Special Report | Zapiro and the Prophet

Latest

Uproar over M&G Prophet Muhammad cartoon: The Council of Muslim Theologians on Thursday night tried to prevent the M&G from publishing a Zapiro cartoon featuring the Prophet Muhammad.
Picturing the prophet: your response: M&G readers have flooded us with letters about Zapiro's cartoon on the Prophet Muhammad. Read a selection here.
Why draw the Prophet?: From very early last Friday, the protests began rolling in. At the time of writing, my inbox alone has 79 complaints.
Zapiro's response: See cartoonist Zapiro response to the offence caused by his depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in a new cartoon, published in the M&G.
A not so simple twist of faith: I have been asked repeatedly over the past week "Why did you do it? Why run a cartoon that you knew would cause such profound anger?
Muslims are not humourless, they are in fact very funny: Muslims are upset with Zapiro for many reasons. So let's unpack what irks them, says Mahomed Faizal Dawjee.
Bigotry rides rampant: Bigotry is again riding rampant in reaction to last week's Zapiro cartoon in the Mail & Guardian, argues political analyst Terry Bell.
M&G meets with Muslim leaders: The M&G will refrain from publishing any images of the Prophet Muhammad while reviewing its editorial policy on religious matters.
'This is not the Muhammad of the Danish cartoons': M&G editor Nic Dawes has reiterated the paper's disapproval of the Islamophobia that has stalked the "Everybody draw Muhammad Day" campaign.
Muslim leaders seek apology over cartoon: Muslim leaders said they would be seeking an apology from the M&G after the paper published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.

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Background

On Friday May 21 2010 South African cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, aka Zapiro, drew a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad reclining on a psychiatrist's couch, bemoaning his followers' lack of humour. It referenced the uproar in some Muslim communities over the Everyone Draw Muhammad Day campaign.

Muslim leaders failed in a court application to stop the newspaper publishing the article. In the uproar that followed, the newspaper and cartoonist met with community leaders from a cross-section of the South African Muslim community, to reach an amicable solution.

Mail & Guardian statement: May 26 2010

Mail & Guardian

The M&G communicated to the meeting its regret for the harm caused by the publication of the cartoon, and apologises for the effects thereof. The newspaper in no way intended to cause injury, or to associate itself with Islamophobia, which it repudiates in the strongest possible terms.

We have learned an enormous amount since the publication of the cartoon about the depth of reverence in which Muslims hold the Prophet. We invite community leaders and ordinary readers to communicate their devotion in our pages, as some have already begun to do.

In light of the injury caused by the cartoon we are reviewing our editorial policies on religious matters broadly, and the depiction of the Prophet in particular. This review process will be informed by consultation with religious leaders including, but not limited to, the United Muslim Forum of South Africa. We commit during the review period to honouring the prohibition on representation of the Prophet.

Any final policy that emerges from the review process will be informed by the experience of the past week, and by what we now know of the depth of feeling in the Muslim community on this matter.

The M&G is committed to editorial independence and press freedom. We are guided by the constitution and our own values of social justice in dealing with South Africa's diverse religious and secular communities.

For comment: Nic Dawes 082 782 0855

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Response

Background

Mail & Guardian statement: May 26 2010