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Kudaiberdieva

American University of Central Asia

European Studies Department

Islam in French caricature:

freedom of expression or insulting of believers (2016-2021)

By

Ainazik Kudaiberdieva

Supervisor: Dr. Liubov Jdanova

Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

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Table of contents

Abstract

Methodology

Chapter 1

1.1 Literature Review

1.1.1 Freedom of expression in France in light of the principle of laïcité

1.1.2 Three problematic aspects of caricature

1.2 Historical Background

1.2.1 History of caricature in Europe, and in France

1.2.2 Cartoon Scandal (2005-2006)

1.2.3 Charlie Hebdo history

1.2.2.1 Terrorist attack in the Charlie Hebdo editorial office

1.2.2.2 Reaction to a terrorist act.

1.2.2.3 Reaction of Muslims to a terrorist act

1.2.4 Caricature in Islam

Work cited

Annex
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Abstract

More than 5.7 million Muslims live in France - about 8.8% of the country's population

- the highest figure among all European states. And many people who profess Islam

honestly admit: they cannot understand why it is considered normal in this country to

draw caricatures on religious topics.

This paper examines the problem of the difficult search for a balance between

freedom of speech and freedom of religion, which is taking place in Europe in the

context of a changing demographic situation and an increase in the proportion of the

Muslim population, including by the example of the situation around the editorial

policy of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the Danish newspaper

Jyllands-Posten and others.

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Abstracto

Más de 5,7 millones de musulmanes viven en Francia - alrededor del 8,8% de la

población del país - la cifra más alta entre todos los estados europeos. Y muchas

personas que profesan el Islam admiten honestamente: no pueden entender por qué se

considera normal en este país dibujar caricaturas sobre temas religiosos.

En el presente documento se examina el problema de la difícil búsqueda de un

equilibrio entre la libertad de expresión y la libertad de religión, que se está

produciendo en Europa en el contexto de una situación demográfica cambiante y de

un aumento de la proporción de la población musulmana, incluso mediante el ejemplo

de la situación en torno a la política editorial de la revista satírica francesa Charlie

Hebdo, el periódico danés Jyllands-Posten y otros.

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Methodology

The paper utilizes a qualitative research method, and this chapter presents research
methodology used by the thesis. The qualitative method is advantageous in this study
because it inspires a more realistic sensation in data collection and allows for greater
flexibility in research analysis and interpretations. Furthermore, the textual analysis of
selected articles, books, and other sources was employed as the primary methodology
for preparing the thesis paper. In addition, visual text interpretation used in this paper,
this is a specific method to analyze caricatures.
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1.1 Literature review

1.1.1 Freedom of expression in France in light of the principle of laïcité.

“In France, freedom of expression occupies an essential place. It constitutes the

concrete manifestation of freedom of thought, giving individuals the opportunity to

define their identity, articulate their autonomy, and manage relationships with other

persons and with society as a whole.” (Alicino, Francesco, 2015)

The article highlights the importance of freedom of expression in light of the principle

of laïcité, which typically denies the communal dimension of religious rights, and

which may explain some core aspects of, on the one hand, the growth of hate speech

and blasphemy legislation within French liberal constitutionalism and, on the other

hand, the relationship between freedom of expression and the secular state. Principle

of laïcité – a principle that is part of the institutional, legal and intellectual history of

the French Republic and, as such, has even taken on the role of the basis of its

founding “values” (Woehrling 1998).

Thus, if a believer decides to express his/her religious creed in public, he/she should

be aware that this lays his/her belief open to diverse reactions, including sharp

criticism. This is legitimized by constitutional principles based on democratic

pluralism, so that, beyond the general provisions regarding defamation, religions in

France have no right to immunity from criticism or even caricature.( Alicino,

Francesco, 2015). This is clearly stated in Articles 10 and 11 of the 1789 Declaration

of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen as well as in Article 1 of the France

Constitution of October 4, 1958:

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Article 1. France shall be an indivisible, secular, democratic and social

Republic. It shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the law, without

distinction of origin, race or religion. It shall respect all beliefs. It shall be

organized on a decentralized basis. Statutes shall promote equal access by

women and men to elective offices and posts as well as to position of

professional and social responsibility.

