“Protests inspired by an anti-Islam film targeted more U.S. facilities in the Muslim world Thursday, raising questions about whether governments had the will or even the ability to protect Americans abroad from angry demonstrator. Two days after the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other American diplomatic employees, the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, was assaulted by protesters as Yemeni security personnel did little to intervene, witnesses said. In Cairo, clouds of tear gas enveloped the fortified area around the U.S. Embassy as security forces clashed with protesters for the third straight day. Other anti-U.S. protests were reported in cities across the region.” (More protests break out in Muslim world as U.S. appeals for calm, Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post, September 13, 2012) 

We are experiencing a de-ja-vu. About 6 years ago, the Danish cartoonists had stirred the so-called Muslim world with the cartoon depiction of Muhammad.  Now, during the 11th anniversary of 9/11 attack, the so-called Muslim world are again furious over a nasty film, “Innocence of Muslims,” insulting Muhammad. The appalling movie was made by a Coptic Christian living in the United States, evidently to incite violence and thereby enjoy the flames rising in the Middle East followed by a new round of covert operations, wars, and invasions by the world’s super-duper power, which is suffering from middle age crisis. The film was made by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula Coptic Christian, a man with felony records. According to court papers, Nakoula, who served 21 months in prison and paid out $794,700 for bank fraud in 2010. In 1997 the producer of the sickening movie was charged with intent to manufacture methamphetamine and spent two years in jail.

Reformist Muslims Solicits Your
Cartoons, Drawings, and Short Films on
“Muhammad, a Messenger of Peace”

Awards for the cartoons/drawings:
1st Place:             1000$
2nd Place:           300$
3rd Place:            200$
Awards for the short films (10-19 minutes):
1st Place:             5000$
2nd Place:           3000$
3rd Place:            2000$

Edip Yuksel
www.19.org
13 September 2012

• “Say, “I am but a human being like you, being inspired that your god is One god. …” (18:110)
• “It has been sent down to you in the book, that when you hear God’s signs being rejected and ridiculed, then do not sit with them until they move on to a different subject; otherwise you are like them. God will gather the hypocrites and the unappreciative people in hell all together.” (4:140)
• “There is no compulsion in the system; the proper way has been made clear from the wrong way…” (2:256)
• “And the servants of the Gracious who walk on the earth in humility and if the ignorant speak to them, they say, ‘Peace.'” (25:63).
• “… and they counter sin with good; these will have an excellent abode.” (13:22).
• “… He casts the affliction upon those who do not reason.” (10:100)
• “Do not uphold what you have no knowledge of. For the hearing, eyesight, and mind, all these are held responsible for that.” (17:36)
• “O you who acknowledge, join in peace, all of you …” (2:208)
• “And the messenger said, “My Lord, my people have deserted this Quran.” (25:30)
• “… So, in which hadith, after God and His signs, do they acknowledge?” (45:6)
• “God bears witness that there is no god but He. …” (3:18)

(From Quran: A Reformist Translation by Edip Yuksel, Salih al-Shaiban, Martha Schulte-Nafeh)

As islamic reformers and progressive muslims, we believe that people should have legal right to express their opinion or dissent without fear of governments or mobs. In that regard, we applaud the people of Denmark and the United States for not censoring their media. (Well, the mainstream American media is auto-censored on some issues because of the interdependence between the media, big corporations, and powerful lobbies, which is another story). History has proven that truth and justice cannot flourish in an environment of suppression and oppression. Though the cartoons and the recent movie depicted and insulted our beloved prophet Muhammad, a figure that we consider dearer to us than our fathers and mothers, we stand by the rights of cartoonists to express their views.

Though we defend their freedom of expression fully, we morally condemn the ignorant and perhaps malicious act of the cartoonists, the movie-makers and their supporters.

Had the cartoonists and the movie-makers and their supporters in the media opened their eyes and connected the dots between the tens of thousands of tortured, injured, and killed Iraqi civilians and the lies of a Crusader-in-chief supported by Evangelical churches, they would perhaps have decided to draw the cartoon of Jesus with 666 bombs in his hair and beard! Anyone who has the knowledge of the New Testament would not hesitate to distinguish between the warmongering Crusaders and Jesus, the “Prince of Peace.” Similarly, anyone who has the knowledge of the Quran would not hesitate to distinguish between the terrorist Jihadis and Muhammad, the “Messenger of Peace.”

