Awarded for their intention to NOT show Islamic Art and pictures of the Prophet Muhammad.
Showing posts with label Prophet Muhammad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prophet Muhammad. Show all posts
Sunday, January 10, 2010
MASH Latest Recipient of the Dhimmi Award: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Awarded for their intention to NOT show Islamic Art and pictures of the Prophet Muhammad.
'Jihad' jitters at Met
Is the Met afraid of Mohammed? The Metropolitan Museum of Art quietly pulled images of the Prophet Mohammed from its Islamic collection and may not include them in a renovated exhibition area slated to open in 2011, The Post has learned.
The museum said the controversial images -- objected to by conservative Muslims who say their religion forbids images of their holy founder -- were "under review."
Critics say the Met has a history of dodging criticism and likely wants to escape the kind of outcry that Danish cartoons of Mohammed caused in 2006.
The Met currently has about 60 items from its 60,000-piece Islamic collection on temporary display in a corner of its vast second-floor Great Hall while larger galleries are renovated. But its three ancient renderings of Mohammed are not among them.
"We have a very small space at the moment in which to display the whole sweep of Islamic art," said spokeswoman Egle Zygas. "They didn't fit the theme of the current installation."
But it's not certain Mohammed will go on display when the Met finishes its $50 million renovation in 2011.
Three years ago, the Met changed its "Primitive Art Galleries" to the "Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas" for the sake of political correctness, said author Michael Gross, author of "Rogues' Gallery," a book about the Met.
Just recently, it decided its highly anticipated "Islamic Galleries" will be given an awkward new name ahead of the 2011 opening.
Visitors will stroll around rooms dedicated to art from "Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia," according to a museum press release.
Islamic art expert Kishwar Rizvi said the Met -- which has one of the world's best Islamic collections -- has nothing to fear from Mohammed.
"Museums shouldn't shy away from showing this in a historical context," said Rizvi, historian of Islamic Art at Yale University.
Rizvi said it was "a shame" the museum dropped the word Islamic from the title.
"It's cumbersome and problematic to base it on nationalistic boundaries," the historian said.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Life of Muhammad to be filmed, but don’t expect to see him on screen
In Hollywood terms, it was the greatest story almost never told - until now. With Middle Eastern money becoming an increasingly powerful cog in the global entertainment industry, it was perhaps inevitable that, sooner or later, someone would embark on a mega-budget epic about the life of the Prophet Mohammed.
That moment has arrived thanks to a wealthy Qatari media company which has put together a team featuring a crack Hollywood producer and a Muslim cleric who is banned from visiting Britain to bring the project to life.
Plans for the $150million English-language biopic were announced at the close of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival in Qatar on Sunday. The narrative will run from the years before the Prophet’s birth through to his death but there will be one conspicuous break from conventional biopic methods: in accordance with Islamic tradition the film will not represent the Prophet himself or direct members of his family.
A source close to the project said that Mel Gibson’s hugely successful (and gruesome) crucifiction film The Passion of the Christ had proved that there was a demand for religious-themed entertainment.
Barrie Osborne, a producer on the Lord of the Rings films and The Matrix optimistically envisages the film as a device that can help “bridging cultures”.
However, the press conference held to unveil the project demonstrated the risks inherent in any attempt to package the “true story” of the Prophet’s life for a global audience today.
Alnoor Holdings, a media company that has created a $200million film production fund to invest in Hollywood and international projects, has hired the cleric Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi as their lead theological consultant for the film.
Sheikh al-Qaradawi is one of the Sunni Islam’s most high-profile theologians thanks to his popular slot hosting a television show on al-Jazeera. He is admired by many moderate Muslims and was recently described by the government’s senior counter-terrorism official as “one of the most articulate critics of al-Qaeda in the Islamic world”.
He is also a highly controversial figure who was refused entry to Britain last year because of his views. He has reportedly condoned the Holocaust, supported the stoning of homosexuals and praised suicide bombers in Iraq, not to mention telling an interviewer that he considered Shia Islam a heretical branch of the faith.
According to the Gulf Times newspaper he told journalists in Doha that the film was a response to “the crusader-styled distortion of Islam [that] continues to influence [the] world population today.”
“I will say we Muslims have not exerted sufficient efforts to correct the fake tales as Christians have used [in] the media. The life of the Prophet Muhammad is richly documented from the cattle he raised to the weapons he used to his private life.”
The Qatari Tribune, which was also present, said that he described the world in milder language as a small village where people must know each other better and learn about other religions.
“We think that our religion is universal. Unfortunately, many people do not know about Islam and have misconceptions about it.”
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Broadcast angers Muslims. Leaders want radio station to stop airing comments by priest they say defame Muhammad.
