c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Some 16 leading American Islamic groups have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to remove a 64-year-old stone bas-relief of the prophet Muhammad from its chamber because they regard it as offensive to Muslims.”This touches a raw nerve,”Salam Al-Marayati, director of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council,”said Monday (March 3).”Muslims are sensitive to any images of the prophet as a statement of our commitment to strict monotheism.” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Washington-based Council on American Islamic Relations, said”the statue has to be changed. It is not acceptable to show the prophet’s face.” Muhammad is one of 18 individuals associated with the historical development of jurisprudence _ including Moses, Solon, Confucius and Napoleon _ who are depicted on a frieze, a decorative bas-relief that adorns the top of the chamber’s four walls. Muhammad is shown holding the Koran, Islam’s holy book, in one hand and a long sword in his other hand.

Muslim visitors to the Supreme Court noticed the bas-relief last December, leading to discussions within the 3 million- to 5 million-member U.S. Muslim community that ended with a statement of concern being sent to the court. The issue became public Monday.

The statement to the court noted Islam’s broad injunction against depicting Muhammad and the Muslim groups’ concern that the sword he is holding adds to”long-held stereotypes of Muslims as intolerant conquerors and perpetuates misconceptions that continue to have a negative impact on the lives of ordinary American Muslims.” Among the Muslim groups objecting to the bas-relief are the Islamic Council of North America, the Islamic Society of North America, the Ministry of W. Deen Mohammed and the Community of Imam Jamil Al-Amin. The four groups comprise the Shura Council, the nation’s leading consultative Islamic religious body.

However, not all Muslim groups concurred with the request to have the bas-relief altered.”The American Muslim community has many things to work on,”said Adurahman Alamoudi, executive director of the American Muslim Council, which is also based in Washington.”We need to set priorities.”This was constructed many years ago, not by Muslims and with good intentions. If it were constructed today we would be against it. But we can’t deface (the court chamber) and have people remember that it was Muslims who are responsible. We need to work with the court.” Aziza Y. Al-Hibri, a law professor at the University of Richmond law school in Virginia, added that some Muslim cultures, notably those of Persia and Turkey, have represented Muhammad pictorially.

Moreover, said Al-Hibri, who also directs Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, swords such as the one Muhammad is shown holding have been”repeatedly used as a symbol for the protection of law and justice”throughout the Supreme Court building.”… There is no reason to assume a contrary intention in the case of the Prophet Muhammad,”Al-Hibri said in a statement.

Spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Supreme Court officials did not wish to comment on the issue Monday.

Muslim leaders noted that they have had one meeting and several telephone conversations with court officials which have already resulted in some changes. Those changes include deleting from brochures a caption explaining the bas-relief reference to Muhammad as the founder of Islam.”Muslims do not regard the Prophet Muhammad as the `founder’ of Islam,”the statement said.”He is viewed as the last in a line of prophets that includes Abraham, Moses and Jesus.” Awad, the Council on American-Islamic Relations official, said the Muslim community is willing to assume the cost of removing the bas-relief. He suggested that a passage from the Koran or a saying of Muhammad be substituted in its place.

Aslam Abdullah, editor of The Minaret, a Muslim magazine published in Los Angeles, said Muslims around the nation view the issue as a measurement of their coming of age as a community.

Abdullah said Muslim groups in Houston and Detroit _ cities with large Muslim communities _ have already met to discuss possible responses to the bas-relief.”What’s notable about this is that Muslims are not approaching the issue in opposition to the Supreme Court. Rather it is with a sense of belonging, of being part of this nation,”said Abdullah.”We are now part of this nation and as citizens of this nation the Supreme Court needs to take our sensitivities into account as well. This is an important issue in the development of the American Muslim community.”

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