The cartoonists and the movie-makers and their promoters  did not only insult one of the prophets, they also distorted the history of a great revolutionary leader who was a model peacemaker and defender of the rights of the oppressed; slaves, and women. In contrast to how the warmongering Crusaders and Jihadis wish to portray, Muhammad was not a man of violence but a man of reason and peace.

Numerous verses of the Quran and critical study of history will reveal that the portrait of Muhammad depicted in Sunni or Shiite hearsay books is fictional. A fiction created by the propagandists of rulers of Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties to justify their atrocities and aggression! He and his supporters were threatened and tortured inMeccafor their criticism of their corrupt and unjust theocratic system. They were forced to leave everything behind and immigrate to Yathrib (today’s Medina). There they established a peaceful city-state, a federal secular democracy, among its multi-religious diverse citizens. Nevertheless, the Meccan oligarchy did not leave them alone to enjoy peace and freedom; they organized several major war campaigns against the coalition of Muslims, Christians, Jews and Pagans united under the leadership of Muhammad. In all the wars, including Uhud, Badr, and Handaq, the monotheist reformers fought for self-defense. They even dug trenches around the city to defend themselves from aggressive religious coalition led by Meccan oligarchs. Muhammad’s message that promoted reason, freedom, peace, justice, unity of children of Adam, appreciation of diversity, rights of women and slaves, and social consciousness soon received acceptance by masses in the land. Yet, after ten years in exile, when finally Muhammad and his supporters returned to Mecca as victors, he declared amnesty for all those oppressors and warmongers who inflicted on them great suffering, who maimed and murdered many of their comrades, all because they questioned the teachings and culture they inherited from their parents. However, guided by the teachings of Quran, Muhammad chose forgiveness and peace; he did not punish any of his bloody enemies. After all, he was one of the many messengers of islam, peace and submission to God alone.

Not only those cartoons and the current film title “Innocence of Muslims” distorted the truth and committed injustice against one of the greatest men in history, their work unfairly stereotyped all Muslims as terrorists and barbarians. Promotion of xenophobic messages in Christendom might lead to another atrocity in human history. If we compare the massacres, wars, and atrocities committed in history by those who claim to be Muslims to those who claim to be Christians, we will find that those who give lip service to Christianity are more barbarians than those who give lip service to Islam. The wars, covert operations, occupations and destruction of countries, the use of atomic bombs on civilians, use of proxy corrupt and oppressive regimes, weapon industry and its global trade… Christendom and churches, in general, have been supportive of colonialism, jingoistic or imperialistic aggressions. In the times of inter religious conflict, unfortunately the voice of peaceful and moderate Christians and Muslims is not heard. It is like a dejavu. Remember sixty years ago? Jews were considered the source of all evil by Germany, a country with a majority Christian population. Hitler’s racist propaganda machine hypnotized many otherwise nice people. Now, as it seems, it is the turn of Muslims. There are enough ignorant and traumatized people among Muslims to justify the cunning propaganda machine that is working to establish moral justification for a new worldwide aggression.

The West possesses excessive deposit of atomic bombs and high-tech weapons, enormous amount of greed to suck the resources of the entire earth, and troops of religious and political leaders who can demonstrate the miracle of promoting wars and atrocities while at the same time singing peace and freedom with smirks on their faces. On the other hand, the East possess oil and many other natural resources, enormous amount of ignorance, poverty and destitute, and troops of religious and political leaders who can mobilize masses and turn them to terrorists and suicide bombs. These are explosive ingredients for the clash of two so-called civilizations that might turn the planet earth to hell. It is time for peace-loving honest people, especially Christians, Jews and Muslims start acting for peace and dialogue.

Sunni and Shiite Protesters Serve their Detractors

The reaction of Sunni and Shiite masses around the world to the cartoon and film controversy has nothing to do with the precepts of Islam. The exaggerated reaction, the violent protests, the gun-touting mouth-foaming angry mobs underscores the fact that they do not care about the teaching of the Quran. Especially, the reaction of an Iranian Newspaper that announced a cartoon competition aiming to poke fun at the Holocaust, started a competition in a diabolic race. The so-called Muslim world has betrayed the principles of the islam and is oblivious of the realities of the world they live in. The extremist elements, however, are still a minority in the so-called Muslim world. The silent majority is still watching; but they need to speak up soon. Otherwise, they will share the pain and tragedies invited by the active and loud fools among them.

