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A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job

nytimes.com

21–30 of 294 posts

Re: A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job

#21
post #3

Isn't it prohibited to depict any of god's creations in some/many/all Islamic sects? Thus all the interesting geometric patterns. Does that mean that virtually all Western art is islamaphobic? At what point does the demand that Western art doesn't do something that offend Islam itself become westernphobic.

This isn't Western art, it's classical Persian art, done by Muslims for Muslims. This is beyond stupid, it's plain fanaticism. These students should be sent to Iran or Afghanistan to get their feelings right. I have absolutely no patience for this sort of fascism disguised as victimisation.

Re: A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job

#22
post #3

Isn't it prohibited to depict any of god's creations in some/many/all Islamic sects? Thus all the interesting geometric patterns. Does that mean that virtually all Western art is islamaphobic? At what point does the demand that Western art doesn't do something that offend Islam itself become westernphobic.

It is not prohibited by the Quran at all, at least I’ve never found a reference in the Quran that indicates that it is forbidden. Please do correct me if I’m wrong, it’s been many years since I last read the Quran.

The Bible however, does actually forbid it: Exodus 20:4

I seem to remember that Jehovas Witnesses actually practice this as they take the words of the Bible literally.

I’m by no way an expert on theology, mainly interested on a hobby level, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Re: A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job

#23
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At what point does the demand that Western art doesn't do something that offend Islam itself become westernphobic. The standard response is that there can be no such thing as Westernphobia because the West is powerful and Islam is weak, just as there can be no such thing as anti-white racism because whites are powerful and nonwhites are weak.

Thus apparently extends to gender or rather sexuality as well recently. I've been banned for asking why my sexuality - heterosexual, is excluded, actually not even asked why but if a flag representing my sexuality existed, since there were a bunch of flags that represented every possible spectrum, even asexuality. I am not at all racist, my best friend has dark skin, but I also can't help but notice that on social ne…

If you want representation for red-skinned people you should go to the popular tourist spots in Spain and find some British people. Outside of that I don't think there are many people who'd identify themselves that way.

Re: A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job

#25
post #4

In Europe she would be likely be dead or in protective custody. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10655679/Teacher-30... https://www.france24.com/en/france/20211015-the-violence-sho...

The response from a caricature vs a respectful historical depiction may be very different. Remember that in US this happened not a long time ago: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabbing_of_Salman_Rushdie

[flagged]

Re: A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job

#27
post #18

[flagged]

Islam isn’t a country. It’s an ideology that can be practiced by anyone.

Just one more reason why we shouldn't care. A person's freedom to practice Islam does not imply an obligation from me to give any remote fuck.

Re: A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job

#28
post #3

Isn't it prohibited to depict any of god's creations in some/many/all Islamic sects? Thus all the interesting geometric patterns. Does that mean that virtually all Western art is islamaphobic? At what point does the demand that Western art doesn't do something that offend Islam itself become westernphobic.

This is a nonsensical conclusion because obviously the Muslim world doesn’t perceive western art in this way. I do think there is a distinct difference between expecting respect from people that you share space with. Someone will surely reply about the violence some people partake in. Violence is never okay and is the route of maybe 0.5% of people, so I think basing how you interact with an entire demographic of people on that is myopic.

Re: A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job

#29
post #3

Isn't it prohibited to depict any of god's creations in some/many/all Islamic sects? Thus all the interesting geometric patterns. Does that mean that virtually all Western art is islamaphobic? At what point does the demand that Western art doesn't do something that offend Islam itself become westernphobic.

Historically speaking, prohibiting depictions of Muhammad are a recent concept in Sunni Islam, especially the Saudi driven Wahhabism which is extremely conservative. Over history art as always been a huge part of Islamic life. This painting has been revered for centuries. The only reason this time it caused the school to go berserk is a single student complained, leading to overreaction in fear. Details: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/08/an-art...

Re: A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job

#30
post #14

Edit as this is flagged by many people already: My opinion is all art and historical text should be discussed and talked about. Apparently an attempt to share the context is not very appreciated here. No horse in the race but I find it important to try to understand the perspective from all sides. Apparently its similar to showing a swastika or hail hitler. People have been punished for that as well: https://www.thef…

This is classical Persian Muslim art they're complaining about. Not Charlie Hebdo caricatures... Figure that, then weep.
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