Depictions of Muhammad

often published some reports about religions and politics. For example, the cover of a 2011 issue retitled Charia Hebdo (fr) (French for Sharia Weekly), featured a cartoon of Muhammad, whose depiction is forbidden in some interpretations of Islam. Moreover, in 2012, the newspaper published a series of satirical cartoons of Muhammad, including nude caricatures. Such actions raised much resentment among Muslim countries. Therefore, Charlie Hebdo’s office was ever fire-bombed and its website was…

Complexities in Islamic Iconoclasm Defined as the rejection and destruction of figural images, iconoclasm in the Islamic world has been seen as the “long, culturally determined, and unchanging tradition of violent…acts". It may be carried out in the context of Islam or against the icons of another faith, as evinced by the destruction of Christian and pagan idols. However, G.R.D. King and Finbarr Barry Flood argue in their articles that Islamic iconoclasm in the past and present must be…

question a thing you can’t see. So is that why there are so many other religions have created images and idols of deities and Gods to have a physical presence? One must learn from Islamic art that it is not necessary to have a physical presence or a depiction of a God to feel his presence and worship him. In the Qur’an Allah describes all creations and possibilities as being divine. So many artists use calligraphy to communicate with Allah the beauty of His descriptions and creations rather than…

Slavery was a key component in the establishment of the United States. Without slavery, the Europeans wouldn’t have much success in expanding the New World. As for the slaves, people assume that they were captured Africans sold to explorers, entrepreneurs and slave-owners for profit in the expansion of land, faster production in crops, and made life easier for the White-Angelo-sax(Europeans). But, what many American schools fail to recognize, is the religious affirmation of the enslaved, Islam…

Hanan Al-Shaykh and Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea, Middle Eastern literature depicts the Muslim women in a different manner than Western media through characterization/gender roles and figurative language. In order to further understand the depiction of women in these books, the culture, the background, and historical context of the books must be analyzed. Historically, when Islam emerged in 600 BC, the religion liberated the woman from the many oppressive laws of the time. However, the…

were decorated by painting or carving sacred text as art work (191). Mosques, madrasahs, and mausoleums were decorated with "both Qur'anic verses and historical dates" (Schimmel, Islamic 4). In fact, any place where man wanted to glorify God and Muhammad, the "splendors of calligraphy" were used to provide "the final touch of grandeur" to develop the reputation of the building (Khatibi and Sijelmassi 191). Kufic was the principal form (practically the only form) of calligraphy used in…

from the life of Muhammad. • Muhammad became an orphan after the death of his mother when he was six years old and was raised by his uncle starting from age eight. • In 594, Muhammad married Khadija bint Khawalayd, a wealth Meccan merchant that he was working for in his early twenties. • An angel named Gabriel that called him to prophethood around 610 approached Muhammad. • In 613, Muhammad began discussing his encounters with the angel to his tribe members. • On June 8, 632 Muhammad died in…

The Arabian Nights allows the reader to get a glimpse of Islamic civilization. One can find a deeper understanding of Islamic society and the values they hold dear. Values such as faith and wisdom are crucial to their civilization. It would not be an exaggeration to state that the Islamic society is based around faith and wisdom. These two values Faith and Wisdom are constantly presented throughout the stories in The Arabian Nights. Analyzing the values in The Arabian Nights can also be seen as…

discovering the true meaning of Islam. Steger believes “Globalization is the process through which local economics, politics, culture and environments become more inter-connected and inter-dependent” (Foody, Class Lecture). Islamic convert, Michael Muhammad Knight, experiences globalization through his travels across the globe in search of developing his own personal relationship and meaning of Islam through various Islamic practices. As Knight grew up and converted to Islam in America, his…

final prophet Muhammad. At this time the main religions where polytheistic and many God’s and idols were worshipped. Muslims, the adherents of Islam, believe that the prophet Abraham was the first Muslim because he was the first to believe in a single God. The word Islam means the submission to God and Muslims use the Five Pillars of Islam as a belief framework to live life submitting to Allah’s will, these include The declaration of faith ("There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is the…