By Gregg Krupa
SOUTHFIELD -- Muslims and interfaith leaders in Metro Detroit are asking a local radio station owner to discontinue broadcasts in which, they say, a Coptic priest has repeatedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad over the past year.
In an Arabic-language broadcast Wednesday on WNZK 680/690 AM, the Rev. Zakariah Boutros said the Muslim prophet Muhammad had engaged in necrophilia and gay sex, according to the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Boutros has previously come under fire from area Muslims, who say he disparages Islam. The controversial, American-based priest can be heard on purchased time slots on radio stations internationally. His words have stirred controversy in Egypt and Great Britain, and are embraced by a number of bloggers and Web sites that criticize Islam.
Amani Mostafa, who hosts the program "Questions About Faith" on which Boutros spoke Thursday, said Boutros was "reading from an Islamic text" when he said, over the air, that the Prophet Muhammad slept in the grave of a dead woman and allowed a man to kiss and caress his chest. Read more ...
SOUTHFIELD -- Muslims and interfaith leaders in Metro Detroit are asking a local radio station owner to discontinue broadcasts in which, they say, a Coptic priest has repeatedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad over the past year.
In an Arabic-language broadcast Wednesday on WNZK 680/690 AM, the Rev. Zakariah Boutros said the Muslim prophet Muhammad had engaged in necrophilia and gay sex, according to the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Boutros has previously come under fire from area Muslims, who say he disparages Islam. The controversial, American-based priest can be heard on purchased time slots on radio stations internationally. His words have stirred controversy in Egypt and Great Britain, and are embraced by a number of bloggers and Web sites that criticize Islam.
Amani Mostafa, who hosts the program "Questions About Faith" on which Boutros spoke Thursday, said Boutros was "reading from an Islamic text" when he said, over the air, that the Prophet Muhammad slept in the grave of a dead woman and allowed a man to kiss and caress his chest. Read more ...
Source: The Detroit News
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Controversialist
By Jacob Laksin
For someone who inadvertently triggered a clash of civilizations, Flemming Rose doesn’t look much like a provocateur. With his salt-and-pepper hair, college sweatshirt, and jeans over sneakers, the cultural editor of the largest Danish daily, Jyllands-Posten, seems disarmingly casual, a far cry from the frothing “Islamophobe” and “far-right” reactionary—never mind the “Straussian neocon Mossad agent”—that some of his more intemperate detractors imagine him to be. But such is the reputation that has shadowed the mild-mannered Rose since September 30, 2005, when he published the 12 now-famous (or infamous) cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that took the world by storm.
By now, the basic outlines of what the Danes call the Karikaturkrisen are well known. Troubled by what he saw as a growing tendency toward self-censorship in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe, especially on the sensitive subject of Islam, Rose commissioned 40 Danish artists to submit drawings of the prophet. Contrary to later accusations, the idea was not to insult Muslim believers but to test whether freethinking artists were prepared to privilege a religious taboo over freedom of speech. Rose made his point. Revealingly, only 12 artists participated, submitting drawings that ranged from lampoons of the center-right paper to a drawing of the prophet with a bomb-shaped turban.
Then all hell broke loose. Although the initial response was muted, by February 2006, the cartoons, distorted to destructive effect by a group of Danish imams, had stoked a backlash in the Muslim world. Rage-fueled riots killed 139 and injured 823; Danish embassies were torched in Lebanon and Syria; and Denmark was hit with boycotts and diplomatic sanctions from Muslim countries. Whatever one’s views of the offending cartoons, they were, by any objective measure, the deadliest drawings ever published. Read more ...
For someone who inadvertently triggered a clash of civilizations, Flemming Rose doesn’t look much like a provocateur. With his salt-and-pepper hair, college sweatshirt, and jeans over sneakers, the cultural editor of the largest Danish daily, Jyllands-Posten, seems disarmingly casual, a far cry from the frothing “Islamophobe” and “far-right” reactionary—never mind the “Straussian neocon Mossad agent”—that some of his more intemperate detractors imagine him to be. But such is the reputation that has shadowed the mild-mannered Rose since September 30, 2005, when he published the 12 now-famous (or infamous) cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that took the world by storm.
By now, the basic outlines of what the Danes call the Karikaturkrisen are well known. Troubled by what he saw as a growing tendency toward self-censorship in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe, especially on the sensitive subject of Islam, Rose commissioned 40 Danish artists to submit drawings of the prophet. Contrary to later accusations, the idea was not to insult Muslim believers but to test whether freethinking artists were prepared to privilege a religious taboo over freedom of speech. Rose made his point. Revealingly, only 12 artists participated, submitting drawings that ranged from lampoons of the center-right paper to a drawing of the prophet with a bomb-shaped turban.
