BahiraBahira (بَحِيرَىٰ, ܒܚܝܪܐ) was Nasorean monk from the tribe of Abd al-Qays who, according to Islamic religion, foretold to the adolescent Muhammad his future as a prophet. His name derives from the Syriac bḥīrā, meaning “tested (by God) and approved”. The story of Muhammad's encounter with Bahira occurs in the works of the early Muslim historians Ibn Hisham (died 833 CE), Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi (784–855), and Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (839–923), whose versions differ in some details.
Charlie Hebdo shootingOn 7 January 2015, at about 11:30 a.m. CET local time, two French Muslim terrorists and brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Armed with rifles and other weapons, they murdered 12 people and injured 11 others. The gunmen identified themselves as belonging to the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which took responsibility for the attack.
CharbStéphane Jean-Abel Michel Charbonnier (ʃaʁbɔnje; 21 August 1967 – 7 January 2015), better known as Charb (ʃaʁb), was a French satirical caricaturist and journalist. He was assassinated during the Charlie Hebdo shooting on 7 January 2015. He worked for several newspapers and magazines, joining Charlie Hebdo in 1992 and becoming the director of publication in 2009. Due to the publication of Muhammad cartoons, Charb became subject to death threats from extremist Muslims.
Persian artPersian art or Iranian art (Honar-è Irâni) has one of the richest art heritages in world history and has been strong in many media including architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and sculpture. At different times, influences from the art of neighbouring civilizations have been very important, and latterly Persian art gave and received major influences as part of the wider styles of Islamic art.
Islam and blasphemyIn Islam, blasphemy is impious utterance or action concerning God, but is broader than in normal English usage, including not only the mocking or vilifying of attributes of Islam but denying any of the fundamental beliefs of the religion. Examples include denying that the Quran was divinely revealed, the Prophethood of one of the Islamic prophets, insulting an angel, or maintaining God had a son. The Quran curses those who commit blasphemy and promises blasphemers humiliation in the Hereafter.
Charlie HebdoCharlie Hebdo (ʃaʁli ɛbdo; meaning Charlie Weekly) is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The publication has been described as anti-racist, sceptical, secular, libertarian and within the tradition of left-wing radicalism, publishing articles about the far-right (especially the French nationalist National Front party), religion (Catholicism, Islam and Judaism), politics and culture. The magazine has been the target of three terrorist attacks: in 2011, 2015, and 2020.
AniconismAniconism is the absence of artistic representations (icons) of the natural and supernatural worlds, or it is the absence of representations of certain figures in religions. It is a feature of various cultures, particularly of cultures which are based on monotheistic Abrahamic religions. The prohibition of material representations may only extend from God and other supernatural beings to saint-like characters, or it may extend to material representations of all living beings, and material representations of everything that exists.
Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. In 2022 it welcomed 3,208,832 visitors, ranking it the third most visited U.S museum, and eighth on the list of most-visited art museums in the world. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums.