When Wokeness on ‘Islamophobia’ Surpasses Muslim Sensitivity

In the past two decades, the world has seen various controversies over visual depictions of the prophet of Islam. They include the 2005 “cartoon crisis” in Denmark, where caricatures of Mohammad led to death threats and widespread violent protests, or the Charlie Hebdo affair in France, where similar cartoons published by the magazine in 2012 were followed by terrorist attacks that left twelve dead.

More recently, at Hamline University, Minnesota, another controversy — a very different one — erupted over the image of Mohammed. Erika López Prater, an adjunct professor who teaches a class on the history of art, included a visual depiction of the Islamic prophet in her fall curriculum. This was no mocking cartoon made by infidels but rather a reverent painting found in a historical text by Rashid al-Din, a famous 14th-century Muslim vizier and historian. It showed Mohammed receiving his first Koranic revelation from the Angel Gabriel — a manifestation of the Islamic faith, akin to countless Christian works of art depicting the life of Jesus Christ.

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About the Author

Mustafa Akyol

Mustafa Akyol is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity and the author of Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance.

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In the past two decades, the world has seen various controversies over visual depictions of the prophet of Islam. They include the 2005 “cartoon crisis” in Denmark, where caricatures of Mohammad led to death threats and widespread violent protests, or the Charlie Hebdo affair in France, where similar cartoons published by the magazine in 2012 were followed by terrorist attacks that left twelve dead.

More recently, at Hamline University, Minnesota, another controversy — a very different one — erupted over the image of Mohammed. Erika López Prater, an adjunct professor who teaches a class on the history of art, included a visual depiction of the Islamic prophet in her fall curriculum. This was no mocking cartoon made by infidels but rather a reverent painting found in a historical text by Rashid al-Din, a famous 14th-century Muslim vizier and historian. It showed Mohammed receiving his first Koranic revelation from the Angel Gabriel — a manifestation of the Islamic faith, akin to countless Christian works of art depicting the life of Jesus Christ.