Then all hell broke loose. Although the initial response was muted, by February 2006, the cartoons, distorted to destructive effect by a group of Danish imams, had stoked a backlash in the Muslim world. Rage-fueled riots killed 139 and injured 823; Danish embassies were torched in Lebanon and Syria; and Denmark was hit with boycotts and diplomatic sanctions from Muslim countries. Whatever one’s views of the offending cartoons, they were, by any objective measure, the deadliest drawings ever published. Read more ...
Source: Doublethink
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Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Dutch politician presents film on Islam
In the Hague, ex-Muslim Ehsan Jami has presented his English-language film entitled Interview with Mohammed. In the film, the prophet Mohammed looks back on his life and the interviewer questions him on women's rights, non-believers and Judaism.
Mr Jami says his film is not against Islam. It pays attention to what he calls the victims of Islam. He hopes the film will improve their situation.
The fifteen minute film was presented to the press in the parliamentary press centre in The Hague. It is also on the internet. Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has criticised the showing. He says he is concerned about the image of the Netherlands in the media abroad. The minister stresses that Islam is fully respected in the Netherlands, but that there is also freedom of speech.
Mr Jami says his film is not against Islam. It pays attention to what he calls the victims of Islam. He hopes the film will improve their situation.
The fifteen minute film was presented to the press in the parliamentary press centre in The Hague. It is also on the internet. Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has criticised the showing. He says he is concerned about the image of the Netherlands in the media abroad. The minister stresses that Islam is fully respected in the Netherlands, but that there is also freedom of speech.
Source: Radio Netherlands
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Saturday, December 6, 2008
New Danish Book Draws Jihadist Ire
It is an equation becoming all too familiar. A new book released in Europe contains essays critical of Islam and illustrations of the Prophet Mohammed. In response, some are calling for blood.
Danish journalist Lars Hedegaard's book Groft Sagt (Rough Talk), was released in Denmark Monday. It is a collection of about 100 of his favorite newspaper columns from a Copenhagen daily. Many of the columns are critical of Islam. In addition, the book features 26 new illustrations from Kurt Westergaard, whose drawings of the Prophet Mohammed in the newspaper Jyllands Posten in 2005 sparked a wave of violent protests. Read more ...
Danish journalist Lars Hedegaard's book Groft Sagt (Rough Talk), was released in Denmark Monday. It is a collection of about 100 of his favorite newspaper columns from a Copenhagen daily. Many of the columns are critical of Islam. In addition, the book features 26 new illustrations from Kurt Westergaard, whose drawings of the Prophet Mohammed in the newspaper Jyllands Posten in 2005 sparked a wave of violent protests. Read more ...
Source: IPT News
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Saturday, November 29, 2008
European Islamist Groups Calling for Boycott of Dutch Goods Because of new Mohammed Movie
According to Moroccan newspaper Al-Jarida al-Ula, European Islamist organizations are calling for a boycott of Dutch products because of Ehsan Jami's movie. The movie will premier December 10th, Jami announced this week in an interview with weekly HP/De Tijd.
The unnamed organizations are upset that Jami is coming out with a cartoon move about Mohammed. The ex-Muslim originally planed that, but called it off at the end of March at the urging of justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin. The organizations are calling, according to the newspaper, for a boycott because of the publication of 'a cartoon movie about the wives of the prophet Muhammad." Already since last month there have been calls to boycott Dutch products circulating on the internet.
In the 10 minute long movie "Interview with Mohammed", the former chairperson of the Committee for Ex-Muslims questions Muhammed about women's rights, Jews and apostasy. In the clip the actor who plays Muhammed will be unrecognizable. The movie will be in English. Jami invited Hirsch Ballin to the movie's pre-premiere. The anti-Koran movie Fitna of PVV head Geert Wilders led in the past to protests in the Muslim world and several calls to a boycott of Dutch products. Read more ...
The unnamed organizations are upset that Jami is coming out with a cartoon move about Mohammed. The ex-Muslim originally planed that, but called it off at the end of March at the urging of justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin. The organizations are calling, according to the newspaper, for a boycott because of the publication of 'a cartoon movie about the wives of the prophet Muhammad." Already since last month there have been calls to boycott Dutch products circulating on the internet.
In the 10 minute long movie "Interview with Mohammed", the former chairperson of the Committee for Ex-Muslims questions Muhammed about women's rights, Jews and apostasy. In the clip the actor who plays Muhammed will be unrecognizable. The movie will be in English. Jami invited Hirsch Ballin to the movie's pre-premiere. The anti-Koran movie Fitna of PVV head Geert Wilders led in the past to protests in the Muslim world and several calls to a boycott of Dutch products. Read more ...
