Twelve cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad has sparked a growing conflict between and among Muslim religious groups, the Danish government (the cartoons originated in Denmark), extremists, and the press, in an ongoing argument whether to uphold right to free _expression over respect of religions.

Flemming Rose, editor of Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten, commissioned in September 2005 twelve cartoonists/caricaturists to draw their interpretation of Muhammad, in an effort to gauge how the West perceives Islamic faith and the Muslims in general. It was only later on after being reprinted in major European newspapers and magazines, that the 12 cartoons encountered the wrath of the enraged Muslim communities all across the globe, denouncing the cartoon as blasphemous and direspectful of their religion.

The online information database Wikipedia.com reports on an investigation conducted in Denmark after indignant Muslims filed a case against Jyllands for allegedly violating a Danish Criminal Code which seeks to protect citizens against public insult or ridicule based on the dogmas of religions existing in Denmark (Section 140 and 266B of the Danish criminal code). Police investigators in Denmark discontinued the investigation over issues on press freedom. Meanwhile, violent protests and demonstrations have erupted in various Muslim communities in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, which included burning of Danish embassies, boycotting Lego and other Danish trademark items, and threats against Danish citizens and other Europeans whose countries have published the offensive cartoons. Over debates on freedom of _expression against respect of religions, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Danish Prime Minister has accused “radicals, extremists and fanatics... of fanning the flames of Muslim wrath to push forward their own agenda.” Already, six have died in Afghanistan and casualties continue to increase after outbursts of demonstrations. Muslim leaders have urged other Muslims to “exercise restraint and sobriety”, despite the fact that any portrayal of Muhammad is forbidden in the Islam faith.

Olivier Roy, author of “Globalized Islam”, however, wrote in the Februarey 13 issue of Newsweek that the Muhammad issue for European Muslims is not so much as debates over disrespect of religions but more on racism and discrimination. He wrote:

“...For European Muslims, the affair is not so much a matter of what is permissible in Islam as it is about discrimination... the Danish cartoons in effect have contributed to a wave of Islamophobia and Muslim-bashing sweeping Europe...last week's protests represent a call for equality and integration, not separation or special treatment.”

On the other hand, this view is not shared by Time Magazine contributor James Graff, who sees the cartoons as further widening the rift between the Muslims and the West. He noted that the portrayal of Muhammad wearing bomb-shaped turbans and wielding a knife ignited a “volcanic reaction, from a Muslim boycott of Danish goods to the torching of two European embassies in Damascus to death threats and lawsuits against newspapers and even to a new slogan in Iran [saying]: 'Death to Denmark!'” According to him:

“The range of reactions to the cartoons' publication among Muslims and non-Muslims alike served as a reminder of the gaping divide that still exists between the West and much of the Islam world... Their intention was to strike a blow for free speech, but by publishing the cartoons, Europe's media outlets were perceived by some Muslims to be willfully ignoring religious sensitivities. Yet the demands by Muslim leaders that European governments punish journalists who have run the cartoons...strike the non-Muslim world as unreasonable infringements on free speech and limited government.”

The conflict that this divide between the West and the Muslims was further illuminated by an article written by columnist Mohammed al-Shaibani in Kuwait's Al-Qabas daily last January 30 when he said: “In the West it is considered freedom of speech if they insult Islams and Muslims. But such freedom becomes racism and a breach of human rights and anti-Semitism if Arabs and Muslims criticize their religion and religious laws.”

What Muslim leades termed as “cultural terrorism” by the West was, however, refuted by other Muslim leaders. Iraq's top Shiite cleric Al-Sistani said that “The world has come to believe that Islam is what is practiced by Bin Laden... and others who have presented a distorted image of Islam. We must be honest with ourselves and admit that we are the reason for these drawings.” Such drawings, though, have not been reprinted in many newspapers in the United States and Asia, out of respect for the Islam and to avoid further outrage from the Muslims.

The February 16 issue of Time released statements from observers around the world from Jylland editor Flemming Rose, who said he did not intend to insult Muslims but that caricatures are the Danish way of poking fun; to media critic Jack Schaffer defended the rights of the cartoonists by saying that it means trouble if one cannot express opinion in a modern era; to Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz who condemned the US press for not printing the cartoons, as doing so would reveal how overreating people tend to be towards cartoons many of them have yet to see.

On the other hand, Muslims have expressed resentment towards the cartoons. Moroccan editor Aboubakr Jamai said “the cartoons are adding insult ot injury. Not only are you robbing and stealing our lands, you are insulting our faith”. Liberal columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown from Uganda added that “more Muslim's deaths are caused by the violence of Western politics than Muslims are responsible for causing.” The debate and exchange of blows goes on, an exhausting battle between respect of faith and press freedom. A concise way to encapsulate this issue, though, stems from the words of Swiss Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan:

“...Muslims have to understand that there is an old tradition in Western socity to make fun of everything...It is no longer a debate, it is a power struggle. We don't want laws preventing people from being free to speak. But we should also not forget wisdom and decency when delaing with people. Democracy isn't just a legal famework. It is about respecting one another.”