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No. 664
ID: e09c89
File: 12743924002.jpg-(110.17KB, 478x800, Draw Muhammad Day by Ryuuka.jpg)
This is a piece in response to "Draw Muhammad Day" where many artists and doodlers will take the time to mock The Prophet and, consequently, upwards of 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, including the ones they are aiming to offend: the handful of Muslims in NYC who threatened the lives of the creators of South Park. The idea behind this is to give those specific Muslims more than just South Park to target I guess.
I am not a Muslim. I am not a practicing Christian or a Jew. And while I have no problem with the concept of God I frequently find myself uncomfortable, but nonetheless fascinated with organized religion. Faith is a gift I have never been blessed with, though I truly admire those who love something greater than themselves and dedicate their lives to it.
But a great man like The Prophet Muhammad who was ridiculously progressive for his time deserves the respect of people throughout the world. He freed thousands of people, in his lifetime alone, from the monopolizing, oppressive, slave trading tribal system of 7th century Arabia. He thought and fought against this system with free men and women at his side. His Revelations solidified the Arabic language, which would affect an untold number of languages in the future. And when he was finally forced to battle his enemy, he changed the global laws of warfare forever, abolishing rape, desecration, and the taking of slaves.
Regardless of where your faith lies, regardless of how some of his later followers might have misconstrued his words and deeds to fit their own needs, Muhammad is a hero to his people. He lived and died to create a community of equal men and women risking his life and livelihood to make his world a better place. That is more than I will ever do in my lifetime, and it is more than most of you will do as well.
So I give you a drawing of Muhammad on the 20th of May, not to mock him or the millions of Muslim's who cherish him, but to have at least one drawing out there today, by a spiritually confused American (who also watches South Park), that honors his life of submission to God. The God who led Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, Jesus, Peter, Muhammad, Fatima, Ali, and billions of people over thousands of years. The God who has inspired some of the greatest paintings and sculptures, some of the greatest buildings, some of the greatest cities, some of the greatest wars and persecutions, and some of the greatest books, writings, minds, and calligraphy mankind has ever seen.
PS. If you are Muslim and this offends you: I offer my apologies, but drawing is the gift I was given and how I think, not to mention this is my personal blog. If this was "Draw Jesus Day" or "Draw Ghandi Day" I would have probably done the exact same thing, but its not, it's "Draw Muhammad Day."
PPS. If you misconstrue the word "greatest" to mean that I think war/persecutions/genocide is awesome, you need to relearn how to use the word "great." Just sayin.
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