The angry and occasionally violent protests have only helped the agenda and propaganda of Evangelical warmongers who betray the message of peace and love delivered by Jesus, the son of Mary. The Evangelical crusaders hope to flood the Middle East with blood in order to prepare for the second coming of Messiah. Their bloody dreams have now overlapped with the interest of global powers. The angry crowds in the Middle East have sent this message to them: “You may insult other prophets and messengers of God. You may even insult God through your movies, books, and cartoons. We will ignore them. But, if you insult Prophet Muhammad, we will leave our homes and workplaces and fill the streets yelling, screaming, and even killing. You can easily push our buttons. The cost of irritating and agitating us for you is close to nothing; but you may make us jump and scream in anger for weeks in our dirty and dilapidated streets.”

Through their irrational reactions, the so-called Muslim world lost the first round of the clash of civilizations. As a result, every psychopath loner, every animal-torturing freak, every spoiled loser, every troubled teenager, or every fame-seeker will fill the Internet with disparaging cartoons and images attributed to Muhammad. In their efforts to muzzle the powerful visual medium in this propaganda war, the rioters ensure that almost all visual material related to Muhammad in the media will be negative. This is called shooting oneself in the foot.

The primitive reaction of Sunni and Shiite population might ultimately accelerate their natural extinction from the face of earth. They are so disoriented by the clergy-made teachings, so regressed by upholding medieval Arab culture as God’s religion, so traumatized by their corrupt and cruel governments, and so much hurt and humiliated by the occupation forces of the western civilization (in Palestine, Chechnya, Iraq, Afghanistan…), they reflect the image of beasts in global political arena while they are in reality the victims of a powerful, cruel, and greedy global hegemony. For instance, the recent speeches by the Iranian leader Ahmadinejad have been so foolish they make the most absurd conspiracy theory a reasonable possibility. Is he an agent of the US-Inc?

The powerful coalition of multinational corporations, religious organizations and political groups that duped the US military into a destructive and cruel occupation in Iraq is now engaging in a psychological warfare to depict Muslims as barbarians. In order to justify the occupation of resource-rich lands, destruction of their infrastructure, and the killing and torturing their natives, they wish to agitate the extreme elements of the Islamic world so that they dehumanize that entire world in the eyes of others. After the fall of communism, the global hegemony decided to create another monster. The imperial policy of radicalizing Muslims is working well. Already the losing radical mullahs won the election in Iran. In Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and Pakistan extremist religious groups are gaining more power.

In the hopes of hitting several birds with the same stone, the coalition of Crusaders, Neocons, Oil and Weapon industries invoke fear and tickle the jingoistic emotions of their nations. They hope to reach imperialistic goals of dominating a vast land in a strategic region; to Christianize the demoralized masses in the Muslim world; to depict them as barbarians and terrorists (the recent propaganda buzzword that somehow does not include state terrorism) deserving to be wiped out from the face of earth, and to distract the attention of their own citizens from their domestic failures and corruption. Those rowdy protesters, acting like wild cavemen, provide the best opportunity for the imperialist ambitions. Though they are unsophisticated trouble makers, they are gullible and petty criminals compared to their Western opponents who possess enormous destructive power, unlimited greed, and cunning propaganda for justifying their aggressive wars, their plundering of the resources of other countries and their killing and torturing of their civilians. The Western media especially searches and carefully picks the ugliest and angriest faces in the crowd to stereotype the entire Muslim population. It is not farfetched to expect the Western covert-operation personnel acting as agitators among the protesters.

Hypocrisy of Sunni and Shiite Clerics

On the other hand, the religious leaders of the reactionary protesters are acting with hypocrisy. When similar criticism or insults directed at Jesus or Moses they have no reaction, despite the fact that the Quran considers Jesus and Moses as selected messengers and prophets of God. It also asks Muslims not to discriminate among the messengers. When the Taliban destroyed the sculptures of Buddhist gods in Afghanistan, Sunni and Shiite masses around the world remained silent, and the religious ones celebrated the news.

