# Mohammed cartoon (Oh, no. Not again.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461 "2012-09-12T01:42:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/1 "2012-09-12T01:42:58Z")
Can somebody please explain to me the whole “we’ll kill you for drawing a picture and saying it’s Mohammed” thing? If you’re not allowed to draw pictures of him, then how do you know it’s him in the picture? Because I say so? It could be Mohammed Ali, then. If you don’t know what he looks like, how can you persecute me for drawing “him”? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/2 "2012-09-12T02:09:49Z")
Link to the story? ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/3 "2012-09-12T02:15:04Z")
[http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/11/warning-shots-fired-as-cairo-protesters-storm-u-s-embassy-walls/?hpt=hp\_t1](http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/11/warning-shots-fired-as-cairo-protesters-storm-u-s-embassy-walls/?hpt=hp_t1) ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/4 "2012-09-12T02:30:15Z")
It’s usually pretty obvious from context. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/5 "2012-09-12T02:31:06Z")
There’s nothing about a cartoon this time. The movie is just supposed to be insulting to Islam and to Muhammad. The basic idea behind the ban is that Islam forbids idols and graven images the same way Judaism and Christianity do, and it’s taken very seriously. Over time, the prohibition was interpreted by many Muslims (not all, but most) as a ban on depicting any person or basically any animal, and Islamic calligraphy and other types of art were born. You might think that would just mean Muslims shouldn’t draw Muhammad and who cares what anyone else does, but if you think that way you’re probably not a religious fanatic. > **[Aniconism in Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniconism_in_Islam)** > > In some forms of Islamic art, aniconism (the avoidance of images of sentient beings) stems in part from the prohibition of idolatry and in part from the belief that the creation of living forms is God's prerogative. > The Quran itself does not prohibit visual representation of any living being. The hadith collection of Sahih Bukhari explicitly prohibits the making of images of living beings, challenging painters who "breathe life" into their images and threatening them with punishment on the Day o... > [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > If you’re not allowed to draw pictures of him, then how do you know it’s him in the picture? Because I say so? It doesn’t matter if it looks like him. If you say you’ve drawn Muhammad, then your intention was to draw Muhammad and that’s enough. That’s not the weird part here. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/6 "2012-09-12T02:39:54Z")
If someone’s enough of a psychopath to murder you for portraying a historical figure, the important part isn’t the portrayal, it’s the psychopathy. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/7 "2012-09-12T02:51:45Z")
The clips from that movie are fricking awesome. > **[The Movie So Offensive That Egyptians Just Stormed the U.S. Embassy Over It](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/the-movie-so-offensive-that-egyptians-just-stormed-the-us-embassy-over-it/262225/)** > > Terry Jones, the Florida Koran-burner, is helping to promote a movie vilifying Egypt's Muslims, and the Egyptian media got ahold of some clips. I especially like the part where [James Harden](http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Kevin+Durant/James+Harden/2012+NBA+Finals+Game+Two/PXeXiSIt-iO) and [Brian Wilson](http://cdn.visualnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Brian-Wilson-Beard-Update-4-600x332.jpg) lead a pack of men in hacking up a Christian girl. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/8 "2012-09-12T03:03:51Z")
An article I read this afternoon said that the movie was made by Egyptian ex-pats, so I don’t understand why this prompted attacks on US Embassies. Simply because a handful of US video sites host it, really? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/9 "2012-09-12T03:14:30Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > An article I read this afternoon said that the movie was made by Egyptian ex-pats, so I don’t understand why this prompted attacks on US Embassies. Simply because a handful of US video sites host it, really? They’re working with the Koran-burning Pastor from Florida. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/10 "2012-09-12T04:16:59Z")
Man, I’m wondering if any of the stick figures I’ve drawn happen to look like Mo… \*[checking the margins of old college notebooks] \* Well, there’s Zappa, and Hendrix, and Dostoevsky… and …whoa, this one stick guy’s supposed to be Prof. Mandelbaum being strangled by his giant DNA molecule mobile, but it does look a little like…OMG! \*[erasing Prof. Mandelbaum, crumpling up page] [making little bonfire in kitchen sink] \* Okay, things are fine here. Move along. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/11 "2012-09-12T14:19:06Z")
I am unafraid! [Popular media image of Mohammed](http://screencrave.com/2010-04-20/south-park-creators-threatened-over-muhammad-bear/). ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/12 "2012-09-12T14:25:13Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > I am unafraid! [Popular media image of Mohammed](http://screencrave.com/2010-04-20/south-park-creators-threatened-over-muhammad-bear/). That’s what brought on the subtitle of this thread. This stupid crap keeps happening over and over and nobody learns anything. Oooh! We drew a picture of your prophet! Get over it already. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/13 "2012-09-12T14:29:35Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > That’s what brought on the subtitle of this thread. This stupid crap keeps happening over and over and nobody learns anything. Oooh! We drew a picture of your prophet! Get over it already. Unfortunately - dumb as it is - people don’t discard 1,000 years of religious doctrine that quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/14 "2012-09-12T16:04:16Z")
I haven’t posted in the “What’s the first thing you think of when I say ‘Islam’” thread. But if I bother it may as well be a link to this story. Ignorant, bigoted, violent, small-minded tossers. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mohammed-cartoon-oh-no-not-again/634461/15 "2012-09-12T16:31:44Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > An article I read this afternoon said that the movie was made by Egyptian ex-pats, so I don’t understand why this prompted attacks on US Embassies. Simply because a handful of US video sites host it, really? I’m seeing it reported that the filmmaker, Sam Bacile, identifies himself as an Israeli and lives in California. Not that this in anyway makes recent events more reasonable.