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How Images of the Prophet Muhammad Became "Forbidden"
(Washington Post) Terrence McCoy - Dozens of Pakistani lawmakers rumbled through the streets of Islamabad chanting: "Death to the blasphemers." The "blasphemers" in this case were the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists who recently published a fresh depiction of the prophet Muhammad on their weekly newspaper's cover in remembrance of the journalists who were killed in the Paris terrorist attack. "Making blasphemy cartoon of Prophet is the worst act of terrorism," declared a banner at the rally. "The Sketch Makers Must Be Hanged Immediately." The Koran, in fact, does not directly forbid the portrayal of Muhammad, Christine Gruber of the University of Michigan has written. The ban is a very modern construct. The most explicit fatwa banning the portrayal of Muhammad, she notes, arrived in 2001. Its creator was the Taliban. Hundreds of years ago the depiction of Muhammad in artwork was not all that uncommon. In non-Arab regions, researchers have unearthed a panoply of remarkable and detailed portraits of Muhammad that date before the 16th century. But such drawings were far rarer in the Arabian Peninsula. In modern times, Muhammad's image continued to appear in Muslim nations, including Iran, where until recently, the Guardian reported, carpets showing his image as well as postcards were openly sold.