Aniconism in Islam

Another amazing adventure I have been on in Skypeland is the exploration of the strange beliefs associated with "aniconism" in Islam:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniconism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniconism_in_Islam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_art

In particular, it is amazing what Muslims and others do not know about the Islamic rules and traditions governing depiction of Mohammed in art:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depiction_of_Muhammad

Most people know very little about this. Actually until just three or four hundred years ago, it was perfectly acceptable to draw Mohammed for Muslims. There are many illustrated korans with pictures of Mohammed in Musems in Paris, London and New York. The Caliphs of the Caliphate commissioned artists to make pictures of Mohammed:
http://www2.let.uu.nl/solis/anpt/EJOS/pdf4/07Ali.pdf

Right after they claim Islam is a religion of peace, Muslims will want to kill those who have drawn Mohammed. If the koran is examined, there is no proscription there against drawing Mohammed. If you look at the hadiths, there is no prohibition against drawing Mohammed. If you listen to Muslims, their claims turn out to be groundless, based on tradition, vague feelings, speculation and conjecture.

There are passages in the hadiths about artists, but they are vague and subject to various interpretations. What is amazing is that they are so frenzied about this subject, to the point of wanting to kill over it (over 100 have died so far in the last couple of years), but know little about it.

As an aside, interestingly the European countries restrict only certain types of religious expression and protect only certain religions in the media. So are guilty of hypocrisy. Hmmm...