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September 12th, 2012
12:06 PM ET
Ambassador's killing shines light on Muslim sensitivities around Prophet MohammedBy Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editors (CNN) – Violence over depictions of the Prophet Mohammed may mystify many non-Muslims, but it speaks to a central tenet of Islam: that the Prophet was a man, not God, and that portraying him threatens to lead to worshiping a human instead of Allah. “It's all rooted in the notion of idol worship,” says Akbar Ahmed, who chairs the Islamic Studies department at American University. “In Islam, the notion of God versus any depiction of God or any sacred figure is very strong." “The Prophet himself was aware that if people saw his face portrayed by people, they would soon start worshiping him,” Ahmed says. “So he himself spoke against such images, saying ‘I’m just a man.’” The prohibition against such portrayals was on stark display Tuesday, as mobs in Egypt and Libya attacked U.S. compounds in response to a film that vilifies the Prophet Mohammed, who founded Islam in the 7th century. The attack on the U.S. personnel in Benghazi, Libya, was orchestrated by extremists who used the protests as a diversion, U.S. sources told CNN Wednesday. The attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi killed J. Christopher Stevens, Washington's ambassador to Libya, as well as three other Americans at the compound. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter The film that’s believed to have inspired the violence depicts the Prophet Mohammed as a child molester, womanizer and ruthless killer, going a big step beyond violating the basic Muslim prohibition against depicting the Prophet, even in a favorable light. There are questions about who is behind the movie. Initial reports identified a supposedly Israeli-American real-estate developer named Sam Bacile, but it's unclear if that person even exists. A member of the film's production staff told CNN that the producer's name was listed as Abenob Nakoula Basseley. In Sunni mosques, the largest branch of the faith, there are no images of people of any kind. The spaces are often decorated with verses from the Quran. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories Mohamed Magid, an imam who leads the Islamic Society of North America, says the Muslim prohibition on depicting prophets extends to Jesus and Moses, who Islam treats as prophets. “Pictures and images are prohibited from being worshiped,” Magid says. There have been historical instances of Muslims depicting the Prophet, says Omid Safi, a religious studies professor at the University of North Carolina who has studied the issue. "We have had visual depictions of the Prophet in the form of miniatures and pictures in the Iranian context, the Turkish context, the central Asian Context,” says Safi, author of the book "Memories of Mohammed." “The one significant context where depictions of the Prophet have not been image-related has been in the Arab context.” “As you go farther east, away from the Arabian Peninsula, you find depictions of the prophet in art,” said Johari Abdul-Malik, the imam for Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia. He noted that images of the teachings of the prophet were sometimes used to bridge gaps in illiteracy. But even depictions of the Prophet by Muslim artists has been a sensitive issue. Akbar, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United Kingdom, says that Muslim artists in the 15th and 16th centuries would depict the Prophet but took pains to avoid drawing his face. “It would be as if he was wearing a veil on his face, so the really orthodox could not object – that was the solution they found," Akbar says. In a Muslim film called “The Messenger,” which circulated throughout the Muslim world in the 1970s and 1980s, the Prophet is depicted only as a shadow. Adbul-Malik said that in the Quran, there is “no statement from the prophet requesting his image not be recorded.” The passages relating to a ban on creating images of the prophets come from the hadith, recordings of the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed and his closest companions. The hadith is not viewed on the same plane as the Quran but as important to understanding the Quran. Scholars of religion say Muslim opposition to portraying Mohammed wasn’t generally violated in earlier centuries because of a gulf between much of the Muslim world and the West. In the age of globalization, non-Muslims and critics of Islam have felt free to depict Mohammed, including in offensive ways. In 2006, a Danish cartoonist’s depiction of the Prophet wearing a bomb as a turban with a lit fuse provoked demonstrations across the world. Akbar says that until relatively recently, depictions of Jesus tended to be reverential, but Christianity has had a decades-long head start in dealing with negative portrayals of Jesus in film and art. soundoff (4,725 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 Next » |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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I believe that allah and beelzebub are the same enity.
You hit the nail on the head; I consider you a person of great intelligence and a born mathematician. Your statement of equivalency Mohammed = Satan is indisputable. Mohammed was pervert as are all the women-hating thugs who keep their heads bowed and their asses in our faces.
