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Eyebrows raised at picture in magazine

DUBAI – The Shaikh Maktoum Project for Teaching Quran Memorisation, affiliated to Dubai Auqaf and Islamic Affairs Department, has protested against the publication of a picture in a Dubai-based English magazine showing a girl with verses of the Holy Quran in the background.

The official termed the picture as a “sacrilege, unholy and hurting the Muslim sentiments.”

Speaking to Khaleej Times yesterday, Iman Al Hashimi, the project's Executive Supervisor, said the photograph was abusive of the Holy Quran which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by God to lead the people out of darkness into the light. It is the duty of evey Muslim to protect the Holy Quran from being misused, and this photograph of the girl with verses of the Quran around her is not acceptable to Muslims. “I felt so hurt when I saw the photograph,” she said.

It is against the religion to use verses of Quran for purposes of advertising to promote any kind of business. If the woman in the picture loves the script and calligraphy of Islamic Art, as she claimed in the interview, she is then supposed to respect the Holy Quran and feelings of the Muslims. “Has she ever seen a Muslim women wearing hijab in a picture with verses of Holy Quran around her? When a Muslim woman is not allowed to do so, how can another woman present herself in such a way?” she asked angrily.

Mohammed Al Ahdal, Technical Supervisor of the project, described the photograph as an assault on Islam. "The Holy Quran which is highly respected by the Muslims should not have been misused by people who are not aware of its value," he said.

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