Worse, in the Western world, cartoons are being published depicting God, occasionally with disrespectful humor. According to the Quran, only the depiction of God is blasphemous, since God does not look like anything His creatures can imagine. But, the Quran never approves the suppression of false and disrespectful religious or nonreligious opinions. How can a believer in the Quran, a follower of Muhammad, react to disparaging cartoons in a manner that contradicts the advice of the very book in which he professes to believe?

The only unforgivable sin, according the Quran is the sin of associating other partners/idols to God. God allows this biggest sin to be committed in this world. He fulfills his promise to test humans by giving them free choice. He condemns those who deprive others from exercising that freedom of choice. Who then, in the name of the same God, can force others from any expression of their belief or disbelief?

Billions of people, including Sunnis and Shiites, commit all kinds of idol-worship. For instance, they pray for the intercession of the prophet or saints, they prohibit many of God’s blessings in the name of God, they deprive women of their God-given rights, they worship meteorites or black rocks, they ask help from graves of their religious idols, etc. Unfortunately, Sunni and Shiite clerics and their followers have sunk deep in the quagmire of ignorance and polytheism. The progressive teachings of Islam cannot be represented and defended by those who do not respect the message of the Quran. They are prophetically described by verse 25:30 of the Quran.

In verse 4:140, the Quran recommends us to protest passively those who indulge in mockery of our faith by leaving their presence. Furthermore, it recommends us not to cut our relationship with them; we should turn back in peace and continue our dialogue when they come to their senses and are able to engage in a rational discourse. What do the so-called Muslims do? They do the opposite. By demonstrating an aggressive and belligerent behavior, they oppose and disrespect God’s instruction in their Holy Book, which they give only lip service. Interestingly, the aggressive and belligerent attitude and behavior is listed as characteristics of the enemies of Muhammad. How ironic that today’s so-called Muslims demonstrate many of the traits of Muhammad’s enemies. They have traded the Quran with fabricated hearsay stories (hadith books), sectarian jurisprudence, and fatwas.

If Muslims do really love Muhammad and respect him, they should have shown more negative reaction to the sources of hadith and sunna, such as Bukhari, Muslim, Ibni Hanbal, Abu Dawud, Tirmizi, Ibni Majeh, and Kafi, including numerous commentaries based on them, such as Ibni Kathir. In those and many other sectarian books, The Prophet Muhammad is falsely depicted as a torturing sadist, as a warmonger, as a tyrant, as a sex maniac, as a pedophile. Somehow, they are receptive to all the insults and defamation directed to Muhammad if they come in the form of a “holy hearsay” (holy hadith) story from a guy with a long Arabic name and beard who hypocritically praises Muhammad before spewing forth such vile statements. Muslims have become an irrational group that is described by verse 10:100.

Competition to Use Visual Media to Reflect the Truth about Muhammad and Quranic Islam

Years ago, we started thinking about making a computer animation film about Muhammad’s life. As a mental preparation for this project, we decided to organize a drawing competition. In October 2004, we posted an announcement at www.19.org and some Internet groups, for a Drawing Competition regarding Muhammad’s portrait. Our announcement received only a few entries. We had multiple reasons and goals for that announcement. One goal was to expose and challenge the contradictory and hypocritical nature of traditional teachings. We cited the following reasons for that failed, perhaps untimely competition:

1. The traditional reason against depiction of animated objects, or human faces: fear of idolization of those who are depicted in illustrations is a lie.
2. The “authentic” hadith (hearsay) regarding visions of Muhammad in dreams contradicts the position of the followers of such hadiths. That anyone who sees Muhammad in his or her dream would be actually seeing him since according to the hadith the devil could not imitate his vision. What if the illustrator claims to have seen the image in his or her dream?!
3. They use a double standard by not reacting equally to pictures, sculptures, and statues of other prophets, such as Jesus.
4. They are hypocrites in their idolatry. They put Muhammad’s name next to God in Shahada, while the Quran mentions La ilahe illallah (there is no god, but the God) thirty times without adding Muhammad’s name to it, and the only Shahada containing Muhammad’s name is attributed to hypocrites (63:1). In contradiction to the Quranic injunction (72:18 ), they place Muhammad’s name and the names of early leaders next to God in places of worship. They promote Muhammad beyond messengership and make him a partner with God in issuing and defining islam (7:29;16:52; 39:2-114, 42:21, 98:5) …. According to the Quran there is no difference between associating a NAME to God or worshipping a picture (53:23). (During Muhammad’s time Meccan mushriks did not worship statues as claimed by fabricated hadith. They believed in the intercession of angels and holy people.)