If the prophet is just a man as they say, then it makes these blowups even stupider. They are killingn over a picture of a man. Anyone want to diagnose that mental state? What we need to do is to define the killing of a citizen of the US as an act of war. The best way of dealing with a bully is to ball your fist up and knock him on his butt. Pull all funding to Lybia. Reduce the Lybian government buildings to rubble in response to the kiling. Let the Middle East know that if you choose to pick a fight with the big guy on the block, you just might get hit back...
Great Post
Notice closely who the people are who are causing the riots and the ones who are inciting people to cause the riots.
They are all MEN. Its MEN who cause all the problems in the world today. Overly testosteroned, out of control, MEN.
This murder of our ambassador is an act of war
Muhammad is a fake evil prophet
I don't heard all the Muslims living here in the US saying anything about this outrage and murder so they must think it's ok
It's remarkable, from what I read, that the problem is not offending someone's feelings about this Prophet Muhammad, but creating an image of him. Images are banned because someone might think to worship them. Allah is to be worshiped, not the Prophet. I feel an almost overwhelming urge to raise a golden idol of this Prophet and invite people to burn offerings to him, and maybe engage in ritualized sex acts with "virgins" dedicated to him.
Muslims are "sensitive" about portrayals of Muhammed, because to do so is idolatry. So, they kill because of it, like idolaters. Got it. Islam and modern democracies have no business together.
wow. you nailed it Paul.
The religion of 'pi*s' at it again. MothaFoca, there is no doubt that the muslim "umma" has the following strategy to conquer the world, their population is divided in following categories:
– 5 % terror squad (suicide bombin, et.al.) to keep others in fear of Islam
– 10% violent jehadists to cause trouble in lands where they are not majority (well even where there is majority with sizeable minorities)
– 10 % fundamentalist clergy/educated people to direct and brainwash idiots of the religion to execute jihadist work.
– 50% population are apologists and white washing types who do PR work to make islam look good. They create liaison offices, propaganda, laundering, media control, etc.
– 20% probably are too scared to do or say anything for fear of persecution by the top 25%
– 5% are probably worried about the direction of Islam and they are peace loving but can't do anything due to serious minority status withing the religious umma.
So we have to worry a lot. I see this monster in India already with the muslims not only causing terror but taking over print/tv/movie media. Not to say they are complete voting block anywhere in the world.
Mohammed was what he was...he was a man. A man who just happened to also do some pretty nasty stuff we are not allowed to mention or we must be silenced to death. I bet nobody in Nazi Germany was allowed to talk about what Hitler did either.
You are at the pith of this Pewdro. Thanks for your thinking on this.
This is a pretty dumb thing to start wars and kill people over. If you are Muslim and don't want to depict images of Mohammed then do that. But it makes a religion seem intolerant, bigoted, and just foolish to get upset if a non-believer shows an image. besides, they are getting mad at things that are not really images of their prophet. Do they even know what he looks like? It is as foolish if a Christian were to get upset over the depiction of a white Jesus. Jesus was more than likely not a white anglo saxon.
CNN....Please inform your headline writers....the words are "violent" and "ignorant" not "sensitive.
thanks for the article, im glad to see that there are some out there trying to understand our religion before judging it
I think I understand. You fear we'll start worshiping your prophet as God, so you better kill people.
I've got news for you, it isn't going to happen.
azam, here is what I posted earlier:
The religion of 'pi*s' at it again. MothaFoca, there is no doubt that the muslim "umma" has the following strategy to conquer the world, their population is divided in following categories:
– 5 % terror squad (suicide bombin, et.al.) to keep others in fear of Islam
– 10% violent jehadists to cause trouble in lands where they are not majority (well even where there is majority with sizeable minorities)
– 10 % fundamentalist clergy/educated people to direct and brainwash idiots of the religion to execute jihadist work.
– 50% population are apologists and white washing types who do PR work to make islam look good. They create liaison offices, propaganda, laundering, media control, etc. These folks may be rejoicing at the fact that Islam is taking over all over the world by hook or crook.
– 20% probably are too scared to do or say anything for fear of persecution by the top 25%
– 5% are probably worried about the direction of Islam and they are peace loving but can't do anything due to serious minority status withing the religious umma.
