I was worried.
Once upon a time in the 14th century, Rashid al-Din, a famous Muslim historian, published a royal manuscript, ‘the Compendium of Chronicles,’ an illustrated history of the world. Among the numerous paintings in the manuscript are images of the historical moments in the life of Prophet Muhammad, his facial features depicted.
Fast forward to the Fall of 2022, and an art history professor at Hamline university, Minnesota is fired when she shows an illustration in class.
She did not lose her job for lying about her credentials (like ‘you know who’), and not because she failed to show up for work, overused her sick leave . . . . but because she showed an artist’s reverent depiction of the Prophet Muhammad receiving the first divine revelation from angel Gabriel.
It cost her her job!
For showing a picture!
This worried me.
I worried that the intolerant, woke, and cancel culture elements in the Muslim community will hijack our faith.
That the term ‘Islamophobia’ will get so diluted as to lose its potency.
That we—as in Muslims—will become the butt of jokes.
And of course, appalled that a professor had lost her job.
By now you all know the story:
At Hamline University, Erika Lopez Prater, an art history adjunct professor, informed her class that she planned to show a picture of the prophet as part of art history, and if anyone has objection, they can skip class. During class, before putting up the picture, she informed them again as in ‘speak up now…’ No one spoke up. So she put up the picture. After class was over, one of the students, the head of the Muslims Students Association (MSA), confronted her and then reported her to the administrative authorities. The university’s president issued a statement, “Respect for observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom.” The student newspaper reported it as ‘hate speech and micro aggression.’ The professor was told that she will not be returning next semester. The Minnesota chapter of the Council on Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a press conference in support of the decision by the university, denouncing the professor’s action as ‘Islamophobia.’
Any student has a right to object, but students were given the opportunity well ahead of time, and then again. Why didn’t she speak up then? Should the university have acquiesced to her complaint without due process? Should CAIR Minnesota have supported the university’s position?
There is no consensus in the Muslim community on the issue of images of the prophet. The Quran does not forbid it. Those who prohibit it rely on a saying of the prophet condemning image makers in a time when worship of idols was the norm. Scholars have weighed in with diverse opinions. To avoid worship of images—in this case that of the Prophet—some scholars have forbidden pictures of the prophet. Some ultra-conservatives even ban photography of regular people like you and me. Not so in others, the Shia tradition being one, the Turkish and Persian miniatures being the other.
I was in Beirut, Lebanon when I was stopped by a street vendor, who tried to interest me in buying posters depicting the prophet and his son-in-law Ali. Growing up in Pakistan, I was always told that it was a sin to have a picture of the prophet, so imagine my surprise. Shocked, I turned to our tour guide, Hassan exclaiming, “Why does he have photos of the prophet? It is wrong!”
Hassan’s response was, “Why not? They were human.”
I mulled over it, confused. It is not easy to shed a belief that has been hard wired into one’s consciousness. It is when I shared this episode with friends that I learnt that in the Shia tradition it is considered entirely appropriate. And when the Hamline University story broke, the New York Times quoted Omid Safi—whom I had the occasion to meet at Chautauqua Institution—former Director of Duke Islamic Studies, and now Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University, supporting depiction of the Prophet’s images. When he and his family fled Iran, one of the few items he brought with him was a framed photo of the Prophet Muhammad, which now hangs in his living room.
Director of Duke Islamic Studies! A scholar!
And now, scholars, journalists, think tanks across the spectrum were weighing in. The first to hit my screen was a statement by Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) urging the university to re-instate Professor Prater on grounds that there is diversity of opinion on this issue, that the professor was educating the students on precisely that, referring to this as Islamophobic only waters down the term, and that open inquiry and critical thinking is to be encouraged. Thank you, MPAC.
Then a birdie tweeted: “The incident at HamlinU is a wake-up call for all, including Muslims who don’t want to sacrifice the richness of their tradition to extreme identity politics.” My friend Mustafa Akyol had written a piece in the National Review making the case that there are good reasons to uphold academic freedom over particular beliefs and feelings of students—freedom in fact will be good for them, helping them to mature intellectually and emotionally; and that the university had honored only one view among Muslims—the most rigid one. This was no mocking cartoon or caricature, rather a reverent depiction.
The professor sued.
My husband Khalid was ready to write a letter of complaint to CAIR when another news item hit my screen. This was huge: CAIR national issued a statement overriding it’s Minnesota chapter’s position, stating that whereas they discourage visual depictions of the prophet, they draw a distinction between professors who analyze ancient paintings for academic purposes and people who use them to cause offense; that they didn’t find the professor’s lesson as Islamophobic; and urged that the university reexamine the situation.
Phew!
Khalid still wrote the letter and received a prompt and satisfactory response.
Now, the university is walking back their statement.
A week ago, I was worried. Less so now.
Whereas I am indeed concerned about identity politics in the Muslim community, I am encouraged having witnessed what I see as the epitome of freedom of expression: Muslims challenging Muslims in an exchange of positions on theological issues.
I see promise when MPAC and the likes of Mustafa Akyol and Omid Safi speak up and speak out, knowing that there will be push-back.
I am optimistic in seeing that CAIR took a public position against its own chapter.
And I am hopeful that if and when more of such incidents occur, organizations like the Minnesota chapter of CAIR and academic institutions will be cautious in rushing to judgement.
Professor Prater, I hope you are re-instated with an overdue apology.
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