Free Speech & The Prophet Muhammed: Fighting Radical Islam
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Play
00:00 / 00:00
A group of young British Muslims have designed a campaign to fight back against Islamic State militants with a video and social media campaign. (Active Change Foundation)
Charlie Hebdo has printed its first new issue since a gunman killed 12 members of its editorial staff. In the wake of the attacks, the editors have not backed down, and instead printed a depiction of the Prophet Muhammed on the latest cover (see photo below).
Rachel Donadio, European Culture correspondent for The New York Times, reflects on the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo, and how the publication's identity has changed since the attack.
Like all religions, Islam is open to interpretation. While the great majority of Muslims do not subscribe to the radical ideas of the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda, after attacks like those at Charlie Hebdo in Paris, the message of mainstream Islam is often obscured and forgotten.
Jocelyne Cesari, director of the Islam in the West Program at Harvard University, tells The Takeaway that Islam's moderate message remained in place until the 20th century, when Wahhabism took hold in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi fortune spread that message to other parts of the world.
Cesari explores the extremist narrative of Islam, how that interpretation gained dominance, and how different Muslims cultures try to combat the radical message.