Source: Weasel Zippers
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Thursday, November 27, 2008
Swedish artist's Muhammad musical courts new controversy
Swedish artist Lars Vilks is at the centre of a new controversy as his new musical Dogs premiered in Stockholm on Saturday.
Meanwhile, an exhibition of his Muhammad caricatures has been blocked by Kalmar Art Museum.
At a panel discussion after the premiere of the musical - a filmed documentation of events occurring after the drawings of the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog, chaos reigned on Saturday.
When Vilks stood to address the several hundred people gathered in the ABF building in Stockholm, a young woman rose to her feet, made threatening gestures with her key ring and screamed at the artist.
One of the debate's organizers seized the woman in order to escort her from the premises. Read more ...
Meanwhile, an exhibition of his Muhammad caricatures has been blocked by Kalmar Art Museum.
At a panel discussion after the premiere of the musical - a filmed documentation of events occurring after the drawings of the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog, chaos reigned on Saturday.
When Vilks stood to address the several hundred people gathered in the ABF building in Stockholm, a young woman rose to her feet, made threatening gestures with her key ring and screamed at the artist.
One of the debate's organizers seized the woman in order to escort her from the premises. Read more ...
Source: The Local
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Critics Decry Plans for a Movie Depicting Life of Prophet Muhammad
"The Message," starring Anthony Quinn, seen here on this DVD cover.
By Maxim Lott
If film producer Oscar Zoghbi has his way, Americans will be soon be flocking to movie theaters to see a film about the Prophet Muhammad and his followers that Zoghbi hopes will clear up misconceptions about Muslims, including what he says is "the understanding that all Muslims are terrorists."
Zoghbi says he hopes to shoot some scenes for his movie in the holy cities of Medina and Mecca, and he predicts his film, "The Messenger of Peace," will rival Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ."
But some critics predict Zoghbi's movie, which is scheduled to begin production early next year, will be a whitewash, and that it won't tell the whole story about Muhammad or Islam.
Nonie Darwish, the author of the upcoming book "Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law," said the film will likely try too hard not to offend. Read more ...
If film producer Oscar Zoghbi has his way, Americans will be soon be flocking to movie theaters to see a film about the Prophet Muhammad and his followers that Zoghbi hopes will clear up misconceptions about Muslims, including what he says is "the understanding that all Muslims are terrorists."
Zoghbi says he hopes to shoot some scenes for his movie in the holy cities of Medina and Mecca, and he predicts his film, "The Messenger of Peace," will rival Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ."
But some critics predict Zoghbi's movie, which is scheduled to begin production early next year, will be a whitewash, and that it won't tell the whole story about Muhammad or Islam.
Nonie Darwish, the author of the upcoming book "Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law," said the film will likely try too hard not to offend. Read more ...
Source: Fox News
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Monday, November 17, 2008
Professor Hired for Outreach to Muslims Delivers a Jolt
Islamic Theologian's Theory: It's Likely the Prophet Muhammad Never Existed
By Andrew Higgins
MÃœNSTER, Germany -- Muhammad Sven Kalisch, a Muslim convert and Germany's first professor of Islamic theology, fasts during the Muslim holy month, doesn't like to shake hands with Muslim women and has spent years studying Islamic scripture. Islam, he says, guides his life.
So it came as something of a surprise when Prof. Kalisch announced the fruit of his theological research. His conclusion: The Prophet Muhammad probably never existed.
Muslims, not surprisingly, are outraged. Even Danish cartoonists who triggered global protests a couple of years ago didn't portray the Prophet as fictional. German police, worried about a violent backlash, told the professor to move his religious-studies center to more-secure premises.
"We had no idea he would have ideas like this," says Thomas Bauer, a fellow academic at Münster University who sat on a committee that appointed Prof. Kalisch. "I'm a more orthodox Muslim than he is, and I'm not a Muslim." Read more ...
MÃœNSTER, Germany -- Muhammad Sven Kalisch, a Muslim convert and Germany's first professor of Islamic theology, fasts during the Muslim holy month, doesn't like to shake hands with Muslim women and has spent years studying Islamic scripture. Islam, he says, guides his life.
So it came as something of a surprise when Prof. Kalisch announced the fruit of his theological research. His conclusion: The Prophet Muhammad probably never existed.
Muslims, not surprisingly, are outraged. Even Danish cartoonists who triggered global protests a couple of years ago didn't portray the Prophet as fictional. German police, worried about a violent backlash, told the professor to move his religious-studies center to more-secure premises.
"We had no idea he would have ideas like this," says Thomas Bauer, a fellow academic at Münster University who sat on a committee that appointed Prof. Kalisch. "I'm a more orthodox Muslim than he is, and I'm not a Muslim." Read more ...
