Excerpts from Marisa Martin's report at WND:
Over 700 years the scene most associated with Muhammad by Westerners was a disemboweled heretic, tortured for eternity in a searing abyss. This image is an inheritance from the fervid imagination of Dante Aligheri, from his magnificent 14th-century epic poem “Divine Comedy.”
Muhammad in hell (various artists)
Dante’s open contempt for Muhammad was universally shared in Christian Europe and had been for several hundred years. He was denounced as a violent false prophet and depraved heretic who had been eaten by a herd of swine in one account.
Celebrated artists have illustrated “Divine Comedy” since its publication, including Botticelli, William Blake, Gustave Doré, Rauschenberg, Rodin, Dali and more. They weren’t motivated by hatred of Muslims or anyone else; it’s just part of the grand text.
This secret history of Islamic art, which apparently hasn’t reached the White House yet, is that it is ancient, reaching back as far as the religion and founder himself. Also, images of Muhammad are not forbidden in the Koran, although I personally care about this as much as terrorists study the Sermon on the Mount.
Drawings and paintings of Muhammad actually number in the tens of thousands, with the oldest engravings possibly on 8th century Islamic coins....
Things have greatly changed for artists and writers in the new Muslim sensitive world....
When left-wing Danish author Kaare Bluitgen thought he’d write an illustrated childrens’ book on Muhammad’s life in 2006, the outcome was a world conflagration. His motives to “bring Danes and immigrant Muslims closer together” and his use of authentic, Islamic sources didn’t matter to those who rioted over the contents.
End quote. (Photos from the report)
Read more at WND.
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