This page features links to other Web sites that contain information, news, analysis, humor, research or collections related to Mohammed and the controversy of depicting him. Note that some of these links date back as far as 2006, and as a result many of them have expired or have been taken offline for various reasons. We will try to keep the links here as current as possible, but inevitably more will go offline one by one with every passing month -- so don't be surprised if not all the links below still work.
An Israeli comic group called Boomka.org decided to out-maneuver the Iranians by sponsoring their own anti-Semitic cartoon contest, with the entrants to be drawn mostly by Jews themselves and the winners to be displayed at an exhibit in Tel Aviv.
"Silver Linings of the Holocaust" would have been the funniest submission to the Iranian contest, but it was not included among the official entrants. (Thanks to: Erik.)
Of course, the Iranians didn't need to hold a contest to find anti-Semitic cartoons, since they're published frequently by the mainstream press in the Muslim world:
This scholarly essay by Wijdan Ali entitled "From the Literal to the Spiritual: The Development of the Prophet Muhammad's Portrayal From 13th Century Ilkhanid Miniatures to 17th Century Ottoman Art" traces the history of Islamic depictions of Mohammed. It can also be downloaded as a pdf document here.
The scholarly journal Studia Islamica published an article by Oleg Grabar in 2003 entitled "The Story of Portraits of the Prophet Muhammad," which details (with words) the long history of Islamic depictions of Mohammed.
TheReligionOfPeace.com keeps tabs on all the latest news about Islamic extremism, including terror attacks, attempts to impose shari'a in the West, and any protests or violence related to "Mohammed cartoons."
"I cobble together a verse comedy about the customs of the harem, assuming that, as a Spanish writer, I can say what I like about Mohammed without drawing hostile fire. Next thing, some envoy from God knows where turns up and complains that in my play I have offended the Ottoman empire, Persia, a large slice of the Indian peninsula, the whole of Egypt, and the kingdoms of Barca, Tripoli, Tunisi, Algeria, and Morocco. And so my play sinks without trace, all to placate a bunch of Muslim princes, not one of whom, as far as I know, can read but who beat the living daylights out of us and say we are 'Christian dogs.' Since they can't stop a man thinking, they take it out on his hide instead."
The Plus Ultra Blog reports that KATU-TV in Portland showed all 12 of the original Jyllands-Posten cartoons on the air during a report about the Web sites (including the MIA) that were banned in Pakistan (see the "BBC [Urdu Edition]" below for more info). Video of the TV segment is available on the Plus Ultra site.
Danish Mohammed Cartoons is a site that monitors the ongoing cartoon jihad, with frequent updates and in-depth information about the original Mohammed cartoon scandal and other stories relating to the clash between the European and Islamic worlds.
"The True Believer's Dream" is a 19th-century painting that depicts what a devout Muslim imagines paradise is like; though it doesn't show Mohammed, many Muslims consider the painting blasphemous nonetheless, because it reveals the sexual aspect of the Islamic heaven (which has always caused controversy -- even centuries ago.) (Thanks to: Archive readers.)
DailyKos post with links to and examples from the Mohammed Image Archive, plus discussion of the Islamic tradition of depicting Mohammed.
Hodja's blog from Denmark has interesting news stories and images about the ongoing cartoon jihad -- partly in Danish, but some in English too.
If you speak French, the site "islam-documents.org" has a comprehensive collection of essentially all historical texts about Islam, translated from Arabic into French, to be used as source material for research.
A far-left student newspaper in Oregon called The Insurgent tried to prove some kind of point by publishing a picture of a naked Jesus with an erection, seeking to "teach a lesson" to Christians about what it felt like to have their prophet mocked. Though the image was vastly more offensive than the original Danish Mohammed cartoons, there were no riots or death threats issued over the Jesus cartoon, which was probably the reverse of what the editors of The Insurgent were trying to prove. The "erection Jesus" was only one of 12 different anti-Jesus cartoons published by The Insurgent. Since Jesus is already mocked incessantly in mainstream Western culture, the students' attempt at outrageousness fell flat.
Media Coverage of the Mohammed Image Archive:
The Pioneer (New Delhi), March 14, 2006: A column in this Indian newspaper links to and refers to the Archive, as part of an excellent essay on religious hypocrisy.
The Times of London newspaper, February 4, 2006: an article entitled "Portraying prophet from Persian art to South Park" copied the information off the Mohammed Image Archive (which was not credited). (Update: The Times added a link to the Archive at the end of the article after readers pointed out it was the source of the information.) The Australianrepublished the same article on February 6, 2006.
(Thanks to: brenda and Michelle.)
Wikipedia references the Mohammed Image Archive (footnote 74) in its entry about the controversy.
BBC television, February 2, 2006: the BBC broadcast a televised news segment featuring pictures and information from the Mohammed Image Archive. Click here to see a short QuickTime mpeg video of the broadcast. Here's a transcript:
Reporter: "This Islamic scholar says the crucial injunction in the Koran is against mocking the Prophet, or other authorities."
Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad: "It's totally prohibited to do something that belittle the prophets of Allah, and depiction is part of belittling the prophets of Allah, from one['s] anger.
[Printed-out pages of the Mohammed Image Archive shown being placed on a table.]
Reporter: "Traditionally, Islam has frowned on any representations of living beings. But painters in Islamic countries have depicted Mohammed for centuries."
[Close-up of this image from the Archive showing a medieval Islamic depiction of Mohammed.]
Reporter: "Despite official disapproval, portraits of the Prophet are sold to devout Muslims in Iran today."
[Close-up of this image from the Archive showing Iranian portrait.]
Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad: "Some people have a Muslim name, and they claim that, oh, they might have Muslim parents, but they have left Islam totally."
Reporter: "But [gesturing toward Mohammed Image Archive pages] these are from, these are from medieval Persia, from the medieval Ottoman Empire, so surely they're Muslims."
Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad: "No, not necessarily. Islam is a practice. It is not just a claim. Islam is a way of life. So, we practice Islam in our daily life in every inch and each aspect. It's not just a claim and then we can do whatever we want. No."
Reporter: "So [pointing to Mohammed Image Archive pages] these pictures were wrong."
Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad: "Of course. Hundred percent wrong."
(Thanks to: bweep and Max Darkside.)
Mirror sites:
The following sites contain exact duplicates of the Mohammed Image Archive, which you can visit if this page is offline for any reason (note that these "mirror sites" do not always feature the latest and most up-to-date version of the Archive):