie Hebdo. One of the gunmen was identified as a former terror suspect, known to theFederal Bureau of Investigation.[95]
On 16 October 2020, middle-school teacherSamuel Paty was killed and beheaded after showingCharlie Hebdo cartoons depicting Muhammad during a class discussion onfreedom of speech.[96]
In March 2021 a teacher atBatley Grammar School in England was suspended, and the headmaster issued an apology, after the teacher showed one or more of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons to pupils during a lesson. The incident sparked protests outside the school, demanding the resignation or sacking of the teacher involved.[97] Commenting on the situation, the UK government'sCommunities Secretary,Robert Jenrick, said teachers should be able to "appropriately show images of the prophet" in class and the protests are "deeply unsettling" due to the UK being a "free society". He added teachers should "not be threatened" by religious extremists.[98]
TheMetropolitan Museum of Art in January 2010 confirmed to theNew York Post that it had quietly removed all historic paintings which contained depictions of Muhammad from public exhibition. The Museum quoted objections on the part of conservative Muslims which were "under review". The museum's action was criticized as excessivepolitical correctness, as were other decisions taken close to the same time, including the renaming of the "Primitive Art Galleries" to the "Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas" and the projected "Islamic Galleries" to "Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia".[99]
In December 2022,Hamline University inSaint Paul, Minnesota did not renew the contract of an adjunct professor over an October 2022 global art history class showing Medieval-era paintings of Muhammad, despite the professor providing a content warning and allowing students to opt-out of the viewing. In response to criticism from the university'sMuslim Students Association chapter, Hamline's Vice President for Inclusive Excellence criticized the incident as Islamophobic.[100] TheFoundation for Individual Rights and Expression,PEN America,Muslim Public Affairs Council, andCouncil on American–Islamic Relations all issued statements supporting the professor's academic freedom.[101] In addition, the case prompted a formal investigation by theAmerican Association of University Professors.[102] In January 2023, the professor sued for religious discrimination and defamation, prompting Hamline University officials to retract their accusations of Islamophobia.[103]
General:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)[H]e was neither too tall nor too short, rather he was of medium height among people. His hair was neither short and curly, nor was it long and straight, it hung in waves. His face was neither fleshy nor plump, but it had a roundness; rosy white, with very dark eyes and long eyelashes. His face was neither fleshy nor plump, but it had a roundness, rosy white, with very dark eyes and long eyelashes. He was large-boned as well as broad shouldered, hairless except for a thin line that stretched down his chest to his navel. His hand and feet were coarse. When he walked he would lean foreward as if descending a hill [...] Between his two shoulders was the Seal of Prophethood, and he was the Seal of the Prophets.