So we have to worry a lot. I see this monster in India already with the muslims not only causing terror but taking over print/tv/movie media. Not to say they are complete voting block anywhere in the world.
Azam – please explain the meaning of the statement, "O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." For starters.
Paul, let me start by saying I'm not a scholar or anything like that. This line definitely does not refer to all jews and christians, we are taught to be just and kind to everyone of all faiths. My understanding is that this refers to a time in islamic history, where muslims were being attacked. The people attacking the muslims were the "christians and jews" being referred to here. Again, I'm not a scholar but if you really are interested, I would be more than happy to contact someone who is more knowledgeable than me and give you a proper answer. I guarantee you it doesn't mean what you think it means. Much of what is written in the Quran is based on historical events and you have to read the whole thing before finalizing your opinion. Islam is a religion of tolerance!
[9.29] Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.
Gmck, in my opinion, a physical fight is not being referred to here. It's more about defending your religion verbally. You shouldn't just stay quiet when your religion is being questioned or criticized, but you should explain your religion and try to convince the others. That's how I look at this line, maybe others will have different opinion, or maybe I am wrong and an islamic scholar can tell you. But, again, I guarantee you, it is not telling us to physically fight all non-believers.
The Film is called “Innocence of Muslims,” directed by California-based Israeli Sam Bacile
Islam is the deadliest cancer and the sad news like all cancer it is spreading . America should absolutely stop immigration from any muslim countries who come to US with ten children and their sick ideaology before its too late ! Islam is the deadliest thing on earth as of now . ! Justr imagine just few months back US helpo free libya from a Islamic traitor and now they have turned thier back on US and killed its own people and thats eaxaclty what they have been doing in Afganistan . You can sleep with deadleist snake in the world but you can nver trust a muzlim .STOP ISLAMAIZATION in Europe and North America ,Practice your Islam and jihad in your own country !
They are out there in force! They are taking over from outside and from in side!
I have never met a muslim family person who have less than 3 kids, whatever be there sociio-economy status are. IN fact if they are poor, more likely 4-6 kids as I see in India. Just do the math!
"Islam is the deadliest cancer and the sad news like all cancer it is spreading . America should absolutely stop immigration from any muslim countries who come to US with ten children and their sick ideaology before its too late ! Islam is the deadliest thing on earth as of now . ! Justr imagine just few months back US helpo free libya from a Islamic traitor and now they have turned thier back on US and killed its own people and thats eaxaclty what they have been doing in Afganistan . You can sleep with deadleist snake in the world but you can nver trust a muzlim .STOP ISLAMAIZATION in Europe and North America ,Practice your Islam and jihad in your own country !"
What disgusting misinforming words. Islam believes in peace and equality, and condemns violence in every way. A muslim would never kill another sacred human being, just because someone does something bad in the name of Islam doesn't make them a Muslim. Terrorism goes against the beliefs of Islam, and you are wholly wrong for believe that it is the cause. Ghadafi was not a Muslim, dont just make assumptions just like any bigoted person. Currently the situation in Libya is worse than the previous oppression, where each individual tribe is at war, thousand are still dying or being held in prisons. What you say is just purely racist and you are saying someone is bad for just being a Muslim. There are people who are against any American it is the same principle and you are just the same as them. Jihad has nothing to do with terrorism. It is a struggle. Struggling to pass an exam could be classified as Jihad. Im guessing you are one of the 30% of Americans who have never been abroad, the thing is they are so unaware of international issues and only believe what is say through the press. America has caused many conflicts in the Middle East, in the last thirty years it has been involved and tampering with Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and more, if you keep getting attacked you cant blame people for hating the people attacking them.
I find it interesting that they get so upset over their religion being insulted that they say there is no God, only Allah. Well isn't that insulting my religion because I believe in God? And to kill in the name of religion does not compute in my common sense brain. I believe that God and Allah do not believe in killing certainly in the name of religion. In today's world we all need very thick skin as any and everything is acceptable. Just watc TV for 5 minutes.
Hi Linda, we actually believe in the same God Christians and Jews (people of the book) believe in. That line is there to specify that we don't believe in any other gods
Allah means God in Arabic.