Whose goal is to ensure respect for all opinions and convictions, including those that

reject or challenge religious beliefs. On the one hand, freedom of expression, as

enshrined in the 1789 Declaration, covers all opinions, which excludes special

protections for religious beliefs. On the other, Article 1 of the 1958 France

Constitution is aimed at respecting all opinions, affirming at the same time the neutral

character of laïcité à la française.

1.1.2 Three problematic aspects of caricature.

“We suggest that the Muhammad cartoons encompass not one, but three distinct

problem areas: the violation of a religious norm in the representation of Muhammad,

attacks on Islam as a religion, and attacks on Muslims as a group.” (Levey, Geoffrey

Brahm, and Tariq Modood, 2009) The authors of this article looked into how liberal

democratic norms and multicultural citizenship connect to each of these three cases,

and concluded that attacks on Muslims as a group are racist.

The authors identified three problematic aspects of caricatures. And as an example, to

explain them, they focused on a caricature where the Prophet Muhammad is depicted

with a lit bomb in a turban and the shahada (Islamic creed) (fig. 1), which is inscribed

on the bomb. The first problematic aspect that caricature emblematically contains is
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the representation of Muhammad (Levey, Geoffrey Brahm, and Tariq Modood, 2009).

According to this article such representation does not imply denigration of Islam or

Muslims, rather, it implies a violation of a well-known Islamic injunction. The second

problematic aspect of that caricature is the suggestion that Islam is violent and

dangerous. Authors do not argue that the cartoonist intended this image to target Islam

as opposed to Muslims, only that the two targets are analytically separate, and that

different implications attend each situation. The third problematic aspect presented in

the cartoon is thus precisely the targeting of Muslims as violent and dangerous

(Levey, Geoffrey Brahm, and Tariq Modood, 2009) According to the authors, this

aspect is the most serious among the three, they argue that it is a form of racism.

Fig. 1 Kurt Vestergaard, 2005, Caricature of Prophet Muhammad with a lit bomb in a

turban

An important element of understanding the angry reaction of Muslims to the

cartoons of the Prophet is understanding the role and limitations in Islamic humor.

It should be understood that the cartoons of Lars Vilks (1946-2021), depicting the

Prophet Muhammad with a dog's head (fig. 2), were evaluated by Muslims as

particularly cynical, since a dog is considered in Islam as an unclean animal, contact

with which is undesirable.

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Fig.2 Caricature of the Prophet Muhammad as a dog, Lars Vilks 2007

Thus, caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad violated many prohibitions existing in

Islam and touched deep and important feelings for believers.

1.2 Historical Background

1.2.1. History of caricature in Europe, and in France

During the 19th century, caricature has remained a popular genre in art. The

uproar in the Muslim world around the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad

shows that the caricature continues not only to make people laugh, but also hurts,

irritates and affects public opinion. That is why it seems interesting to talk about the

history of caricature, from its origin to the present day, especially in France.

The caricature appears in the Renaissance era - a drawing with a few quick strokes of

a pen on a piece of paper. But, it was the philosopher Aristotle who was the first to

explain the comic in history. It is he who says in his "Poetics" not about "caricature",

but about the grotesque image of a person: "we always imitate the acting characters,
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and they can only be good or bad, we must necessarily represent them better than we

do. or worse, or similar to ordinary people."

The word "caricature" itself is of Italian origin, it means exaggeration, grotesque. The

word caricature describes a type of portrait that presents exaggerated features, usually

for the purpose of making a statement about the portrayed person’s characteristics –

most commonly accentuating its negative physical features and shortcomings (C. C.

McPhee, N. M. Orenstein, 2011,p. 11)

Some of the earliest caricatures are found in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, who

actively sought people with deformities to use as models.(fig. 3)

Fig. 3 Leonardo da Vinci (c.1490), Five caricature heads

Leonardo da Vinci was attracted to people with bizarre heads (teste bizarre) and was

delighted by memorizing their appearance in order to later distort them in his

drawings
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The first cartoons, written by such Italian masters as Agostino Carrache (1557-

1602) or Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), depict funny big heads on small bodies.

