This section of the Mohammed Image Archive focuses on political cartoons (also known as "editorial cartoons") -- drawings by professional cartoonists which appear in newspapers or magazines, satirizing or commenting on current events.
To qualify for inclusion on this page, a political cartoon must feature a depiction of Mohammed, and must have been published in a newspaper or magazine, and/or be drawn by a syndicated cartoonist who regularly publishes professionally.
The cartoons below are presented in chronological order.
In the wake of the 2006 "cartoon crisis," the vast majority of mainstream media publications in the United States refused to publish any representations of Mohammed, even in their coverage of the controversial Jyllands-Posten cartoons themselves. And in most cases that policy has remained in place ever since. So political cartoons from the U.S. showing Mohammed after 2006 are comparatively rare, as most publications voluntarily "self-censored" anything which might anger Muslim extremists.
The September 24, 1876 edition of Le Grelot, a French anti-clerical satire magazine, featured on its cover
this editorial cartoon of Mohammed by staff cartoonist "Pepin." The Muslim afterlife is shown as a Belle-Epoch orgy, to which Mohammed holds the keys. The implication of the cartoon is that throngs of dead Muslims (their desperate hands visible at the bottom), having sacrificed their lives for Islam, show up at the gates of Paradise, only to learn that it is "sold out." Low-resolution versions of the cartoon were also posted at Caricatures et Caricature and atheisme.org.
(Thanks to: Jean-Pierre N.)
A close-up detail of Mohammed from the central portion of the 1876 Le Grelot cover.
The French anti-religious anarchist humor magazine L'Assiette au Beurrepublished this amazing anti-Islam editorial cartoon on July 5, 1904. The caption reads, in French, "God of the Turks. Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet. He knew how to ensure his own existence, by promising all delights to those who die while extinguishing the unbelievers." (In earlier historical eras, the French word "Turc," though technically meaning "person of Turkish descent," was also commonly used as a blanket term to mean "Middle Eastern" or "Muslim.") Allah is the glowing light at the top in Paradise, while Mohammed (representing the essence of Islam) is standing on a pile of his victims.
(Thanks to: Nicolas C.)
This political cartoon from a 1919 edition of the Des Moines Register shows Mohammed as an allegorical figure representing inflationary price levels. (Click on the image to see a larger version.) It was drawn by Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Jay Darling, and can now be found at the University of Iowa Libraries, which has a page for the cartoon with full attribution.
(Thanks to: Martin H.)
This is a close-up of the first Mohammed shown in the 1919 Jay Darling cartoon.
And this is a close-up of the second Mohammed shown in the 1919 Jay Darling cartoon.
On August 18, 1925, the British newspaper The Star published this cartoon by illustrator David Low showing cricket sports hero Jack Hobbs towering over other historical figures -- including Mohammed (spelled the old-fashioned way, "Mahomet," on his pedestal). A 2006 article in the London Times stated, "According to a Calcutta correspondent, when [this cartoon] appeared in the Indian version of the Morning Post, it 'convulsed many Muslims in speechless rage. Meetings were held and resolutions of protest were passed'." In contrast to the "cartoon controversies" of the 21st century, however, the fury in the Muslim world over this cartoon was almost completely ignored by the Europeans. The picture on the right is a close-up detail of the Mohammed figure in the original cartoon. From The British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent.
(Thanks to: Martin.)
This "Far Side" cartoon by Gary Larson riffs on the adage "If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain." The cartoon contains a very very small representation of Mohammed, from a time when it was not considered controversial. The image, scanned from a newspaper, was posted to Pinterest but most likely was originally published sometime in the 1980s.
In 2002, political cartoonist Doug Marlette published this drawing of Mohammed driving a truck with a nuclear bomb.
(Thanks to: Thomas G.)
This cartoon by French political cartoonist Steph Bergol from 2004 and entitled Islamic Crucifixion has Jesus saying (in French), "Mohammed, my kingdom is not of this world...", while Mohammed, nailing him to the cross, replies, "But mine is!!!" It is not known in which publication this Bergol cartoon first appeared.
Another cartoon by Steph Bergol from around the same period has Mohammed (being carried away by devils) saying, "It is a judicial error! I am Mohammed, the prophet!", to which St. Peter (with a scimitar through his chest) replies, "Definitely: GUILTY!" Publication unknown.
(Thanks to: thierry and etienne.)
Cox and Forkum snuck two Mohammed depictions into their January 31, 2006 cartoon about the Jyllands-Posten controversy.
