“Bonfire of Pieties”

The media made news with the headlines about the rallies caused by the publication of cartoons featuring the prophet Mohammed. But, do these rallies represent the Muslim world?
The “machinery of anger” was started by the Muslim Brothers who urged their followers to go out to the street. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, one of the leaders of Muslim Brothers made a fatwa in an Al Jazeera program. Quickly, the rival organizations of Muslim Brothers, like Hizb ut-Tahrir, followed the same path not to be left behind, and then the Syrian Baas, which abandoned its secular tradition.
The opposition of Muslim Brothers was announced by a younger member: Tariq Ramadan->http://www.voltairenet.org/auteur5069.html?lang=fr]. He stated that Islam prohibits the representation of all prophets and Muslims never laugh at religions. Actually, the non-representation of the prophet Mohammed is not an absolute principle of Islam”. No Koranic concept condemns the use of images and this alleged prohibition is refuted by history. The list of miniatures that represent Mohammed is too long. These pictures are in museums of Muslim countries. Mohammed has also its statue in the US Supreme Court, as a legislator, and no one has said anything about it. As for the habit of laughing at religion, there is an old tradition about this.
The ethics of Islam is based on moderation, something that those who burn embassies should remember.