However, this art is developing rapidly in Holland and Germany – the first theme of

cartoons there is the struggle between Papists and Reform supporters, that is,

Protestants. The most frequent technique is humiliation of the depicted object and

mockery.

If we talk about the exact definition of a caricature, then in the online

encyclopedia "Larousse" the caricature is presented as: "a grotesque image in

drawing, painting, etc., obtained by exaggerating and distorting characteristic facial

features or body proportions, with satirical intent". The word "caricature in French,

first appeared in a work entitled "Les mémoires et le journal inédit du marquis

d'Argenson", published in 1740, it is a valuable document on the moral and political

history of that time.

Caricature in France first flourished in the 18 th century, and since that time its

development has often, intertwined with the development of drawing for the press in

France. In the 17th century, caricature existed in France, but censorship carried out by

the royal power limited its production. It really became popular in the 18 th century,

when the clergy and nobility were widely caricatured, often in order to condemn the

excesses of the tax system of the ancient regime. Then the caricature served as a

conductor of revolutionary ideas and was used to protect the Third Estate. The key

theme of the caricatures created in 1789-1791, at the beginning of the French

Revolution, is the unity of the three estates, that is, clergy, nobility and commoners.

1.2.2 Cartoon Scandal (2005-2006)

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In September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12

cartoons (fig.4) depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The article they illustrated was

about freedom of speech. The images of the prophet caused terrible discontent among

Muslims around the world and led to an international scandal with demonstrations and

protest rallies, boycotting Danish goods. The need that brought to life the cartoon

scandal in Denmark seems to be the most good-natured, and, perhaps the most

interesting reason among all related to the scandals around freedom of speech. The

Bark Bluitgen, a Danish author of books for children, wrote a biography of the

Prophet Muhammad and discovered how difficult it is to find an illustrator for him.

No one wanted to draw Muhammad. This shouldn't be surprising. After all, Islam, like

Judaism, rejects the image of God. Islam also forbids portraying Prophets and, in

stricter interpretations, any people. The illustrators who rejected Bluitgen's offer must

have known this and warned him about the negative response from the Muslim side.

Bluitgen wanted to "explain Islam to Danish children."

Fig. 4 Caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, published by the newspaper Jyllands-

Posten in September 2005

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In 2005, there was a conflict between value systems, in which European

journalists defended the right to freedom of creative expression, and Islamic states

defended respect for religion.

1.2.2 Charli Hebdo history

Every Wednesday, Charlie Hebdo, a French literary and artistic satirical

magazine, publishes caricatures, reports, and discussions.

The journal "Charlie Mensuel" was started in 1969 as a monthly and was

published until 1981, when it discontinued publication, but was relaunched as a

weekly in 1992. Since 1960, another ancestor of Charlie Hebdo, the monthly

magazine Hara-Kiri, has been published, but it was stopped in 1970 following a rude

joke about the death of Charles de Gaulle (a French military and statesman, general, 2

times President of French republic).

The magazine published cartoons of leading politicians, shrines of Christianity

and Islam, including the Prophet Muhammad. On September 11, 2012, a series of

protests began in response to the trailer of a film called "Innocence of Muslims"

posted on YouTube, which many Muslims considered blasphemous. The first

performances took place in Cairo (Egypt) and Benghazi (Libya), and the actions

quickly spread throughout the Muslim world. The subject of the protest was the

criticism of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in this film.

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1.2.2.1 Terrorist attack in the Charlie Hebdo editorial office

The terrorist attack at the Charlie Hebdo editorial office took place on January

7, 2015 in Paris. In early 2013, Charlie Hebdo published a comic about the life of the

prophet (fig.5). It is assumed that dissatisfaction with these cartoons was the main

motive for the attack.