No one will worship the illustration if they are not already ignorant idolaters. Since the fact that people worship Jesus does not stop us from mentioning his name or drawing an imaginary illustration of him, the fact that people worship Muhammad’s NAME should not stop us from mentioning his name or drawing his picture. As we learn from the Quran, the Prophet Solomon had pictures, statues and sculptures in his mansion (34:13).

We are announcing awards for cartoon/portrait of Muhammad or short film that would depict him accurately as a human being and a messenger of peace and progress. We will publish the winning portrait at www.19.org and in the next edition of “The Quran: A Reformist Translation.” We may also publish many other submissions of high quality.

Our next step will be to make a computer animated feature film about Muhammad’s life. In that film, Muhammad will be represented by a human figure, not a camel, as in the movie, “The Message,” where Anthony Quinn played Muhammad’s uncle. We are looking for investors, directors and producers for this great project

Some Suggestions for the “Muhammad, a Messenger of Peace”

• Cartoons/portraits or short films should depict Muhammad as a 40+ years-old man with beard and long hair. Turban is not necessary, since he was most likely taking it off when he was under the shade or inside a building. If you are participating in drawing of his portrait, then we would prefer two copies; one with turban and the other without.
• Portraits/cartoons or short films should primarily use English language. However, you might create other copies of your work in any language of your choice.
• All portraits and films should contain the phrase, “Muhammad, a messenger of Peace” in its title.
• We will provide content for the script-writers and we recommend them to take it in consideration.
• We highly recommend artists and screen-writers to read the Manifesto for Islamic Reform, including its exposition.

Muslim Muhammad

• “It has been sent down to you in the book, that when you hear God’s signs being rejected and ridiculed, then do not sit with them until they move on to a different subject; otherwise you are like them. God will gather the hypocrites and the unappreciative people in hell all together.” (4:140)
• “Say, ‘I am but a human being like you, being inspired that your god is One god. …’ ” (18:110; 41:6)
• “The messenger of God has set up a good example for those among you who seek God and the Last Day, and constantly think about God.”  (33:21)
• “Surely, you are blessed with a great moral character.” (68:4)
• “We have sent you out of mercy from us towards the whole world.” (20:107).
• “We are fully aware of what they hear, when they listen to you, and when they conspire secretly – the disbelievers say, ‘You are following a crazy man.’ Note how they describe you, and how this causes them to stray off the path.” (17:47-48)
• “There is no compulsion in the system; the proper way has been made clear from the wrong way…” (2:256)
• “And the servants of the Gracious who walk on the earth in humility and if the ignorant speak to them, they say, ‘Peace.'” (25:63).
• “… and they counter sin with good; these will have an excellent abode.” (13:22).
• “… He casts the affliction upon those who do not reason.” (10:100)
• “Do not uphold what you have no knowledge of. For the hearing, eyesight, and mind, all these are held responsible for that.” (17:36)
• “O you who acknowledge, join in peace, all of you …” (2:208)
• “And the messenger said, “My Lord, my people have deserted this Quran.” (25:30)
• “Their Lord responded to them: “I never fail to reward any worker among you for any work you do, be you male or female – you are equal to one another.…” (3:195)
• “The acknowledging men and women are allies of one another. They advocate righteousness and forbid evil, they observe the Contact Prayers and give the obligatory charity, and they obey God and His messenger. These will be showered by God’s mercy. God is Almighty, Most Wise.” (9:71)
• “God promises the acknowledging men and the acknowledging women gardens with flowing streams, wherein they abide forever, and magnificent mansions in the gardens of Eden. And God’s blessings and approval are even greater. This is the greatest triumph.” (9:72).
• “And from His signs is that He created for you mates from yourselves that you may reside with them, and He placed between you affection and mercy. In that are signs for a people who reflect.” (30:21).
• “They made for him (Prophet Solomon) anything he wanted – niches, statues, deep pools, and heavy cooking pots. O family of David, work (righteousness) to show your appreciation. Only a few of My servants are appreciative.” (34:13)

Sunni and Shiite Muhammad (PBUH).

