Muslim Public Affairs Council Condemns Hamline Firing Of Art Professor

ST. PAUL, MN — The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has written a statement condemning Hamline University for firing an art history professor after she showed an image of Muḥammad in her class last fall.

In her syllabus for the fall semester, professor Erika López Prater reportedly warned that images of religious figures such as Muhammad and Buddha would be shown in her course. Many Muslims believe Muhammad should not be depicted, but not all.

López Prater asked students to contact her if they had concerns, but no one did, according to The New York Times, which first broke the story.

But after López Prater showed a 14th-century work depicting the founder of Islam was shown in class, a student complained to the administration.

Subsequently, Hamline's vice president for inclusive excellence sent out a statement in a university-wide email calling López Prater's actions "undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and Islamophobic."

López Prater was also told that her services were no longer needed.

But "the painting was not Islamophobic," MPAC said in their statement Monday. "In fact, it was commissioned by a fourteenth-century Muslim king in order to honor the Prophet, depicting the first Quranic revelation from the angel Gabriel."

MPAC continued, stating that "misusing the label “Islamophobia” has the negative effect of watering down the term and rendering it less effective in calling out actual acts of bigotry."

Read MPAC's entire statement here.

Read the entire New York Times feature here.