Fig. 5 A comic about the life of the Prophet Muhammad, 2013

The brothers Said and Cherif Kouashi are French citizens, French-Algerian

Muslims. armed with machine guns, grenade launchers arrived at the address where

the archive of the weekly Charlie Hebdo is located. Realizing that they had the wrong

address, the terrorists found out from two local residents the location of the Charlie

Hebdo editorial office, after which they shot one of them. They got inside the editorial

office and shouting “Allahu Akbar" the terrorists broke in. The shooting lasted about

10 minutes. According to eyewitnesses, after the attack, the terrorists shouted that

they had "avenged the prophet"

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As a result of the attack by armed Islamic militants, 12 people were killed and 11

wounded.

1.2.2.2 Reaction to a terrorist act.

On the evening of January 7, 2015, a large demonstration began on the Paris

Republic Square in solidarity with the families of the victims and victims of the

terrorist attack. According to the organizers of the demonstration, about 10-15

thousand people took part in it (Fig. 6). Many of those present came out with leaflets

with a white inscription on a black background "Je suis Charlie" (fig.6.1), “je suis” in

this context was important as it allowed for expressions of the self.

Fig.5 Demonstrators gather at the Place de la République in Paris on the night of the

attack

Figure 6.1. Tagline "Je suis Charlie”

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Also, some time after the attack, the hashtag #jesuischarlie appeared on

Twitter in support of the editorial board, and French Google posted a mourning ribbon

on the title page. Numerous researches have been conducted on #JeSuisCharlie,

demonstrating the importance of this hashtag. The majority of those studies tend to

use the case to develop and test new methodological or technical approaches (Larson,

Nagler, Ronen, Tucker, 2016; Miro-Llinares, Rodriguez-Sala, 2016; Shaikh, Feldman,

Barach, Marzouki, 2016; Sumiala, Tikka, Huhtamäki, Valaskivi, 2016).

On the same day, three days of mourning were declared throughout France.

On January 11, 2015, a republican march was held in Paris in memory of the victims

of the January 7-9 terrorist attacks. It was attended by the leadership of France and

several dozen leaders and representatives of the countries of the world — Belgium,

Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy and others.

1.2.2.3 Reaction of Muslims to a terrorist act

Supporting the attack

Saudi-Australian Islamic preacher Junaid Thorne said: "If you want to enjoy "freedom

of speech" without restrictions, expect others to enjoy "freedom of action." Anjem

Choudary, a radical British Islamist, wrote an editorial in USA Today in which he

justifies Muhammad's words that those who insult the prophets of Islam should face

death, and that Muhammad should be protected to prevent further violence.

Samaj Yakub Kureishi (leader of an Indian political party) and a former minister from

an Indian state offered a reward of 510 million yen (8 million US dollars) to those

responsible for the Charlie Hebdo shooting.

On January 14, about 1,500 Filipino Muslims held a rally in Marawi (Philippines),

where Muslims are the majority, in support of the attacks.

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About 40-60 people gathered in Peshawar (Pakistan) to pay tribute to the murderers,

and a local cleric held the funeral of the murderers, praising them as "heroes of

Islam."

Condemning the attack

Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria and Qatar

condemned the incident, as did Egypt's Al-Azhar University, a leading Sunni institute

in the Muslim world. Islamic organizations, including the French Council of the

Muslim Faith, the Muslim Council of Great Britain and the Islamic Forum of Europe,

opposed the attack. Sheikh Abdul Qayyum and Imam Dalil Bubaker said: "We are

horrified by the cruelty and savagery."

The U.S.-based Muslim civil liberties group, the Council on American–Islamic

Relations, condemned the attacks and defended the right to free speech, "even words

that ridicule religions and religious figures." The vice president of the Ahmadiyya

Muslim Community of the United States condemned the attack, saying: "The

perpetrators of this atrocity violated all Islamic principles of compassion, justice and

peace."

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemned the attack, saying it contradicts

the principles and values of Islam.

