The editorial cartoons published in several newspapers worldwide depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad are inexcusable and not a correct exercise of freedom of the press, according to members of the AU community.
Abdul Karim Bangura, a professor in the School of International Service affiliated with AU's Center for Global Peace, said he has traveled to Denmark and is familiar with the newspaper that first published the cartoon, Jyllands-Posten. The paper has a history of publishing racist and anti-immigrant articles and misrepresents the Danish, who are generally a kind people, Bangura said.
"This cartoonist should have thought before what he did," he said.
Jyllands-Posten first published the cartoons on Sept. 30, according to The Washington Post. The newspaper has since apologized for offending Muslims, but it stands by its decision to print them.
Islam prohibits the artistic representation of Muhammad because symbols of the prophet are considered idols, which cannot be worshipped in Islam, according to Bangura. Artworks of Muhammad can also divert attention away from prayers in the mosque.
However, Bangura said he does not condone the violent riots in which Muslims have participated in the Middle East.
"When people feel like they've been disrespected ... it can get out of hand," Bangura said.
Aishah Ma'ruf, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs and a member of the Muslim Student Association, said the cartoons were insulting, but she knows they stemmed from ignorance.
"If someone insults someone you love, of course you feel hurt by that," Ma'ruf said.
Rabbi Kenneth Cohen, Jewish chaplain at AU, said the publishing of the cartoons cannot be defended as freedom of the press because there are limits to that freedom.
Americans have the constitutional right to make fun of a minority, but doing so would be negligent, he said.
"It was reprehensible to publish the cartoons in the first place," Cohen said. "There's no excuse."
Dr. Karin Thornton, associate Catholic Chaplain, said she and the Rev. Zygmunt Kurzawinski agreed that the cartoons were hurtful to both Christian and Muslim worshippers because both Christianity and Islam revere one God.
"We are hurt as our Muslim brothers and sisters are hurt," she said.
John Pollicino, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he does not think people would have reacted the same way if cartoons depicting Jesus had been published.
"I think it was perfectly fine to print that article," he said. "They're taking their religion way too seriously."
Lindsey Triplett, a senior in SPA and president of the United Methodist Student Association, said she thinks it was the paper's right to publish the cartoons since Denmark has a different system of freedoms than Islamic countries, but they were also disrespectful.
"I do not think it is very representative of the Muslim people - they are kind, gentle people that have some sects that are fundamentalist and militant," she said. "But I think that people get the wrong impression when they only see the violence on TV being put on by these sects"
