Meg Ireland wrote:
I've been going through the Koran on this issue.
Perhaps someone more
knowledgable in this area could inform me but it's my understanding
that the image ban pertains to Allah, and the only ban I can see on
Muhammad is on people "worshipping" images.
Chapter 42, verse 11: "[Allah is] the originator of the heavens and
the earth... [there is] nothing like a likeness of Him."
Chapter 21, verses 52-54: "[Abraham] said to his father and his
people: 'What are these images to whose worship you cleave?' They
said: 'We found our fathers worshipping them.' He said: 'Certainly you
have been, you and your fathers, in manifest error.'"
In a wider context it includes all images, not just Muhammad. It's
down to defining what exactly is "worshipping" when placed in an
encyclopaedia.
There is also the issue of Persian art where Muhammad is depicted.
Apparently the Shia, as opposed to Sunni, are less strict on their
interpretation on where the image can be shown.
It's not in the Koran, it's in the Hadith.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith
Islam, like all the major religions, is a mixture of holy books and
established traditions. The petitioners seem to be almost entirely unaware
of the history of their traditions. Some of them claim that the image in
question couldn't possibly be of muslim origin, because no muslim would
create such an image.
But that's not my problem, it's not my job to tell them how to live their
lives, or how to interpret their holy books. Many Christians are unaware
of the history of their tradition to completely disregard Old Testament
law -- a tradition begun by Paul some time after the death of Jesus in
order to encourage non-Jews to join. That's not my problem either.
What is relevant is what offends people here and now. This one image in
question obviously does. It's a pity we don't have any representatives of
those offended here on this list to mediate a compromise -- it seems to me
that both the people suggesting compromises in this thread and the people
refuting them have very little understanding of what is actually necessary
to answer the objections of the moderate petitioners.
-- Tim Starling