1.2.4. Caricature in Islam

The depiction of living beings (in the form of hand-drawn images or sculptures)

refers to prohibited actions, which are one of the 76 greatest sins in Islam (Imam

Zehebi, 2001).
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This prohibition is not directly contained in the Qur'an, but is derived from the hadith

of the Prophet. Thus, in the collection of al-Bukhari's hadiths, it is reported that one

day a man came to Abullah bin Abbas and said: "Oh, Abu Abbas, truly, I am a man,

and I earn my living with my own hands by making these images." Ibn Abbas said: "I

will tell you what I myself heard from the Messenger of Allah, and he said: "Whoever

created any image of what has a living spirit in it, Allah will subject him to torment

until he breathes the spirit into him, and he will never be able to do this."" Hearing

these words, the man was deeply saddened. Then Ibn Abbas said to him: "Woe to

you if you are already doing this, but if you want to continue doing this, then you

should draw trees and everything that has no spirit"

A similar situation exists with regard to the image of the Prophet Muhammad. For

most Muslims, such a ban is absolute: images of Muhammad and all the other

prophets in Islam are definitely prohibited and are considered idolatry (Lukyanov,

2016). The Prophet Muhammad and all other prophets are regarded as faultless and

sinless figures, and therefore cannot be subjected to any artistic interpretation,

especially if it can lead to disrespect or insult to the Prophet.

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Work cited:

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2020, www.franceinter.fr/histoire/la-caricature-dans-l-histoire. Web 10 Nov.

2021.

“Судьба Идей 24/07/2008.” RFI, www1.rfi.fr/acturu/articles/103/article_865.asp.

Web 13 Nov. 2021.

France Inter. “La Caricature Dans L'histoire.” France Inter, France Inter, 1 Nov.

2020, www.franceinter.fr/histoire/la-caricature-dans-l-histoire. Web 9 Nov.

2021.

Norton, Anne. “Danish Cartoons.” On the Muslim Question, PRINCETON UNIV

PRESS, 2020. Web 13 Nov. 2021.

Захаби, Хафыз. “Изображение живых существ.” 76 больших грехов, Сад, 2009,

pp. 120–21. Web 20 Dec. 2021.

“Constitution of 4 October 1958.” Conseil Constitutionnel, www.conseil-

constitutionnel.fr/en/constitution-of-4-october-1958. Web 20 Dec. 2021.

Wikipedia contributors. "Charlie Hebdo shooting." Wikipedia, The Free

Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16 Nov. 2021. Web 21 Dec.

2021.

Лукьянов, Дмитрий Васильевич. "Религиозные свободы и свобода слова:

европейский и исламский подходы." Вестник Университета имени ОЕ

Кутафина 3, 2016. Web 20 Dec. 2021

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“The Muhammad Cartoons and Multicultural Democracies.” Ethnicities, vol. 9, no. 3,

2009, pp. 427–47. Crossref, doi:10.1177/1468796809337427. Web 19 Dec.

2021

Larson, J. M., Nagler, J., Ronen, J., & Tucker, J. A. (2016, June 23– 25). Social

networks and protest participation: Evidence from 130 million Twitter users.

In Political Networks Workshops & Conference 2016, Saint Louis, MO. Web

19 Dec. 2021

Miro-Llinares, F., & Rodriguez-Sala, J. J. (2016). Cyber hate speech on twitter:

Analyzing disruptive events from social media to build a violent

communication and hate speech taxonomy. International Journal of Design &

Nature and Ecodynamics, 11, 406–415. doi:10.2495/DNE-V11-N3-406-415

Web 19 Dec. 2021

Sumiala, J., Tikka, M., Huhtamäki, J., & Valaskivi, K. (2016). #JeSuisCharlie—

Towards a multi-method study of hybrid media events. Media and

Communication, 4, 97–108. Web 19 Dec. 2021

Giglietto, Fabio, and Yenn Lee. “A Hashtag Worth a Thousand Words: Discursive

Strategies Around #JeNeSuisPasCharlie After the 2015 Charlie Hebdo

Shooting.” Social Media + Society, vol. 3, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1–15. Crossref,

doi:10.1177/2056305116686992. Web 20 Dec. 2021.

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Annex:
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