In a shocking revelation it has come to light that Dominic Cummings left his role as the Spectator Magazine’s boss when he published an offensive cartoon insulting the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. In the cartoon a fizzing bomb is drawn in a bearded cartoon’s turban, the image goes on to claim the cartoon is the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) which is seen to accuse him of being a terrorist.
(feature image credit: Sky News)
The Coronavirus Scandal
Dominic Cummings is an unelected politician who acts as the Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson. He has been embroiled in controversy as it was revealed that during the UK Coronavirus lockdown, he may have broken the rules when he drove 400km north to his parents’ farm.
His excuses of why he made the journey have been mocked on social media with a petition calling for him to be sacked almost reaching 1 million.
Dominic Cummings and his wife Mary Wakefield, who still works at the Spectator Magazine as commissioning editor, both made the journey despite suffering from symptoms of Covid-19. The reason he gave was he couldn’t find anyone to look after his son.
It was then revealed that he and his wife and child drove to Barnard Castle, usually visited by tourists for it’s beauty. The reason he gave was that he had to test his eyesight. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended him.
The Offensive Prophet Muhammad ﷺ Cartoon
The cartoon which Dominic Cummings published depicts what they claim to be the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with a bomb ticking away in his turban. Muslims were offended by this because it suggests that Muslims are terrorists because of Islam and their Prophet ﷺ. The generalisation is Islamophobic and racist.
Why are Muslims Angry at this?
Muslims are often shown to be angry at a “depiction” of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Depictions however exist in places that have drawn no criticism, such a statue of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in Capitol Hill and Muslim Sufi and Shia literature which depict drawings of him.
So why the anger? It is because the cartoons are extremely offensive and racist.
Is it not Freedom of Speech?
Cartoons have been banned many times and doing so was not a violation of freedom of speech. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ cartoon was not banned but here are some examples of cartoons which have been banned and the creators apologised:
DISCLAIMER: Racist and Anti-Semitic cartoons will only be described below and not reproduced or linked to for their extremely abhorrent nature.
- A cartoon joking that you join the US army to fight for Israel
- A cartoon depicting the devil as an Israeli
- A cartoon showing Israeli PM Netanyahu building a wall from Palestinian blood
- Sydney Morning Herald’s cartoon showing an Israeli watching the Gaza conflict like TV
- Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon mocking French President’s son
- A cartoon saying the media is controlled by Jews
- A cartoon showing a Jewish person stopping someone from speaking
- A cartoon showing a Jewish person holding puppets of Obama and McCain
- A cartoon showing the Judicial system is Jewish biased
- A cartoon showing Obama as a monkey
- A cartoon showing George Bush as lacking the intelligence to play a video
Cartoons which are racist, generalise or are offensive to a people should rightly garner criticism and be regulated. Why is that courtesy not afforded to Muslims?
[…] It recently came to light that Dominic Cummings, the political strategist who has served as chief adviser to UK prime minister Boris Johnson since July 2019, published offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. You can read about that here. […]