• “When the messenger married with Aisha, he was 55 years old and Aisha was 9 years old.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasai, Tabari)
• “The messenger had the sexual power of 30 men.” (Bukhari)
• “The messenger was making sexual intercourse with all his nine wives in a single night.” (Bukhari)
• “Whenever the Prophet Muhammad saw a beautiful woman he would run to his home and sleep with Zainab.” (Bukhari)
• “A group from Urayna and Uqayla tribes visited Medina and converted to Islam. The weather of the city had negative effect on their health. They consulted the messenger and he advised them to drink the milk and urine of camels. Soon after they left, they killed Muhammad’s shepherd. The messenger sent a troop after the murderers. When they were brought he ordered their hands and legs to be cut. He later gauged their eyes with hot nails and left them dying under the sun. The messenger ordered his companions not to give them water.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi, Abu Dawud, Nasai, Ibn Majah)
• “The property and blood of an apostate is not under the protection of law.” (Bukhari)
• “The Prophet sent a platoon of secret agents to kill Kab bin al-Ashraf and Abu Rafi, two poets who criticized him. They were assassinated that night.” (Bukhari, Abu Dawud, Muslim)
• “Muhammad ordered the killing of four hundred men of Bin Qurayza, a Jewish tribe. After the men were all slaughtered by sword, their children and women were distributed among Muslims.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud).
• “Leaders must be always elected from Quraysh tribe.” (Bukhari)
• “Bewitched by a Jew fromMedina, Muhammad wandered in the city for days, not knowing what he was doing.” (Bukhari; Hanbal)
• “Whoever eats 7 dates from the region Ajwa will be safe from any witchcraft and poison.” (Bukhari)
• “If a fly falls into the vessel of any of you, let him dip all of it and then throw it away, for in one of its wings there is a disease and in the other there is healing.” (Bukhari)
• “The cure is in three things: blood-letting, cupping, and cauterization.” (Bukhari)
• “If a monkey, a black dog, or a woman passes in front of a praying person, his prayer is nullified.” (Bukhari)
• “To find a good woman among women is similar to finding a white crow among a hundred crows.  (Bukhari)
• “The marriage commitment is a kind of slavery for women.” (Bukhari)
• “If anybody has been required to prostrate before others beside God, the woman should prostrate before her husband.” (Bukhari)
• “I have been shown the dwellers of hell; the majority of them were women.” (Bukhari)
• “If the body of the husband is covered with pus and his wife licks it with her tongue, she still will not be able to pay her debt to him.” (Bukhari)
• “Those who entrust their affairs to a woman will never know prosperity.” (Bukhari)
• “There is no contagious diseases nor bad luck called Tiyara. However, there is bad luck in only three things: woman, house, and animal.” (Bukhari)
• “Angels do not enter a house that has a dog in it.” (Bukhari)
• “Kill every black dog; they are from devil.” (Hanbal; Bukhari)
• “Angels do not enter a house that contains dogs or pictures.” (Bukhari)
• “The most who will suffer in hell are those who draw pictures of God’s creation.” (Bukhari)
• “In the day of Judgment the artists will be challenged to give life to the pictures they made.” (Bukhari)
• “A tribe of monkeys arrested an adulterer monkey and stoned it to death.” (Bukhari)
• “The punishment of the criminal who had cut fingers of a woman is the following number of camels as compensation: for one finger 10 camels, for two fingers 20 camels, for three fingers 30 camels, for four fingers 20 camels. (Muwatta; Hanbal). (PS: Can you guess the number of camels for five fingers?)

