Ban on Portraying Muhammad in the Media Essay Example
Ban on Portraying Muhammad in the Media Essay Example

Ban on Portraying Muhammad in the Media Essay Example

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  • Pages: 5 (1245 words)
  • Published: May 5, 2022
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If you respect something and want to show your respect towards something most people around the world would create a picture of it to show their respect, however, if this is to happen in the Muslim faith and a picture of Muhammad the prophet is created it could cost your life. Muhammad is known as the messenger of God and is a very important piece in Islamic faith, but the main question that needs to be answered is why can he not be pictured and what trouble has come from people picturing the prophet. Through analysis, this paper will examine who Muhammad was and why he was such an important role of Islam, The Muslim rule of reason behind not picturing the prophet and the violent outbreaks and protests caused by the depiction of Muhammad.

Muhammad is known as th

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e founder of Islam and by many is said as the final prophet, but it is very important to understand why Muhammad has earned these titles. Muhammad started his life as a normal man that was very spiritual, According to Greaves during one of Muhammad's spiritual retreat in the mountains at the age of forty, Muhammad was visited by Jibreel who was sent from Allah to recite divine revelations to Muhammad which is now known as the Quran. It was said that Jibreel visited Muhammad numerous times until the whole Quran was recited to Muhammad, allowing Muhammad to be able to spread the word to the others, which thus giving him the name of the messenger.

Many people did not welcome Muhammad's words in the beginning, taking almost ten years to be able to grow a large enoug

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following to be able to gain control of Mecca, thus making it easier to spread the word of Allah. Muhammad wanted it to be clear that the message of Islam was that the only god is Allah and that life should be lived in complete submission to the will of Allah, This proved to be a major factor in why people followed Muhammad because they believed the message. Muhammad claimed that he received revelations from Allah until the day that he died, this is why Muhammad was proclaimed the last Prophet.

According to Dr Hussain Muhammad gave three great gifts that were life changing and beneficial for all aspects in human life, the first gift being that Muhammad explained the true perspective of reality, explaining that Muhammad taught precious principles and values that enrich and make our lives worth living for, The second gift being Muhammad taught values of developing human relationships in this Muhammad taught that what matters most is the inner values of love and charity rather than power, wealth and fame, The last gift that Muhammad brought the world was promoting the use of reason and intellect, the Quran says that readers should use their reason and logical skills when observing physical entities around them. Dr Hussain also stated that the third gift is also the basis of scientific and empirical method, leading that Muhammad's teachings laid the foundations of modern science. It is important to understand what Muhammad has done for Islam and why he is so highly regarded to understand where the anger come from when he pictured.

In many other religions, it is accustomed that if you create a picture of

your religious figure, it is because one loves their religion and wants to express their affection. In Christianity people have created pictures with Jesus and God incorporated into their family photo and people do not blink an eye. This is not the case for the Muslim faith and a lot of trouble has occurred with the prophet Muhammad. There is no written rule in the Quran that states that one cannot depict a prophet, but it is more of an unwritten rule that has been followed for the longest time. According to Akbar Ahmed the prophet was aware that if people saw his face portrayed by people they would start worshiping him, so Muhammad was against such images and did not want people to idolize just a man. According to Ahmed early Muslims believe they had been led astray by perceiving that Christ was a god and not a man. This rule does not just limit itself to Muhammad, but is applied to any prophet including ones from Christian faith. At the end of the day this rule applies because of the rule Muhammad stated in the past, Allah is the only God and they do not want people idolizing or worshiping more than one person.

There are many different examples of what happens when one draws Muhammad, but some of the most notable were the Charlie Hebdo attack and the attacks of draw Muhammad day. There is not an attack every time someone draws Muhammad as most feel it as a reverse Idol worship, but there are extremists that feel very heavy about when someone dishonors Muhammad's word. The Charlie Hebdo magazine is known for

publishing offensive material that not all agree with and is known for being left- wing newspaper that likes to mock the government. On this occasion Charlie Hebdo released a cover photo with a cartoon of Muhammad with the caption saying 100 lashes if you do not die of laughter, this came after numerous attacks on US embassies because of an anti Islamic film.

According to David Raven, Al Qaeda made the three cartoonist a top enemy to target, gunmen wearing masks and vests entered the meeting where the columnists met, killing twelve people; eight employees and two maintenance employees. Three days after the attack Charlie Hebdo released another cover with Muhammad again holding a sign that reads “Je suis Charlie”, thus showing that they were not scared of the threats and will continue on. The second major attack occurred on a day called draw Muhammad day, which came after the show South Park started to receive death threats for trying to show Muhammad in a cartoon. Molly Norris claimed that if people draw pictures of Muhammad terrorist could not get to them all, this was also supported by people who felt they were protected under the first amendment and could draw whatever they felt. According to Catherine Shoichet two men in body armor and assault rifles entered the Dallas area cartoon exhibit and killed two and injured many more, one of the men declared his loyalty to ISIS. It was also claimed by the men that this was because everyone was disrespecting the culture.

Through Analysis it has been shown the importance of Muhammad, why in the Muslim faith people are upset when the drawing of Muhammad

comes about and deadly examples that have stemmed off by drawing the Prophet. The more we know about other cultures, customs the less likely we are upset, people inadvertently and the better off this world will be.

Works cited

  1. Burke, D. (2015, May 04). Why Islam forbids images of Mohammed. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/04/living/islam-prophet-images/index.html
  2. Musharraf, H. How relevant is the Prophet Muhammad today? (2017, September 07). Retrieved from http://www.musharrafhussain.com/how-relevant-is-the-prophet-today
  3. Pearson, M. (2011, July 08). Religions - Islam: Prophet Muhammad (570-632). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/muhammad_1.shtml
  4. Shoichet, C. (2015, May 05). Two killed at Mohammed cartoon event in Garland, Texas. Retrieved June 17, 2018, from https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/04/us/garland-mohammed-drawing-contest-shooting/index.html
  5. 2015 Charlie Hebdo Attacks Fast Facts. (2017, December 25). Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/europe/2015-paris-terror-attacks-fast-facts/index.html
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