Phoenix Braces After Muhammad Art Contest, Anti-Islam Protests

Tensions are high in Phoenix after anti-Islam protests led by former Marine Jon Ritzheimer held a mini-art contest for drawing the Prophet Mohammad. Ritzheimer has already received a fair amount of violent threats and had his home address posted on social media. There were also a few angry clashes with a counter “love rally” nearby. Luckily, no one has been hurt so far.

The protesters gathered near the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix.

According to Reuters, the president of the center, Usama Shami, urged worshipers not to confront the group during Friday prayers.

“We should remind ourselves that we do not match wrongness with wrongness, but with grace and mercy and goodness.”

Some listened to the Shami, other’s didn’t. A group of people organized a Love Rally to counter the anti-Islam protesters, leading to occasional angry clashes. The most controversial moment came when Ritzheimer held his art contest with pictures depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslims, particularly Sunnis, believe that pictures of the Prophet are blasphemous because of a deeply-rooted fear of idolatry. The idea is that a depiction of Muhammad would draw worship away from Allah.

According to the Economist, the commonly-cited textual defense of the art ban comes from the Hadith, which contains many of the Prophet’s sayings.

At one point, he condemns an artist, saying, “Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to do that,” which has been interrupted to mean that man’s attempt at “making” a being in art usurps God’s role.

All that aside, it’s become an important cultural flashpoint between Western culture and its belief in freedom of speech and Islam, and for the protesters, it’s an easy target to offend the Muslims.

According to the Guardian, Jon Ritzheimer and his group, some of whom were armed, arrived at the Phoenix mosque wearing shirts saying “F$@K Islam” with the stated purpose of “exposing Islam.” They were also there to send a message to “known acquaintances of the two gunmen.”

He was referring to Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, two gunmen who opened fired on a group of people in Texas during another draw Muhammad art contest held by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI). Police killed the two before they managed to do any damage, but the incident had the potential to be as bad as the Charlie Hebdo massacre, also inspired by angry Islamists trying to suppress images of the prophet.

Leaders of the Phoenix mosque confirmed that both of the men attended the center.

In the background, both sides were sending violent threats.

According to the Daily Mail, Ritzheimer received a tweet saying, “Whats your little handguns going to do against an IED that sprays 3000+ ball bearings faster than the speed of sound? #Phoenix #AZ” from a man identified as Abu Hussain Al Brittani.

Likewise, the mosque has asked the FBI to investigate threatening letters they received.

President Shami explained to local 12News, “Everybody has a right to be a bigot.”

“Everybody has a right to be a racist. Everybody has a right to be an idiot. They’re not looking for an intellectual conversation. They’re looking to stir up controversy, and we’re not going to be a part of it.”

As for the Phoenix Muhammad art contest, major media outlets have blacked out the drawings. Whether it’s sensitivity or fear is difficult to tell nowadays.

[Image Credit: Getty Images]