The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya has condemned the ridiculing of Prophet Muhammad by French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
Speaking in his office in Mombasa town yesterday, CIPK organising secretary Sheikh Mohamed Khalifa said all religions must be respected.
On January 7, two masked gunmen forced their way into Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, France.
Twelve people were killed and 11 injured.
The newspaper had attracted attention for its depictions of Muhammad.
Khalifa called for calm among Muslims ahead of today’s planned release of three million copies whose front cover will contain a cartoon of the prophet. Addressing the press, Sheikh Khalifa said publishing a caricature of the Prophet is considered blasphemous by Muslims.
“We don’t want to see people misusing freedom of expression and religion,” said Sheikh Khalifa, who warned that publishing more cartoons of the prophet will only anger Muslims more.
The French magazine plans to publish a record three million copies of the weekly magazine in 16 different languages, exactly a week after the attack.
The gunmen, identified as brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, were avenging the prophet for Charlie Hebdo’s satire of him.
On Tuesday, CIPK treasurer Sheikh Hassan Suleiman said Charlie Hebdo’s planned releasing of the three million copies is not in good faith.
According to the Guardian, the cover shows the prophet shedding a tear and holding up a sign reading “Je suis Charlie” (French for ‘I am Charlie’) in sympathy with the dead journalists.
The headline says “All is forgiven,” noted the Guardian.
Zineb El Rhazoui, a surviving columnist at Charlie Hebdo magazine who worked on the new issue, said the cover is a call to forgive the terrorists, according to the Guardian.
In the British newspaper, El Rhazoui said she did not feel hate towards Chérif and Saïd Kouachi despite their deadly attack on the magazine, and urged Muslims to accept humour.