On February 1, 2006, France Soir newspaper published this illustration by staff cartoonist Delize on its cover, depicting Mohammed alongside Buddha, Moses and Jesus in heaven. The headline says (in French) "Yes, one has the right to caricature God," while in heaven Jesus says to Mohammed, "Don't gripe, Mohammed ... we were ALL caricatured here." Inside the same edition, they also published another cartoon of Mohammed by Delize (above, right), which shows Mohammed himself sketching a picture of Lady Liberty, saying, "I drew a cartoon of Democracy, and nobody cares."
(Thanks to: Gathers and etienne.)
This French cartoon feminizes Mohammed while mocking the Islamic prohibition on depicting his face, by showing him wearing a woman's veil. The caption translates as, "The Muslim religion forbids the representation of Mohammed." It appeared in an as-yet unidentified mainstream French-language publication on February 1, 2006.
(Thanks to: Martin.)
On February 3, 2006, Le Monde newspaper published this cartoon by artist Plantu on its front page -- a drawing of Mohammed composed of sentences that say "Je ne dois pas dessiner Mahomet," or "I must not draw Mohammed."
(Thanks to: John, Erik, and Breteuil.)
M.E. Cohen's February 6, 2006 commentary on the Danish "cartoon crisis" mocks the overly intellectualized introspection of westerners trying to figure out the psychology of Muslims. He sneaks two tiny portraits of Mohammed into panels two and five.
(Thanks to: strsbndy.)
When a Russian newspaper published this cartoon in Feburary 2006, it was shut down by authorities and its editor faced criminal charges. Reader John M. sends a translation of what Moses is saying: "But we didn't teach them this," refering to the people fighting on the television.
(Thanks to: Martin.)
Danish cartoonist Ivar Gjørup created this gruesome update of a classic '50s comic called "Crazy Cartoonist" (or, literally, "Crazy Penciller") in which the hero's drawings came to life as he drew them. In this March, 2006 version, a shaved-headed image that's apparently supposed to be Mohammed finally cuts off the head of the cartoonist who drew him -- a subtle commentary that either suggests the threat from extremists is real, or alternately that we are creating the threat ourselves. The caption reads "The Crazy Cartoonist's Last Work." More info on the drawing can be found at Gateway Pundit.
In May of 2006, Harper's magazine reprinted the original 12 Jyllands-Posten Mohammed cartoons, along with an article by famed illustrator Art Spiegelman -- who also created this updated portrait of Mohammed (in the center) based on one of the 12 cartoons, surrounded by racist stereotypes -- a greedy Jew, a Mexican bandito, an Italian mafioso, a child-molesting Catholic priest, a tomahawk-wielding Native American, a naked woman, a bucktoothed Chinaman, and a dice-playing negro -- insinuating that the mere act of depicting Mohammed is just another form of racism or bigotry. Spiegelman's array of stereotypes implies that when artists depict Mohammed as a terrorist, they are using him as a stand-in for all Middle-Easterners, so that a disrepectful image of Mohammed is actually a racist/bigoted attack against Arabs or Muslims in general. Needless to say, Spiegelman entirely misses the point: the conflict has nothing whatsoever to do with race, but instead is a clash between religion and secularism about blasphemy and free speech. But it is a standard strategy among modern-day "progressives," when they feel they are losing a debate, to change the subject to "racism" as a way of signalling their moral virtue. Several blogs gave extensive coverage to the story.
(Thanks to: Killgore Trout.)
In 2006, Finnish culture magazine Kaltio fired its editor Jussi Vilkkuna for the crime of publishing a five-page cartoon about Mohammed in the magazine; the first page is above, and the remaining four are shown below. Vilkkuna, who had been Kaltio's editor for eight years, was told to leave after he refused to remove the cartoon from the publication's website as requested by the magazine's board of directors, who had been pressured by advertisers. An article about the incident, along with higher-resolution versions of each page, can be found here at bibelen.blogspot.com. Slightly smaller versions of the jpegs are also still online here. The irony is that the entire cartoon is about the cowardice of Finnish liberals when confronted with threats over depictions of Mohammed:
(Thanks to: Paul B., nord, Tuomas H., and Martin.)
Pages 2 and 3 of the Kaltio Mohammed strip.
Pages 4 and 5 of the Kaltio Mohammed strip.
Slate cartoonist Jack Higgins drew this September, 2006 cartoon of Mohammed responding violently to the Pope's suggestion that Islam is violent -- with a riff on the old aphorism, "If Mohammed can not go to the mountain, then the mountain must come to Mohammed."
(Thanks to: Ted K.)