Source: The Wall Street Journal
H/T: SANE
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Friday, October 17, 2008
Mohammed look-alikes denied contest
A Prophet Mohammed look-alike contest was cancelled in Frankfurt after city officials declined to hold the event during a book fair at which Turkey is guest of honour.
"The city of Frankfurt became afraid, and backed out of its pledge to hold the competition on Saturday at the Museum of Caricature," satirical magazine Titanic said on its Internet site.
"We will do everything we can to find another site, but it will be hard in the middle of the book fair," the world's biggest which fills hotels and meeting rooms here, the magazine's editors said.
City officials said the site initially chosen appeared to be too small to hold the number of people that might show up, given the buzz being generated.
"We are relieved, because there will be no protests this way," the Frankfurter Rundschau daily quoted police spokesman Juergen Linker as saying.
Frankfurt prosecutor Doris Joeller-Scheu said: "We are pleased because there would surely have been problems without this cancellation."
In 2005, publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, deemed blasphemous in the Islamic world, sparked outrage in many countries.
"The city of Frankfurt became afraid, and backed out of its pledge to hold the competition on Saturday at the Museum of Caricature," satirical magazine Titanic said on its Internet site.
"We will do everything we can to find another site, but it will be hard in the middle of the book fair," the world's biggest which fills hotels and meeting rooms here, the magazine's editors said.
City officials said the site initially chosen appeared to be too small to hold the number of people that might show up, given the buzz being generated.
"We are relieved, because there will be no protests this way," the Frankfurter Rundschau daily quoted police spokesman Juergen Linker as saying.
Frankfurt prosecutor Doris Joeller-Scheu said: "We are pleased because there would surely have been problems without this cancellation."
In 2005, publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, deemed blasphemous in the Islamic world, sparked outrage in many countries.
Source: AFP
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
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Thursday, October 2, 2008
'The Jewel of Medina' future uncertain
Associated Press are reporting that the planned release of ‘The Jewel of Medina’ is under doubt following the alleged arson at the offices of Gibson Square.
Alan Jessop of Compass, Gibson Square’s sales representative, said that publisher Martin Rynja has put “publication in suspended animation while he reflects and takes advice on what the best foot forward is.”
The US publisher of The Jewel of Medina yesterday closed its offices as a "precautionary action", but intends to go ahead with publication. Borders Group Inc have confirmed they will sell the book in stores, however Waterstones has said that they are undecided as to whether to do so due to safety concerns for both customers and employees.
Three men suspected of involvement with the fire at Gibson Square are still being questioned by London Metropolitan Police.
Alan Jessop of Compass, Gibson Square’s sales representative, said that publisher Martin Rynja has put “publication in suspended animation while he reflects and takes advice on what the best foot forward is.”
The US publisher of The Jewel of Medina yesterday closed its offices as a "precautionary action", but intends to go ahead with publication. Borders Group Inc have confirmed they will sell the book in stores, however Waterstones has said that they are undecided as to whether to do so due to safety concerns for both customers and employees.
Three men suspected of involvement with the fire at Gibson Square are still being questioned by London Metropolitan Police.
Source: AP
H/T: The Centre For Social Cohesion
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Saturday, September 13, 2008
Muslim Student Union Fights For the Right to Incite Murder
By Reut Cohen
Established in 1963 by the Muslim Brotherhood — the inspiration for al-Qaeda and Hamas — the Muslim Students Association was listed in documents written by a Muslim Brotherhood operative and seized by the FBI in 2007 as an organization to help “destroy Western civilization from within.” According to a February 2008 New York Times article, the MSA was financed by Saudi Arabia when it first began appearing throughout North America in the late 1950s and “pushed the kingdom’s puritan, Wahhabi strain of Islam.”
Extremism is a systemic problem with the Muslim Students Association network. For example, Sheikh Khalid Yasin, who has spoken at a multitude of campuses throughout the country and at events at the MSA National level, has denied al-Qaeda was involved in 9/11 and believes that homosexuals should be killed in accordance with the Koran. Norman Finkelstein, who has also spoken for various Muslim Students Association groups, has been featured at the University of Maryland, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Harvard, Columbia, and many others. Imam Abdul Alim Musa, a radical imam and founder of the As Sabiqun (Arabic for “The Vanguard”) movement, has been featured at UC Irvine, MIT, Mount Holyoke College, and other campuses. Read more ...
Established in 1963 by the Muslim Brotherhood — the inspiration for al-Qaeda and Hamas — the Muslim Students Association was listed in documents written by a Muslim Brotherhood operative and seized by the FBI in 2007 as an organization to help “destroy Western civilization from within.” According to a February 2008 New York Times article, the MSA was financed by Saudi Arabia when it first began appearing throughout North America in the late 1950s and “pushed the kingdom’s puritan, Wahhabi strain of Islam.”
