For the followers of all Divine faiths, other than Muslims, caricaturing and ridiculing their prophets, holy men and even God is but normal and under the garb of freedom of speech they can draw any caricature or drawing of revered religious personalities is just a matter of fun. But when it comes to Muslims, things are much much more different for them all prophets, and specially the last of all the prophets Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a very serious issue for the revere all prophets of Allah and place them in very high esteem - far above the level of ordinary humans whose caricatures or cartoons does not matter at all.
The followers of other Divine faiths perhaps do not understand the sensitivity of the issue when someone ridicules their prophet. And specially a prophet who was the last of all the prophets, in fact the seal of the prophethood - meaning by that till the world ends, there would not come any other prophet and that whatever message Allah had intended to convey to the mankind had come to an end. The same message which all the previous prophets, from Adam, Noah, Lot, Abraham, Moses and Christ (peace be upon them all) brought and conveyed to their followers. All Muslims revere all prophets including the few named here and always add "peace be upon him" after their name as a matter of respect. Whereas none of the followers of other faiths even respect their prophets and just call the Abraham, Moses or Christ. Interestingly, there has never been a caricature of their prophets or a drawing thereof.
But when it comes to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), their rules change in the name of freedom of speech and they come up most horribly figured caricatures depicting Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). This naturally intimidates Muslims all over the world and one feel a surge of anger all over the world.
Most modern Muslims believe that visual depictions of all the prophets of Islam should be prohibited and are particularly averse to visual representations of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). One concern is that the use of images can encourage idolatry, but also creating an image might lead the artist to claim the ability to create, an ability only ascribed to God.
The recent incident in France is but one of the many such attempts to defame and debase the very revered personality of Prophet of Islam. And to add fuel to the fire, the French president takes the podium to announce that they would continue with the drawings and caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). This has also sparked a fury in the people of France which have started targeting Muslims and desecrating masjids in France. I wonder how much damage would be done in action and reactions, but I sincerely believe that one day sanity would prevail and non Muslims will come to terms with Muslims and their sensitivities toward Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
And now coming over the question: Why Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the most revered all the prophets. First of all it goes beyond any doubt that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the last prophet sent by God and is The Seal of the Prophets and is the last law-bearing prophet, the apex of man's spiritual evolution.
"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things." — The Qur'an – Chapter 33 Verse 40
It is through him that Allah revealed the Qur'an. the last of His Holy Scriptures, the only unadulterated of the all Holy Scriptures revealed before to Prophets Dawood, Musa and Eesa (David, Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them all). For tis very reasons, Muslims all over the world try to live a life as prescribed in the Qur'an and as lived by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). His way of living (Sunnah) and his sayings (Hadith) are central to Muslim belief after Qur'an.
Unlike Christ, who is considered as a son of God and even regarded at par with God, Muslims believe that Christ was just a prophet like all prophets before him and like Muhammad who was also given Holy Book, called Injeel in Islam and Bible in English. It is not understood then why Christians should not consider Muhammad as prophet of God and ridicule him in their speeches, writings and drawings. It is something from here that ways of Muslims and followers of other Divine faiths diverge. Despite their hatred to Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him, the Muslims give due respect and revere all previous prophets, though they believe that all earlier Holy scriptures have been drastically adulterated by adding human injunctions. Qur'an on the other hand remains unadulterated to this day even after more than fourteen hundred years since its revelation to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from Allah and brought to him through Angel Jibraeel (Gabriel).
The Prophet of Allah had to endure extreme hardships at the hands of the non believers of Makkah and there were times that all limits were crossed and he was even manhandled and stoned. Yet under such trying times, Allah came to solace of His dearest prophet and told him that "A painful punishment lies in store for those who cause distress to the Messenger of Allah. (Surah 9. At Tauba verse 61)", and "(Surah Al Hijr 15:95) Surely We suffice to deal with those who scoff at you", "(Surah 33 Al Ahzab :57) Verily those who cause annoyance to Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in this world and in the Hereafter and has prepared for them a humiliating chastisement." So even if today, non Muslims are hurting Muslims by ridiculing their revered Prophet, the importance and popularity of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) will not hurt for only those are made a target who become a threat to others in popularity and reverence.
Not only Muslims, sensible non Muslims also believe Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be a model for all mankind. Michael H. Hart in book ‘100 most influential people in the world‘ mentions in his book:
My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level. Muhammad's role in the development of Islam was far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity.
Prophet Muhammad, Founder of Islam. Important religious, political and military leader who helped to unite Arabia under Islam. Whilst in seclusion in a mountain cave, Muhammad reported receiving a series of revelations from God; these revelations form the verses of the Qur'an, regarded by Muslims as the “Word of God” and around which the Islamic religion is based. From his first experiences in the cave, Muhammad reported receiving messages from God throughout his life. These messages form the Qur'an – which to Muslims is the word of God. Muslims believe Muhammad to be the final prophet in a tradition stretching back to Moses, Abraham and Jesus.
Barnaby Rogers on is one such writer who has written extensively on Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). His exhaustive "The Prophet Muhammad: A Biography" is wonderful book to be read for it has helped many non Muslims to accept Islam. Herein under are some excerpts from the his book:
The Prophet Muhammad is a hero for all mankind. In his lifetime he established a new religion, Islam; a new state, the first united Arabia; and a new literary language, the classical Arabic of the Qur'an, for the Qur'an is believed to be the word of God revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. A generation after his death he would be acknowledged as the founder of a world empire and a new civilization. Any one of these achievements would have been more than enough to permanently establish his genius. To our early twenty-first century minds, what is all the more astonishing is that he also managed to stay true to himself and retained to his last days the humility, courtesy and humanity that he had learned as an orphan shepherd boy in central Arabia. (Source)
No matter how much the non Muslims ridicule and debase the very personality of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), it goes without sayin that it adds more to his popularity and reverence. And it is for this very reason that more and more non Muslims, socially Christians are entering in to the fold of Islam for they find the ultimate truth in Islam as contained in the Qur'an and as practiced by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and followed by his followers which are ever on increase every day that passes.
It is time that sanity should prevail and non Muslims realize that debasing religious personalities, specially when it comes to prophets and in particular Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is affecting peace and religious harmony. They must understand the sensitivities of Muslims toward Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and they should not debase this most revered personality just for fun sake under the grab of freedom of speech.
Please visit our reference page Understanding Islam: Frequently Asked Q&A to find answers to more of your questions.
References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
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