God and Allah are the same meanings. God in English, Allah in Arabic. I'm sorry the education system failed you.
azam allow me to suggest that today, on this forum is not the time or place for you to practice islam apologetics
This is not no God but Allah, it is also appropriate to say no god but God in islam, Allah is referred to the same God in Islam as was God of Jesus and Joseph.
Let me expand your horizon, Allah is God in Arabic – nothing else.
Look at the 50%er I describe below out in full force to whitewash this terrible event! Traitors!
The religion of 'pi*s' at it again. MothaFoca, there is no doubt that the muslim "umma" has the following strategy to conquer the world, their population is divided in following categories:
– 5 % terror squad (suicide bombin, et.al.) to keep others in fear of Islam
– 10% violent jehadists to cause trouble in lands where they are not majority (well even where there is majority with sizeable minorities)
– 10 % fundamentalist clergy/educated people to direct and brainwash idiots of the religion to execute jihadist work.
– 50% population are apologists and white washing types who do PR work to make islam look good. They create liaison offices, propaganda, laundering, media control, etc. These folks may be rejoicing at the fact that Islam is taking over all over the world by hook or crook.
– 20% probably are too scared to do or say anything for fear of persecution by the top 25%
– 5% are probably worried about the direction of Islam and they are peace loving but can't do anything due to serious minority status withing the religious umma.
So we have to worry a lot. I see this monster in India already with the muslims not only causing terror but taking over print/tv/movie media. Not to say they are complete voting block anywhere in the world.
By be threatened by a stupid film? What does that say?
To the jerk whose moniker is 'reader':
If you get upset that someone says something bad about your parents, do you kill them and burn their house down?
The answer is obviously 'yes' if you are muslim. These people make cavemen look like advanced civilization. And I, for one, don't give a holy damn why they are sensitive. Try to remember that islam is a johnny-come-lately compared to Judaism and Christianity. Seems like if they had to dream up a religion, they could installed at the center of their newly constructed belief somone other than a pervert.
How sad, no one realizes the alleged filmmaker's alleged name is really part of the mystery: there is no "Sam Bacile" But there is an IMBECILE who made this film in the first place...I just wonder who really made it and if their goal wasn't to incite the violence they did.
Imbecile? Seems like you're the pot calling the kettle black. I'll bet you're the type who would be found carrying a sign about freedom of speech if someone tried to prevent you from spewing such stupidity.
really????? a film inciting violence.....and you blame the maker of the film......our world is screwed
I do think the muslim hypersensitivity (insanity) over their prophet will eventually lead to unrest worldwide. Do extremist muslims really think the world will sit by forever without responding to this kind of thing? Does anyone sense that people across the world are getting fed up with it? I think that any "fear" over what a crazy muslim might do if anyone dares mock their prophet or their koran is fading fast and people's indignation is becoming stronger than any fear, which unfortunately could cause serious violence all over the world in response to this kind of terrorism.Just an observation.
It is plain stupid and uncivilized to unnecessarily provoke someone just to test their limit of tolerance. The best approach is not to be unnecessarily disturbed by others AND not to unnecessarily disturb others.
Not nearly as uncivilized as killing over a film. Fundamentalist Muslims need to stop living in the stone age
I think they shouldn't be trigger happy to jump on violence. They need to learn more tolerance
@Ben -
now you are talking relative - they are more uncivilized than us. it is better to be an example of what we preach. why don't we present a more civilized example and claim a higher ground. otherwise we reduce the whole thing to a case of dogs barking at dogs calling each other a dog.
@Kannan –
words are cheap! we will see how you will react if someone calls your mom and sister a wh0re in your face. better not to disturb others unnecessarily – why go looking for trouble – while there is already so much trouble in this world without asking for it.
Are we supposed to walk on eggs because some of these uneducated idiots go berserk over their religion. They are totally uncivilized and it's no wonder some of them still live in caves. If they think they are defending God, I think God is big enough to defend himself.
Do you think if the same thing was said about Jesus we would act like them? No, because they are ignorant and cling to their beliefs as if they have the corner on the truth. In the name of their religion they act like neanderthals.
Islam encourages murder of everyone who opposes islam. Who but CNN is surprised this is happening? Islam and Muslims need to be exterminated.
Mojo1, you sound a bit Hitler...
Also, Muslims are about 1.5 billion people, it won't be an easy task