This editorial cartoon depicts Mohammed and Allah in paradise laughing over the Jyllands-Posten cartoons, while an Islamic terrorist below them on Earth laments (in Spanish), "How can we advance in this crusade with their lack of solidarity?!!" (in other words, Mohammed and Allah are not angry about the cartoons in the way that Muslims are). Although the image remains online here, and is almost certainly from 2006 considering its topic, it is not known where it was first published or who first uploaded it and translated it.
The Norwegian newspaper Adresseavisenran this cartoon on June 3, 2008 as a commentary on the continuing violence in the Muslim world over the Mohammed cartoons. The text on his chest translates as: "I am Muhammed and nobody dares to print me."
(Thanks to: Luuk.)
Cartoonist John Cole of The Times-Tribune syndicate commented on the controversy over a 2008 New Yorker magazine cover which depicted Barack Obama as a Muslim by comparing his supporters' outrage to the outrage actual Muslims feel over satirical images of Mohammed. The comparison was actually a poor one because the New Yorker cartoon was not meant to imply that Obama is actually a Muslim, but instead was mocking the rumor that Obama was a Muslim; most of the outrage over the cartoon came not from Obama's supporters but instead from Obama's detractors who felt it belittled a legitmate concern.
(Thanks to: Fenris.)
In August of 2011, the "Middle-East Conflict" blog resposted this political cartoon of Mohammed the false prophet leading his blind followers into Hell. The "SB" signature style of the artist suggests it is a professionally drawn political cartoon, but it is not known in which publication it first appeared.
(Thanks to: Raafat.)
Miguel Villalba Sanchez's January 7, 2015 editorial cartoon about that day's Charlie Hebdo massacre showed an extremist's bullet richocheting into Mohammed's butt in Paradise. It appeared at artribune.com.
(Thanks to: Charles M.)
Australian political cartoonist Larry Pickering posted this cartoon to his site on January 8, 2015, which shows a pig-like Mohammed (with a "Halal" label on his rump) roasting on a spit made out of a pencil, while Korans below wait to be ignited.
(Thanks to: Gerard C.)
On January 9, 2015, two days after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, French cartoonist "Na" of Le Nouvel Observateur drew this variation of one of the Jyllands-Posten cartoons. The headline reads, "The killers are dead," while at the gates of Paradise either Mohammed or Allah says, "Sorry, you're not on the list." It originally appeared on this page, but the image seems to no longer be visible there.
(Thanks to: Charles M.)
On January 10, 2015, Bill Leak, cartoonist for the Weekend Australian, published this drawing of Allah arguing with Jehovah in heaven (misidentified in the article as Jesus and Mohammed).
(Thanks to: Charles M.)
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazettepublished this cartoon by Rob Rogers On January 13, 2015, drawing a false moral equivalency between modern-day terror attacks, ethnic cleansing carried out by the communist Burmese goverment, and the Crusades from nearly a thousand years ago.
(Thanks to: Charles M.)
This cartoon by "Bürki" shows Jehovah painting a portrait of either Mohammed or Allah. Date and location of publication uknown, but probably from 2015.
(Thanks to: Charles M..)
The June, 2015 issue of the leftist UK magazine New Statesman was a special edition on the theme "Saying the Unsayable." Art Spiegelman had agreed to supply a drawing for the cover (depicting a bound-and-gagged woman), on the condition that another cartoon of his, shown above (click here to see a full-size version) also be included inside the print version of the issue. At the last second, the magazine refused to include Spiegelman's inside cartoon, titled "Notes From a First Amendment Fundamentalist," so in retaliation he refused to let them use his cover drawing. A last-minute substitute cover has to be used. The issue's guest editors, Neil Gainman and Amanda Palmer, then wrote a long essay explaining to readers why their promised Art Speigelman cover wasn't used -- and buried deep in their incredibly long-winded apology was the only important fact: "Apparently, there had been a New Statesman-wide meeting and consensus that the magazine wouldn't print any images of the prophet mohammed." Spiegelman's inside cartoon, seen here, contained one tiny stick-figure happy face labelled "Mohammad," and another similar happy face without the label, which by visual association could be perceived as Mohammed. But these tiny non-respresentational stick figures were enough to send the staff of the New Statesman into paralytic fear. So, in a special issue devoted to free speech and "saying the unsayable," the New Statesmenstill self-censored to please Muslim extremists -- completely destroying any credibility they had and totally undermining the special issue, which only ended up proving that the Left is subservient to Islam and that they only encourage free speech when it skewers their conservative political opponents -- but when it comes to Islam, the Left still willingly imposes blasphemy laws on itself. The cartoon was published in the online edition of The Nation, from which the version above was taken.
(Thanks to: Charles M.)
