Political Cartoons Draw Lines & Often Cross Them, But Should They?

"Witnesses to Wednesday’s attack at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo said the shooters claimed to have acted out of reverence for Muhammad, whose image has appeared in several of the paper’s cartoons mocking the Islamic prophet. The gunmen, who may have had ties to Al Qaeda, said the attack “avenged” the prophet for the paper’s lampooning.

Depicting the prophet in images and illustrations is not -- in itself -- traditionally held to be blasphemous in Islam, according to religion experts. “There’s no blanket prohibition that you can point to from classical times,” David Cook, professor of Islamic studies at Rice University in Texas, told International Business Times. In fact, the Quran makes no mention of banning images of Muhammad, and his visage continues to appear in books and on figurines. “There are still sections of the Muslim world where you can buy these things,” Cook said. “I picked up a Muhammad keychain in Malaysia,” a country whose population is majority Muslim.

Portrayals of Muhammad have appeared in Islamic texts throughout Muslim history, especially in pre-modern texts from between the 14th and 19th centuries, according to scholars. But unlike the Charlie Hebdo caricatures, those historical depictions portrayed the prophet in a reverential light, including his ascension into heaven. “Now you have a whole series of people taking Muhammad and portraying him in ways that are very offensive or semi-offensive,” Cook said.“* John Iadarola (TYT University), Dave Rubin (Rubin Report), Jimmy Dore (The Jimmy Dore Show) and Ben Mankiewicz break it down.

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