Why Everything Is So Sacrilegious To Muslims Across The Globe?

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 11 January 2023 The Indian Express (Jan 10) carried a news item that an adjutant Professor, Erika Lopez Prater, at Hamline University in the US was fired for showing a 14th-century painting of Muhammad to students of the Global Art History class. This news first appeared in NYT. A fanatic Muslim speaker compared showing the images of Muhammad to teaching that Hitler was good! Everything is sacrilegious or blasphemous in this desert faith! These zealots, even living in the US, haven't changed. The (Muslim) students of Global Art History must know that in its history of 1400 years, there have been paintings of Muhammad. Arab Muslim countries have shunned all depictions of the human form ever since Islam swept across the region, with early leaders anxious to make a sharp break with the pagan beliefs and idols it displaced. But the same wasn't true for Persian and Turkish areas where Islam took root. According to Professor Christiane Gruber of the University of Michigan, an expert in depictions of Muhammad in Islamic art, the first surviving pictures from these regions date back to the mid-13th century and were not restricted to any sect. So, why should looking upon an image of Muhammad, for many 'modern' Muslims, is against their faith? Some Muslim morons and imbeciles even consider taking pictures and selfies as blasphemous! My question is: Does your Allah nit-pick all the time? Doesn't it have anything worthwhile to do? Who makes whose image? Who worships whom? Methinks, all these ridiculously petty concerns are your Allah's hobby-horses. Allah-hu-Akbar! Jokes apart, why does this concept of sacrilege or blasphemy still exist in Islam in modern times? No other religion entertains the idea of blasphemy. By the way, all these rabid fanatics should read my piece ' Why blasphemy is alien to Hinduism ' (TOI, Nov. 24, 2016). Here I'm not pitting Islam against all man-made bogus faiths. But to apply Benedict Spinoza's Level of Fatuous and Fanatic Intensity, Islam is the most fanatic faith with elements of fatuous intensity. One zealot Rasheed thinks that I'm particularly against Islam. Yes, I'm particularly vocal against Islam in the sense that having studied all religions and cults, I've not found any religion as ossified and obstinate as Islam has been since its inception in the Arabic desert. If Hindus thrashed and fractured all my bones (still not with a view to killing me) for criticising their faith and practices, Muslims left no stone unturned to eliminate me. Three fatal attacks on me bear testimony to this Islamic zealotry and terrorism. I know, I cannot cheat death time and again and these zealots will eventually have the last laugh when the 'vultures' will feast on my dead body with triumphant shrieks. In short, Islam cannot tolerate criticism. One non-Muslim reader rightly pointed out that no Muslim on this forum ever agreed with me on any count. And they'll never, because I show the warts and wounds of their faith. It's time for the followers of this desert faith to see beyond their Quran, Allah and Muhammad and live with the modern world without creating nuisance and killing anyone for painting the images of Muhammad or Allah. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/sacrilegious-muslims-globe/d/128850 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism