A DECISION by a South African newspaper to publish a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad yesterday has angered a local Muslim group and raises fears of reprisals ahead of the World Cup.
The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) tried late on Thursday to prevent the Mail & Guardianweekly newspaper from publishing the drawing by cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro by applying for an urgent interdict in Johannesburg high court.
However, the court rejected the application, prompting the council to warn that the cartoon’s publication could be provocative ahead of the World Cup, which takes place in South Africa next month.
"It seems to be provocative in many ways on the very eve of the World Cup in South Africa, when we need peaceful co-existence and co-operation amongst religious communities in South Africa," said MJC president Ihsaan Hendricks. "The M&G[ Mail & Guardian] needed to understand that offending the South African Muslim community is offending the international Muslim community."
The sketch depicts a concerned prophet lying flat on his back on a long chair saying to a therapist: “Other prophets have followers with a sense of humour!”
By his side is a newspaper with the headline, “Everybody draw Muhammad day”, which refers to a Facebook page that caused outrage in Pakistan recently because it encouraged people to post images of the prophet.
Muslims consider images of the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, offensive. A previous depiction of the prophet in a Danish newspaper in 2006, which was subsequently syndicated around the world, sparked protests and riots in which dozens died.
Shapiro, widely known as the satirist Zapiro, insisted his cartoon was not intended to offend Muslims, but rather to challenge them.
“I believe that all religions should be subjected to satire and that some religious groups should not be able to think they are above society,” he said.
“I did not try to draw a cartoon that is as offensive as possible, I just drew a cartoon that is challenging. The prophet in the cartoon looks sad [because] his followers don’t have a sense of humour, [they] are so fanatical and sensitive.”
South Africa is a predominately Christian country, with only 1.5 per cent of the 50 million population belonging to the Muslim faith.
Conflict between members of different religious groups is uncommon.
However, fears over a terrorist attack during the World Cup were heightened earlier this week when Iraqi authorities allowed a news agency to interview an al-Qaeda militant who admitted he had talked to friends about targeting the Danish and Dutch football teams in revenge for depicting Muhammad.
While some members of the public have called the Mail & Guardianirresponsible, others have supported its right to publish freely.
The South African National Editors’ Forum issued a statement saying it did not comment on the content of newspapers. “We, however, want to emphasise the right of editors to publish that which they deem fit to do so,” it added.