A group of Muslims are reclaiming the name of Islam’s prophet, “Muhammad” — which also happens to be the most common name in the world — after professional racist Pamela Geller asked people to draw cartoons dehumanizing him.
Geller, who runs an anti-Muslim hate group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative, is perhaps most well-known in New York for her anti-Muslim ads on the MTA. In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, AFDI sponsored a contest seeking submissions of cartoons mocking Muhammad. The winning (we assume that this means “the most offensive”) cartoon will be awarded $10,000 on May 3rd at a gallery exhibit in Garland, Texas.
But one blog, MuslimGirl.net, is fighting Geller’s hatred with love. Ahead of the “Draw Muhammad” unveiling, the blog went to Columbia University’s campus to ask people to draw a Mohammad they knew in their own lives:
Muhammad is the most common name in the world. Chances are that all know a Muhammad. So, let’s draw Muhammad. Let’s honor his diversity. Let’s celebrate his many different faces. Let’s elevate his humanity. In a bleak world where the Pamela Gellers are the ones with the mic, let’s shine some light on the good
The simple cartoons, crude but varied, humanize both the religious figure and the hundreds of millions of men in the world who bear that name. If you know a Muhammad, introduce him to us, draw a cartoon, and share it on Twitter of Facebook with #DM2015.
(Photos/Video: Aymann Ismail/MuslimGirl.net)
