[lit-ideas] Muhammed in Supreme Court frieze
- From: "Cassidy Dann" <cassidy_dann@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 08:17:31 -0500
This from the Philadelphia Inquirer, which recently
(http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001957270)
published one of the offending cartoons:
Muhammad's image is far from a rarity
He is portrayed in Western and Islamic art.
Not all Muslims say it's wrong.
By Andrew Maykuth
Inquirer Staff Writer
When the U.S. Supreme Court convenes in Washington, the justices sit in
their grand courtroom beneath a carved marble frieze depicting 18 great
lawgivers from the ages.
On the south wall are the ancients - Confucius, Octavian, and Moses holding
the Ten Commandments. And on the north wall, along with Justice John
Marshall and Napoleon Bonaparte, standing between Charlemagne and Justinian,
is Muhammad, cradling a sword and a copy of the Holy Koran.
In the furor caused by the Danish cartoons of Muhammad, many stories have
circulated about Islam's prohibitions about artistic depictions of the
prophet, or any human figures.
But Muhammad's image is portrayed far more widely than many believe, and not
just in the West, in the highest court in America, where his likeness was
chiseled in stone about 70 years ago.
In Iran, images of Muhammad are widely circulated among the predominantly
Shiite population. The 1994 book Arab Comic Strips shows a modern cartoon
image of an infant Muhammad in the arms of his nurse, though his face is
obscured in a brilliant halo.
In the 15 centuries since Muhammad lived, Islamic artists have portrayed the
prophet heroically in paintings now on display in such institutions as the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Fine Arts Museums of San
Francisco.
Nor does there appear to be any uniform prohibition against portraying the
human figure in Islam.
"Right from the beginning of Islamic history, and in a number of periods
since, paintings of figures on walls and in art have been practiced in
Islam," said Renata Holod, curator of the University of Pennsylvania
Museum's Islamic art collection.
Conservative strains of the faith, such as the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia,
maintain that Islamic law strictly prohibits any portraiture because only
God can create human images. The Taliban in Afghanistan took this belief to
an extreme when it systematically defaced figurative artwork, including
ancient images of Buddha.
But scholars say no clear doctrine defines Islam. Like believers of other
global faiths, such as Christianity, the world's 1.3 billion Muslims hold a
variety of beliefs about religious imagery. Experts say human figures have
appeared frequently in Islamic art through the ages, particularly in Persia
and Turkey.
Rest of article here:
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/13825286.htm
Note this bit at the end:
"Nine years ago, the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded that the
Supreme Court remove the image of Muhammad from the frieze.
"While appreciating the fact that Muhammad was included in the court's
pantheon of 18 prominent lawgivers of history, CAIR noted that Islam
discouraged its followers from portraying any prophet in paintings,
sculptures or other artistic representations," the organization said in a
published history. CAIR also objected that the prophet was shown with a
sword, "reinforcing long-held stereotypes of Muslims as intolerant
conquerors."
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist rejected the request to sandblast
Muhammad, saying the artwork "was intended only to recognize him, among many
other lawgivers, as an important figure in the history of law; it is not
intended as a form of idol worship."
The court later added a footnote to a pamphlet describing the frieze,
calling it a "well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor to honor Muhammad.""
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