Extremism is a systemic problem with the Muslim Students Association network. For example, Sheikh Khalid Yasin, who has spoken at a multitude of campuses throughout the country and at events at the MSA National level, has denied al-Qaeda was involved in 9/11 and believes that homosexuals should be killed in accordance with the Koran. Norman Finkelstein, who has also spoken for various Muslim Students Association groups, has been featured at the University of Maryland, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Harvard, Columbia, and many others. Imam Abdul Alim Musa, a radical imam and founder of the As Sabiqun (Arabic for “The Vanguard”) movement, has been featured at UC Irvine, MIT, Mount Holyoke College, and other campuses. Read more ...
Source: Pajamas Media
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Muslim bodies cut links to Germany's only professor of Islam
Cologne, Germany - Germany's main Muslim bodies cut their links Friday to Germany's only professor of Islamic religion, charging that Muhammad Kalisch had questioned the existence of the Prophet Mohammed and Muslim beliefs about the origin of the Koran. Kalisch teaches at the University of Muenster in northern Germany.
The four main Muslim groups had been represented on a board of advisors to his Centre for Islamic Religious Studies (CRS) since the chair was established, but there has been friction over his academic publications.
In a joint statement in Cologne on Friday, the council of Muslim organizations said it was concerned at the "discrepancy between fundamentals of Islamic teaching and the published positions of the head of the CRS."
Ayyub Axel Koehler, a German Muslim who is president of one group, the Central Council of Muslims, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa: "Kalisch calls fundamental teachings into question in such a stark way that it's not possible to go along with him." Read more ...
The four main Muslim groups had been represented on a board of advisors to his Centre for Islamic Religious Studies (CRS) since the chair was established, but there has been friction over his academic publications.
In a joint statement in Cologne on Friday, the council of Muslim organizations said it was concerned at the "discrepancy between fundamentals of Islamic teaching and the published positions of the head of the CRS."
Ayyub Axel Koehler, a German Muslim who is president of one group, the Central Council of Muslims, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa: "Kalisch calls fundamental teachings into question in such a stark way that it's not possible to go along with him." Read more ...
Source: The Earth Times
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Jewel of Medina Finds New Publisher
By Michael Fechter
At least in Britain. Gibson Square issued a statement Wednesday that it will publish Sherry Jones' novel about Aisha, the child bride of the Prophet Mohammed.
Random House had rights to the book in the United States and internationally, but withdrew from the deal citing concerns it could trigger a violent reaction "by a small, radical segment."
If Gibson Square shares those concerns, it didn't faze the publishing house, which also has published Blowing up Russia by Alexander Litvinenko, a dissident KGB agent murdered with radioactive polonium 210, and Craig Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud.
'I was completely bowled over by the novel and the moving love story it portrays,' publisher Martin Rynja said in a statement. He plans to release The Jewel of Medina in October.
'I immediately felt that it was imperative to publish it. In an open society there has to be open access to literary works, regardless of fear. As an independent publishing company, we feel strongly that we should not be afraid of the consequences of debate. If a novel of quality and skill that casts light on a beautiful subject we know too little of in the West, but have a genuine interest in, cannot be published here, it would truly mean that the clock has been turned back to the dark ages. The Jewel of Medina has become an important barometer of our time. The love story is somewhat known in the Muslim world but entirely unknown to Western readers, but should be.' Rynja said.
At least in Britain. Gibson Square issued a statement Wednesday that it will publish Sherry Jones' novel about Aisha, the child bride of the Prophet Mohammed.
Random House had rights to the book in the United States and internationally, but withdrew from the deal citing concerns it could trigger a violent reaction "by a small, radical segment."
If Gibson Square shares those concerns, it didn't faze the publishing house, which also has published Blowing up Russia by Alexander Litvinenko, a dissident KGB agent murdered with radioactive polonium 210, and Craig Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud.
'I was completely bowled over by the novel and the moving love story it portrays,' publisher Martin Rynja said in a statement. He plans to release The Jewel of Medina in October.
'I immediately felt that it was imperative to publish it. In an open society there has to be open access to literary works, regardless of fear. As an independent publishing company, we feel strongly that we should not be afraid of the consequences of debate. If a novel of quality and skill that casts light on a beautiful subject we know too little of in the West, but have a genuine interest in, cannot be published here, it would truly mean that the clock has been turned back to the dark ages. The Jewel of Medina has become an important barometer of our time. The love story is somewhat known in the Muslim world but entirely unknown to Western readers, but should be.' Rynja said.
Source: IPT Blog
Monday, August 25, 2008
Publishers ok book on Mohammed's child wife
Published 22.08.08 16:57
Denmark is again ready to exercise its free speech and press principles by releasing a controversial novel about Mohammed's child wife An American novel about the 6-year-old wife of Mohammed, Aisha, may end up being released in Denmark, after publishing...
