Monday, we're asking what Islam really says about images of the Prophet Muhammad. Of course, this is more than a theological exercise given the terrorist attack earlier this month on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo. Art historian Christiane Gruber says an outright ban is really a modern notion and joins us to discuss how Islamic law has been interpreted throughout time and by various communities. We'll then talk with Salt Lake Imam Muhammed S. Mehtar to understand what the ban means to the faithful.
Christiane Gruber is associate professor and director of graduate studies in the department of the History of Art at the University of Michigan. She's co-editor of the book The Image of the Prophet between Ideal and Ideology [Indiebound|Amazon]. You can read her Newsweek op-eds The Koran Does Not Forbid Images of the Prophet and How the "Ban" on Images of Muhammad Came to Be at Newsweek.com
Muhammed S. Mehtar is Imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake. He writes about Islam at knowyourdeen.com [deen = religion]
