Yesterday morning an Egyptian mujahid was shot by police in the vicinity of the Louvre when he attacked them with a machete. He was carrying paint bombs in his backpack, and it seems likely that he intended to do damage to works of art in the famous museum.
Sandra Solomon is an apostate from Islam who grew up in Saudi Arabia and now lives in Canada. Last night Vlad Tepes interviewed Ms. Solomon about the basis under the shariah for the destruction of works of art. According to Islamic Law — derived from the sayings of Mohammed — any work of art that represents animals or human beings is a form of idolatry, and is therefore haram, or forbidden. In Arabic such practices are referred to as shirk, or polytheism — the placing of entities alongside Allah as objects of worship. You and I, who patronize such art, are known as mushrikun, or polytheists.
Ms. Solomon also makes a point of reminding Muslims that if they have a painting, drawing, or photo in their houses — even a picture of their children — they are guilty of shirk, and according to Mohammed will go to hell for it:
I knew that art (except for calligraphy) was not a part of Islamic culture, but to think that children are not allowed to draw anything with a “soul”, only inanimate objects! This seems so cruel. I could not imagine being a small child without drawing my parents, cows, cats and dogs and birds…
I know it has often been said that the Muslims, too, are victims of Islam, and this interview again reminded me how true this is.
Muslims may be victims of Islam, but don’t be deluded into thinking you can get Muslims as allies. The reason for this is that, as Sandra Solomon pointed out, the injunction against art (like many things) is a basic part of Islam. A person cannot claim to be Muslim without adhering to these doctrines, at least implicitly.
It’s true that Islamic countries encourage totalitarian rulers who have the power to suspend the total practice of Islam. For example, the archaeological museums under Sadam Hussein were safe and protected, until George W Bush, in his wisdom, overthrew Hussein for the 9/11 attacks Hussein had no part in. After the US-created anarchy in Iraq, the Muslims followed their Islamic teaching and destroyed the museums.
But, while a Muslim still professes to be a Muslim, he recognizes the teachings against art to be valid and theoretically binding.
There is also no empathy for anything with a “soul”. It is easy to see how Muslim cruelty flows so naturally from its adherents.
Actually what he was carrying was aerosol spray paint cannisters. The French word for these is bombe.
Ms. Soloman is one courageous, dynamic woman. My hat’s off to her, and I’d like to hear the story of how she left her ancestral faith. What. I wonder, distinguished her from so many other Saudi women who come to embrace the oppressive ideology into which they are born. How, I wonder, to bestow her spirit on other people.
Clearly, the imposition of sharia as she describes it- and experienced it- historically has not been uniform. Islamic art has many depictions of humans including (gasp!) Mohammad himself. Are the Wahhabis unique or unusual in this regard? Moreover, North Africa and Indonesia had musical instruments other than percussion- Western musicologists seemed quite impressed with Balinese music several decades ago. So I don’t think the sharia she experienced speaks for all, or even most, of Islam.
At the risk of being considered “weird” or some such, I hope Baron, who knows my email address, will pass on the following offer to Ms. Solomon. Should her travels take her to Washington DC, it would be my privilege to take her to some of the fine (peas … er, taxpayer-funded) art museums and musical performances with which our city is blessed (thanks, pea, er, taxpayers, and I look forward to your continued support).
Very brave and solid human being. would love to have opportunity to speak with her and share some suggestions. I would like to help this worthy effort.