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The Truth about 42- Features

Taking a leaf out of the prophets life

By Mufti Zubair Bayat

(This article was published in the Natal Mercury Paper on Thursday, 27 May 2010 p.15)

The recent Mail & Guardian cartoon, which attempts to depict the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) lying on a psychiatrist’s couch and supposedly lamenting the lack of humour of his followers, has evoked an angry response and strong objection from the Muslim community.

Depicting40of God and the Prophet (pbuh) are strictly forbidden in Islam. The rationale for the prohibition of depicting the image of God is because He is beyond human perception. The rationale for the prohibition, inter alia, of depicting the Prophet (pbuh) is that he was too sublime to be truly portrayed. Furthermore, attempts at portraying him could result in his image being distorted. There are therefore no records of any authentic image or portrait of the Prophet (pbuh) anywhere in the world, from any period of Islamic history, which is a significant point to note.

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Face to face with history

Face to face with history
Martin Jacques

The UN conference on racism confronted western countries with difficult truths – but that’s no reason for anyone to walk out

 arab woman
Ironies of history: an Arab woman supports a protest in northern Galilee against Israeli state racism

I can think of only one international body that can lay claim to a semblance of democracy: the United Nations. All the other organisations that regard themselves as global – the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation – are creations of the west and their power structures reflect that fact. This is the reason why the United States has always had a troubled relationship with the UN; it is the one organisation where it is not assured of getting its own way. On the contrary, it often finds itself hugely outnumbered, resolutions on the Middle East and Israel being a classic trigger. That, rather than being strapped for cash, is why the US has always been so reluctant to pay its dues. So, it was no surprise to find the US boycotting this year’s UN World Conference against Racism in Geneva, or that it walked out of the first such meeting in Durban in 2001. America is invariably on the defensive on such occasions.

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