Additional Terms

1. The right to publish the cartoons and portraits in various media should be given to 19.org by an inscription “© 19.org”, preferably on the right bottom corner of the work. The copyright for the short film will belong to the makers. Acknowledgement of the 19.org should suffice.
2. The portrait should contain one or more of the verses of the Quran related to freedom of faith and expression. We suggest the artists to embed or integrate the verses of the Quran in their drawings. For instance, the turban or beard could be drawn by using the letters and words of the verses quoted in the beginning of this article.
3. If you are not willing to publicize your name we will not publish it. Instead, you may use a nickname or give us permission to publish your name after hiding it with a code.
4. All work should be delivered in digital form. We prefer that you post it on the Internet and inform us its link via an email to 19@19.org. However, if you do not have the technical skills to post it somewhere on the net, then you may send it as an attachment to the email. The Subject of email should read: “Muhammad, a messengers of peace Awards for the cartoons/drawings:
5. Awards for the cartoons/drawings:
   1st Place:             1000$
   2nd Place:           300$
   3rd Place:            200$
   Awards for the short films (10-19 minutes):
   1st Place:             5000$
   2nd Place:           3000$
   3rd Place:            2000$
6. The deadline for participation is December 19, 2012.

SELECTED DISCUSSIONS: 15 September 2012

LOXBOX13: “Learn how to respect other peole beliefs and feelings,  drwings of the messenger mohamed mignt not offfend you or m or some others,  but it will offend people of the sunnah religion,  and we have no right to attack or mock any religion, and play it cool ?  make fun of rashad khalifa, he was your friend and you belong to his line of thinking,  in other words, make fun of yourself is less harmfull than offending others,  why won’t you make fun of 19 for exemple,   or is 19 holmy foor you ? peace”

EDIP: Silly! Nonsense! Whatever you do someone might get offended… Eat cow meat and Hindus might get offended… Eat onion, onion-worshipers might complain… Write God, Jews might be offended since they prefer G-d… The list goes on and on…

What about me? I am offended by Muhammadans! When I see that they turn a “human being like us” into a god, I am offended. Besides, I find their hadith stories to be the greatest insult to Muhammad. Would they stop publishing those stupid stories because I am offended?

Besides, why in the world I respect those who KİLL others because they believe, think or talk differently than them? I will defend Sunnis right to believe and practice their religion, as long as they do not harm others. But, do not expect me to respect their nonsense!

As for your making fun of 19? I really do not care. I will just ignore you…

But, you somehow craftily distort my invitation. I did not invite people to mock Muhammad or islam. To the contrary…!

ANDERSON: True. The ‘crowd’ and ‘mob’ has never shown great wisdom, thought or intelligence throughout history. They’ve always been controlled by emotion and chaotic dynamic patterns.

And also, Edip is NOT having intentions of instigating violence. He is not out there to insult the prophet (who is anyway dead and cannot be insulted). He is asking for POSITIVE cartoons, not ridiculing ones. That’s hell of a difference. The difference lies in the intent. Edip’s intention is good. I believe he aims to:

1. Lessen the level of taboo that surrounds the cartoons, and thereby, over time, disarm the sheepish, insane and emotional tendencies to misdirected and unjustified violence.
2. By taking the edge off the cartoon taboo… he is taking away power from those who indeed use cartoons in a ridiculing way.
3. Indirectly expose the madness of hadith and show the world that there is more to islam and quran than what people think. That is, to give people a chance to find out about real islam.

There will always be resistance to change. Always. It stems from fear. But change is life and life is change. No change means death. One can never advance and develop by resisting change. When you move forward to grow, you will have to move through your current states. It cannot be avoided. Avoiding cartoons will just mean that we accept the current situation, and accept that it should not change. Truth and the exposure of falsehood will not be realized through fear and avoidance of change.

Edip’s work is commendable, no matter the details of his understanding. In my opinion there should be more people having a spirit like that of Edip’s. He’s doing a wonderful job in promoting the truth and exposing old, stagnant and mad things in religion.

Cheers

***
RAAAJAH: “Is Edip following this Ayat while inviting people to draw NEGATIVE IMAGES OF PROPHET peace is upon him? What message he is trying to get across and how?”

EDIP: Thanks for the reminder… I am going to correct that part. I agree with you that such an invitation is not appropriate and I would never publish such disparaging cartoons, especially against any prophet or messenger of God.  Knowing that many islamophobes, warmongers and provocateurs have already published many ugly cartoons based on hadith stories, I deleted that paragraph from the terms of the competition.