The sin, if sin it was, was to depict the prophet. 'Islamic tradition' - not Islamic law - forbids the portrayal of the prophet or any of his companions. This ban led to a flourishing of calligraphy and other recognisable features of the Islamic art.
Where would Christianity be without its depiction of its prophets? The Renaissance would simply never have happened and our great art galleries would be empty. You could get burned at the stake for suggesting the sun was at the centre of the solar system and the same would have probably awaited you had you produced a satirical cartoon of a religious figure. Thankfully printing was in its infancy and Private Eye and Charlie Hebdo did not exist.
By the time of the Enlightenment, things were rather more relaxed.
North Korea clearly feels as sensitive as the terrorists if the fuss about The Interview is anything to go by. Having initially reeled from the hacking, Sony strengthened their sinews and issued the film having had the best publicity it could have hoped for. Sony 1, North Korea 0.
The newspapers were clearly feeling emboldened for the following appeared on a BBC website today, a week after the Charlie Hebdo events:
The Big Kim?
A suggestion that North Korea is keen on opening a restaurant in Scotland gives sub-editors plenty of punning opportunities.
"Kim dine with me," says the Daily Star, playing on the name of the reclusive state's "tubby tyrant", Kim Jong-un, as it suggests that dog meat soup and pine-nut gruel would be on the menu. The paper explains that a Pyongyang-backed restaurant is already open in Amsterdam, channelling 30% of its profits back to the state, and that Kim has "warmed" to Scotland because of its independence campaign.
The Daily Mirror dresses up the "supreme leader" in a tartan hat and ginger wig, renaming him "Kim Jock-un". Its effort at a "McJong's" menu includes Kim sum, Pyong lamb and spotted dictator. It says the North Korean leader has "fallen in love with all things Scottish, particularly whisky".
"See you Kimmy," is the headline in the Sun, which also pictures Kim in a bonnet, declaring: "I'm the Supreme Eater." That paper's idea of North Korean fine dining includes barbecued mollusc and cold noodles, washed down with an aphrodisiac made from bear's bile.
This is indeed fighting talk. It is clear that the three papers are keen to be seen not being cowed.
A tourism leaflet for a park in Budapest shows how we can prick pomposity. No one is currently holding up Socialist Russia as a paragon of virtue or feels strongly enough to respond and the leaflet is therefore free to mock the statues with no risk of causing offence. Offence turns to farce. Refreshing and revolutionary stuff.
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