Turkish cartoonists arrested over satirical drawing allegedly depicting prophet Muhammad
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Spectator
4 hours ago
- Spectator
Islam has a rich history of depicting Muhammad
Journalists at LeMan are in fear for their lives after the Turkish satirical magazine published cartoons appearing to depict the Prophet Muhammad. The publication's editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun denied that the picture showed Muhammad, but his pleas have fallen on deaf ears. A mob gathered outside the magazine's office in Istanbul on Monday. In the days since, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed the cartoon as a 'vile provocation', and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan described the image as an 'immoral…attack against our Prophet'. But LeMan's critics appear to be blind to Islam's rich tradition of depicting Muhammad. Much of the backlash over these apparent depictions of Muhammad is rooted in the belief that Islam declares any imagery of him haram, or forbidden; this view seems to be supported by a few hadiths, or sayings of Muhammad, which suggest that because drawings 'create life' they trespass on what Muslims perceive to be Allah's prerogative. But the sweeping assertion banning Muhammad's depiction, often reported as fact in Western media, upholds the most regressive interpretation of the religion as the sole representation of the Muslim faith. It is important to push back against this. For centuries, Muslims have depicted Muhammad. Eleventh-century Persian epics like Varka and Golshah and Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni's The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries feature some of the earliest illustrations of Muhammad during significant stages of his prophethood, including him narrating and explaining Quranic verses. The Mojmal al-Tawarikh, or Compendium of Histories, highlighting the history of Persian kings, also showcase numerous images of Muhammad, including him receiving revelations from the angel Jibraeel. A frequently illustrated image is of the Mi'raj, the Islamic tale of Muhammad's ascension to heaven on a winged horse as part of his journey to Al-Aqsa mosque, the event that asserts the Islamic claim over Jerusalem. The idea of a categorical ban on drawings of Muhammad appears to be grounded in the Salafi strain of Islam, which, in recent decades, has been proliferated by Sunni Arab monarchies as part of their bid to assert control over the Muslim world. But while many of the depictions of Muhammad can be found in Shia Islam, there are numerous examples among Sunni practitioners as well – especially the Sufi interpretations such as the Siyer-i-Nebi, an epic on Muhammad's life published around 1388. Nowadays, such images are rarely mentioned – not least in the West, where those who dare depict Muhammad soon find themselves in trouble. In 2022, for instance, The Lady of Heaven film, which featured Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, resulted in a 'blasphemy' backlash. The movie was subsequently pulled from cinemas in various countries, including in the UK. Violent backlashes over cartoons of Muhammad have been witnessed the world over, as seen in the aftermath of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten's publication of satirical sketches of the prophet of Islam in 2005, which resulted in around 150 deaths and attacks on European embassies. Eight Charlie Hebdo journalists were among 12 killed in a jihadist shooting on the French satirical magazine in 2015 over Muhammad caricatures. Showing students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad resulted in French teacher Samuel Paty being decapitated in 2020. When a teacher at Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire did the same, he was forced into hiding. He now lives under a new identity. Such incidents have made publications extremely wary of depicting Muhammad. But what makes the ongoing cartoon row in Turkey all the more absurd is the long and rich tradition of drawing Muhammad in Ottoman history. Erdogan appears to be on a quest to replicate a neo-Ottoman empire, but this is one area of Ottoman history he seems rather less keen to emulate. LeMan's cartoon does not satirise or mock Muhammad; it illustrates Moses and Muhammad shaking hands in the sky while there is war and destruction in the background. Regardless of whether the Muhammad in question was Islam's prophet – or a representation of Muslims with the most common masculine first name, as the magazine insisted – the message upheld peace between the Jewish and Muslim communities amidst the conflicts in the Middle East. The mob, unsurprisingly, appears blind to this interpretation – so, too, does Erdogan. Instead, his government has resorted to more typical Islamist intimidation tactics against a magazine that has been critical of it. It is a move designed to silence dissenters. In Turkey, the Kemalist left has already surrendered significant space to Erdogan, endorsing Islamic modesty codes such as the hijab in stark contradiction of traditional, secular laiklik values of the Turkish republic. This row – and the capitulation to the Islamists – clearly shows the direction of travel in Turkey. Turkey has now effectively joined the list of Muslim countries that have adopted blasphemy laws.
BBC News
13 hours ago
- BBC News
Ismail Abdo: Rumba gang leader arrested in Turkey
One of Sweden's most wanted gang leaders, Ismail Abdo, has been arrested in Turkey, the Swedish prosecutor's office said on dual Swedish-Turkish national has an extensive list of drug-related charges against him according to the global police agency, 35-year-old, nicknamed The Strawberry, is a well-known leader of the Rumba crime gang in Sweden. He is accused of orchestrating illegal operations from abroad and has been the subject of an Interpol red notice since last police did not identify him, but confirmed the arrest of a man "suspected of having engaged in serious drug trafficking and inciting serious violent crimes" for many years in Sweden. He was one of 19 people who were arrested during raids in Turkey, where officers seized more than a tonne of drugs, state broadcaster TRT reported. Exactly where the raids took place has not been warrants were issued for a further 21 suspects, of whom 14 were believed to be abroad and three already in custody on other charges. Four are still at large, TRT authorities reportedly seized assets worth around 1.5bn Turkish lira (£27.8m; $38m), including 20 vehicles, bank accounts and 51 real estate violence in Sweden has escalated in recent years, in part because Abdo's former friend, Rawa Majida, is the leader of a rival gang, people have been killed since their deadly turf war began. It entered a new, violent chapter in 2023 when Abdo's mother was murdered in her home in Uppsala, north of the capital, escalation prompted the government to bring in the army to help tackle the surge in gang 2024, Turkish police arrested Abdo during a traffic stop, but released him on bail despite the active Interpol red notice against him - a move which drew criticism from Swedish authorities who were seeking to extradite increase in gang violence that has plagued some of Sweden's biggest cities and spread to quieter suburbs and towns has shattered its reputation as a safe and peaceful year, Sweden's security service, Sapo, accused Iran of recruiting Swedish gang members to carry out attacks on Israeli or Jewish interests. In October, a 13-year-old boy fired shots outside the offices of Israeli tech firm Elbit Systems. Israel's embassies in Sweden and Denmark were also both centre-right governing coalition, which promised to end the gang crime wave when it was elected in 2022, will see Abdo's capture as a win. However the fact that he is also a Turkish citizen could complicate the extradition estimated 14,000 people in Sweden are caught up in criminal gangs, according to a police report last year, and a further 48,000 people are said to be connected to them.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Reuters
Pope Leo tells Turkish first lady he might visit Turkey in November, presidency says
ISTANBUL and VATICAN CITY, July 2 (Reuters) - Pope Leo told Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan that he aims to visit Turkey at the end of November, according to a readout of their meeting at the Vatican on Wednesday by the Turkish presidency. The pope, who held an official meeting with the wife of President Tayyip Erdogan at the Vatican's apostolic palace, told her that officials from Ankara and Vatican were working on the details of the visit, the presidency said in a statement. The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the first lady's statement. Leo, elected on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, has not yet announced any foreign trips. Francis had been planning a trip to Turkey before his death to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of an early Church council with Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Leo has been widely expected to take the trip in Francis' stead. Bartholomew previously told an Italian television station that he and Leo discussed the possibility of the new pope travelling to Turkey in late November.
