Kay Zagrodny

Prophet Muhammad in the Danish Press

by Kay Zagrodny

On September 20^th, 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten started a major controversy by publishing cartoons that depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The cartoon’s headline can be translated into “The Face of Muhammad” and it contained 12 images of Muhammad interpreted and drawn by professional cartoonists in Denmark. This spurred a string of protests in Muslim communities around the world and a major debate about free speech and the rights of censorship. The following is a copy of the cartoon that was originally on page 3 of the Jyllands-Posten culture section:

In response to the backlash and political protests that this carton created, Fleming Rose wrote an article in the Washington Post about why he chose to publish these cartoons (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/17/AR2006021702499.html)

Rose states that his main reason for publishing the cartoon was to address the issues of self-censorship in Europe out of fear of confronting Islamic issues. He did not ask the cartoonists to make fun of the prophet, but prompted them to “draw Muhammad as you see him”. The images that were created are individual ideas that play on different political, social, and religious levels.

 In this article Rose attempts to justify the most offensive depiction that portrayed Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. He states that the bomb is not coming from Islam or the Prophet, but from influences of the outside world. Is playing into these preexisting stereotypes really worth having to justify in the end though? Rose tries to assert that other religions are portrayed negatively in the media frequently, but he doesn’t address the issue that all of these uninformed stereotypes may be offensive and shouldn’t be published in the first place. A level of respect should be maintained, particularly for a figure as revered in a religion as Muhammad. Muhammad is the prophet who delivered the words of God and as Esposito states in Islam: The Straight Path, “Muhammad introduced a new moral order in which the origin and end of all actions was the not self or tribal interest but God’s will”. Humorizing and satirizing such an important figure in Islam is demeaning to the religion as a whole.   

Rose apologizes for those who he may have offended with the cartoon and states that while he shows his own respect for all the religions, he feels the newspaper has the right to publish any worthwhile material, even if it may be offensive. The limits of self-censorship were tested with these cartoons and although it brought a new awareness to the positive aspects of Islam as Muslims defended themselves, it also resulted in violent protests and deaths from around the world. One of the biggest questions that is raised is whether publishing the cartoons was really worth it. While an increased awareness and understanding of the religion of Islam may have been needed for Europe, there are many more culturally acceptable ways that may not have provoked the same level of violence and outrage.