The Muslim activist asked passersby on the streets of New York to draw on their friend Muhammad on a white board, then she photographed it.
CAIRO – Combating Texas’ hateful contest for offering Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) drawings, a New York Muslim has hosted a counter event that urges passersby to draw anyone they know named Muhammad.
"Sheer ignorance like the type that Pam Geller displays can't really be talked back to, it isn't something that you can even try to intelligently respond to," Amani Alkhat, who runs the blog Muslim Girl, told the Houston Chronicle.
"Complete hatred can only be combatted with mockery, all we can really do is make a joke out of it."
Alkhat was talking about Muhammad drawing contest that will hosted by Islamophobic blogger Pamela Geller in Texas next week.
"We draw Muhammad because we are free," wrote Geller in a post on Breitbart, where she in a frequent contributor.
"We draw Muhammad because our unalienable rights are enshrined in the first amendment."
Countering Geller's hate message, the Muslim activist asked passersby on the streets of New York to draw on their friend Muhammad on a white board, then she photographed it.
The social experiment resulted in a collection of drawings of Muhammad," just like Geller plans for Garland, Texas next week," Alkhat said.
Geller claims that her competition got more than 350 submissions, so far.
"We hope that this event will give others the courage to stand up as well and show the world that they aren't going to submit to intimidation," she said.
"Otherwise, it is no exaggeration to say that all will be lost."
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| The New York event aims to show the diversity of Islam and the American Muslim community. |
Diversity
For Alkhat, the New York event aims to show the diversity of Islam and the American Muslim community.
According to her, the Muhammad drawings people turned up ranged from "as white as white can get" so someone who's "beard takes up half his body."
"That's just a testament to how diverse and how far Islam expands, that Muhammad is the most common name in the world and it really showcases the diversity of the religion," Alkhat said.
Geller, who has bragged online that she uses a Qur’an as a doorstop, was the subject of a CAIR "Islamophobe profile" documenting the individuals and organizations involved in spreading anti-Muslim bias in the United States.
CAIR also listed her as a member of the "inner core" of those promoting anti-Muslim bigotry.
Geller is known for her anti-Islam bus campaigns that were launched in several American states, amid widespread outrage.
"How is it not the definition of racism when you take the smallest minority of them and use that to cast the entire population," Alkhat said.
Although there are no official figures, the United States is believed to be home to between 6-8 million Muslims.
A US survey has revealed that the majority of Americans know very little about Muslims and their faith.
A recent Gallup poll, however, found 43 percent of Americans Nationwide admitted to feeling at least “a little” prejudice against Muslims.
Another Economist/YouGov poll found that a large majority of Americans believe that US Muslims are victims of discrimination amid recent attacks against the community.
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