Hundreds died when violence swept Muslim nations in 2005 after a Danish newspaper published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Ironically, the rioters were upset in part because the cartoons depicted Muhammad as violent.
But that mayhem was only the beginning. The cartoonists had to go into hiding, and since then, there have been troubling cases in the United States of censorship of material that some fear may upset Muslims. For instance, Yale University Press removed the cartoons from a book written specifically to address the firestorm they caused. It acknowledged its fear that radical Muslims might rampage anew.
And now, art that depicts Muhammad has been removed from the Islamic collection at the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The pieces are “under review,” Met officials told The New York Post, and a source said the museum was trying to avoid “controversy.”
Many Muslims say their faith forbids creating images of Muhammad, and common courtesy tells us no one should deliberately insult people on account of their faith. But as a historical figure, Muhammad is a legitimate subject for artists, cartoonists or anyone else to draw or discuss — especially in the United States, where our First Amendment guarantees that very liberty.
The Met says the art with images of Muhammad just doesn’t fit with its display of other Islamic art.
We hope that artistic judgment — and not self-censorship based on fear of radicals — truly is why the images of Muhammad were pulled.