An American novel about the 6-year-old wife of Mohammed, Aisha, may end up being released in Denmark, after publishing company Random House dropped its plans to print the book.
Danish publishers association Trykkeselskabet has given its blessing to Sherry Jones' novel 'The Jewel of Medina' to be released in Denmark.
Random House pulled out of its contract to publish the book after fear of reprisals from Muslims, and Jones' agent is looking for buyers.
The novel was brought into the spotlight in the US after Denise Spellman, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying the book was 'much more controversial than the Mohammed drawings from Denmark'. She called any decision to publish the book a 'declaration of war' against Muslims.
But Trykkeselskabet indicated that it felt the book needed to be published.
'Fear or threats should not keep a book from being published,' association spokeswoman Helle Merete Brix told Nyhedsavisen newspaper. 'It would be principally and entirely a renewal of all that Denmark has already been through with the Mohammed cartoon affair.'
The book is a fictitious account of Mohammed's revelations told through Aisha's eyes. Mohammed had 13 wives in all - Aisha being the youngest and, according to many sources, his favourite.
But Spellman called the novel 'soft-core pornography' and that it 'takes advantage of people's ignorance' of Islam.
Jones' agent, Natasha Kern, wrote to Trykkeselskabet to congratulate them on their decision to approve the book's publication in Denmark.
'When you consider what's happened in your country, I admire your readiness to ensure that freedom of expression is not obstructed.'
The Islamic Faith Society in Copenhagen had, as of Friday morning, not taken an official position on the book's publication.
Denmark is again ready to exercise its free speech and press principles by releasing a controversial novel about Mohammed's child wife An American novel about the 6-year-old wife of Mohammed, Aisha, may end up being released in Denmark, after publishing...
An American novel about the 6-year-old wife of Mohammed, Aisha, may end up being released in Denmark, after publishing company Random House dropped its plans to print the book.
Danish publishers association Trykkeselskabet has given its blessing to Sherry Jones' novel 'The Jewel of Medina' to be released in Denmark.
Random House pulled out of its contract to publish the book after fear of reprisals from Muslims, and Jones' agent is looking for buyers.
The novel was brought into the spotlight in the US after Denise Spellman, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying the book was 'much more controversial than the Mohammed drawings from Denmark'. She called any decision to publish the book a 'declaration of war' against Muslims.
But Trykkeselskabet indicated that it felt the book needed to be published.
'Fear or threats should not keep a book from being published,' association spokeswoman Helle Merete Brix told Nyhedsavisen newspaper. 'It would be principally and entirely a renewal of all that Denmark has already been through with the Mohammed cartoon affair.'
The book is a fictitious account of Mohammed's revelations told through Aisha's eyes. Mohammed had 13 wives in all - Aisha being the youngest and, according to many sources, his favourite.
But Spellman called the novel 'soft-core pornography' and that it 'takes advantage of people's ignorance' of Islam.
Jones' agent, Natasha Kern, wrote to Trykkeselskabet to congratulate them on their decision to approve the book's publication in Denmark.
'When you consider what's happened in your country, I admire your readiness to ensure that freedom of expression is not obstructed.'
The Islamic Faith Society in Copenhagen had, as of Friday morning, not taken an official position on the book's publication.
Source: The Copenhagen Post
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Random House scraps publication of novel on Prophet Mohammed's child bride
Publishing giant Random House has scrapped publication of a novel about the Prophet Mohammed's child bride amid fears of a repeat of the violence ignited by portrayals of Islam in The Satanic Verses and 2006 Danish cartoons.
Source: Telegraph
By Catherine Elsworth
The Jewel of Medina, a debut historical novel by Sherry Jones, a journalist who spent years studying Arab history, focuses on the life of A'isha, one of the prophet's wives to whome he is said to have become engaged when she was six.
It was due for release next week, but in May was pulled after the publisher was told the book could be seen as "offensive to some in the Muslim community". The Wall Street Journal reported that Denise Spellberg, associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas, who saw proofs of the book, declared it a "very ugly, stupid piece of work".
She urged the editor of a popular Muslim website to warn Muslims the forthcoming publication "made fun of Muslims and their history".
Word quickly spread across the internet, with bloggers dubbing the book "a new attempt to slander the Prophet of Islam." One editor at Random House told executives Ms Spellberg had warned her the book was a "declaration of war" that would be "far more controversial than The Satanic Verses and the Danish cartoons," the Wall Street Journal reported. Read more ...
The Jewel of Medina, a debut historical novel by Sherry Jones, a journalist who spent years studying Arab history, focuses on the life of A'isha, one of the prophet's wives to whome he is said to have become engaged when she was six.
