US supreme court in 1935: Mohammad one of history's greatest lawgivers.

Today, I learned that Mohammad was honored as one of history's greatest lawgivers way back in 1935.

The US supreme court friezes includes Mohammad among many other lawgivers of the ancient world.

Courtroom friezes: The South Wall Frieze includes figures of lawgivers from the ancient world and includes Menes, Hammurabi, Moses, Solomon, Lycurgus, Solon, Draco, Confucius, and Augustus. The North Wall Frieze shows lawgivers from the Middle Ages on and includes representations of Justinian, Muhammad, Charlemagne, John of England, Louis IX of France, Hugo Grotius, Sir William Blackstone, John Marshall, and Napoleon.

wiki

Unfortunately, they have also depicted an image of Mohammad in the South wall frieze holding what appears to be the Koran in one hand and a scimitar in the other. This caused a controversy when in 1997, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for the image to be sandblasted because images of Mohammad are forbidden. This request was rejected on the grounds that it "was intended only to recognize him, among many other lawgivers, as an important figure in the history of law; it is not intended as a form of idol worship".

The court also added a footnote calling it a "a well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor to honor Muhammad".

further reading

Interesting, to say the least.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


Awesome, Muhammed listed among Napolean,

Might as well throw in Adolf Hitler too,

Just because he gave laws doesn't mean they were respectable or right.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


As a Muslim what are your thoughts on him being portrayed in a picture?

Ive always wondered does anyone know what he actually looked like? are there any surviving contemporary images?

If not it seems a bit silly to get upset over a fictional representation

reply to post by godlover25

Awesome, Muhammed listed among Napolean,

Might as well throw in Adolf Hitler too,

Just because he gave laws doesn't mean they were respectable or right.

Mohammad is also listed with Moses and Solomon, in case you missed it. Are they evil people too?

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff

As a Muslim what are your thoughts on him being portrayed in a picture?

I think its unfortunate. They could have recognized Mohammad symbolically. At least the court stated that the image was only to honor him.

So no big deal, IMO.