It was due for release next week, but in May was pulled after the publisher was told the book could be seen as "offensive to some in the Muslim community". The Wall Street Journal reported that Denise Spellberg, associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas, who saw proofs of the book, declared it a "very ugly, stupid piece of work".
She urged the editor of a popular Muslim website to warn Muslims the forthcoming publication "made fun of Muslims and their history".
Word quickly spread across the internet, with bloggers dubbing the book "a new attempt to slander the Prophet of Islam." One editor at Random House told executives Ms Spellberg had warned her the book was a "declaration of war" that would be "far more controversial than The Satanic Verses and the Danish cartoons," the Wall Street Journal reported. Read more ...
Source: Telegraph
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
You Still Can't Write About Muhammad
By Asra Q. Nomani
Starting in 2002, Spokane, Wash., journalist Sherry Jones toiled weekends on a racy historical novel about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad. Ms. Jones learned Arabic, studied scholarly works about Aisha's life, and came to admire her protagonist as a woman of courage. When Random House bought her novel last year in a $100,000, two-book deal, she was ecstatic. This past spring, she began plans for an eight-city book tour after the Aug. 12 publication date of "The Jewel of Medina" -- a tale of lust, love and intrigue in the prophet's harem.
It's not going to happen: In May, Random House abruptly called off publication of the book. The series of events that torpedoed this novel are a window into how quickly fear stunts intelligent discourse about the Muslim world.
Random House feared the book would become a new "Satanic Verses," the Salman Rushdie novel of 1988 that led to death threats, riots and the murder of the book's Japanese translator, among other horrors. In an interview about Ms. Jones's novel, Thomas Perry, deputy publisher at Random House Publishing Group, said that it "disturbs us that we feel we cannot publish it right now." He said that after sending out advance copies of the novel, the company received "from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment." Read more ...
Starting in 2002, Spokane, Wash., journalist Sherry Jones toiled weekends on a racy historical novel about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad. Ms. Jones learned Arabic, studied scholarly works about Aisha's life, and came to admire her protagonist as a woman of courage. When Random House bought her novel last year in a $100,000, two-book deal, she was ecstatic. This past spring, she began plans for an eight-city book tour after the Aug. 12 publication date of "The Jewel of Medina" -- a tale of lust, love and intrigue in the prophet's harem.
It's not going to happen: In May, Random House abruptly called off publication of the book. The series of events that torpedoed this novel are a window into how quickly fear stunts intelligent discourse about the Muslim world.
Random House feared the book would become a new "Satanic Verses," the Salman Rushdie novel of 1988 that led to death threats, riots and the murder of the book's Japanese translator, among other horrors. In an interview about Ms. Jones's novel, Thomas Perry, deputy publisher at Random House Publishing Group, said that it "disturbs us that we feel we cannot publish it right now." He said that after sending out advance copies of the novel, the company received "from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment." Read more ...
Source: WSJ
H/T: Dhimmi Watch
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Brad Thor the new Salman Rushdie?
Angry Islamists threaten life of 'The Last Patriot' author
The author of the best-selling new thriller, "The Last Patriot," says his life already has been threatened for contending the Muslim holy book contains errors and is not based on the last revelations of Muhammad.
"I've already had multiple death threats come in, and that's something that we're taking very seriously with the tour coming up," said Brad Thor, whose "Patriot" already has climbed to No. 1 on the Amazon fiction list after its release last week.
Thor says he's adding security precautions as he goes forward with a national book tour.
In the book, which is being called the "Islamic Da Vinci Code," Thor posits that Islamic scholars have engaged in a conspiracy to cover up missing parts of the Quran that allegedly reveal their prophet had a final moderate revelation that abrogates the violent passages of the Quran.
Thor, who has served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Analytic Red Cell Program, says his research confirmed that parchments and fragments of parchments of the Quran were uncovered at the Great Mosque in Sana'a, Yemen, in 1974. Read more ...
"I've already had multiple death threats come in, and that's something that we're taking very seriously with the tour coming up," said Brad Thor, whose "Patriot" already has climbed to No. 1 on the Amazon fiction list after its release last week.
Thor says he's adding security precautions as he goes forward with a national book tour.
In the book, which is being called the "Islamic Da Vinci Code," Thor posits that Islamic scholars have engaged in a conspiracy to cover up missing parts of the Quran that allegedly reveal their prophet had a final moderate revelation that abrogates the violent passages of the Quran.
Thor, who has served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Analytic Red Cell Program, says his research confirmed that parchments and fragments of parchments of the Quran were uncovered at the Great Mosque in Sana'a, Yemen, in 1974. Read more ...
Source: WND
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