Hamline University Associate Professor Fired After Showing Painting of Prophet Muhammad

A Minnesota associate professor has been fired after showing students in her class a painting of the Prophet Mohammed.

Erika López Prater, 42, was fired from her post at Hamline University in Saint Paul despite warning students in advance about the 14th-century images.

A new report in the New York Times indicates that the professor was fired by Hamline University President Fayneese Miller for prioritizing academic freedom over respect for Muslim students.

Many practicing Muslims do not believe in looking at images of Prophet Muhammad, believing that doing so could lead to worshiping an image.

Despite the associate professor’s warnings, Senior Aram Wedatalla, a Muslim in the class, said she was caught off guard by the image. “I say, ‘This can’t be true,'” Vedatalla said in an interview with the school newspaper

In a letter to students, Hamline University President Fayneese Miller apologized for the incident and said it was incredibly important not to offend the school’s Muslim students

In a letter to students, Miller apologized for the incident and said it was incredibly important not to offend the school’s Muslim students.

“It is not our intention to assign blame; Rather, we would like to note that in the classroom incident – ​​in which an image that Muslims were not allowed to view was projected onto a screen and left there for many minutes – respect for the devout Muslim students in that classroom takes precedence over academic freedom should.” said Müller.

The New York Times report said the syllabus edited by the lecturer informed students that they would see sacred figures from all religions, including the Prophet Muhammad and the Buddha.

In addition, López Prater is said to have given the students an advance warning just before the painting was presented, to give them another chance to leave the room if they did not feel comfortable looking at the painting.

During the October lecture, too, no students brought concerns or left the lecture hall.

Despite the warnings, senior citizen Aram Wedatalla, a Muslim in the class, said she was caught off guard by the picture.

“I say, ‘This can’t be true,'” Vedatalla said in an interview with the school newspaper.

“As a Muslim and Black, I don’t feel like I belong, and I don’t think I will ever belong to a community where they don’t value me as a member and don’t show the same respect that I show them,” the student said.

Wedatalla, a member of the Muslim Student Association, then received support from Muslim students who were not in class but described the incident as an attack on their religion.

A Minnesota associate professor who showed students a painting of Prophet Muhammad lost her job after the incident

In a letter to students, Miller apologized for the incident and said it was incredibly important not to offend the school’s Muslim students

According to AboutIslam.net, the practice of avoiding the images dates back centuries and stems from fear that the images will send the wrong message

After the class ended, Wedatalla stayed to talk to her Lopez Prater.

The conversation prompted the professor to email her department head, Allison Baker, to update her on the situation.

Baker, the chair of the digital and studio art department, responded by saying, “It sounded like you did everything right.”

“I believe in academic freedom so you have my support,” Baker wrote.

The group urged officials to take action, and the move resulted in López Prater, a first-time adjunct, not being welcomed back for the spring semester.

Deangela Huddleston, a senior at Hamline and a member of the Muslim Student Association, said of the incident: “Hamline teaches us that it is not the intent that matters, it is the impact.

A spokesman for Hamline said López Prate “received a letter of appointment for the fall semester and taught the course through the end of the semester.”

DailyMail.com reached out to Hamline University officials for a statement on the professor’s dismissal, but received no response at the time of publication.

Wedatalla is a member of the Muslim Student Association and received support from Muslim students who were not in class but described the incident as an attack on their religion

“As a Muslim and as a Black person, I don’t feel like I belong, and I don’t think I will ever belong to a community where they don’t value me as a member and don’t show the same respect that I show them,” Wedatalla said

The university president also said in her letter that while academic freedom is “very important,” it “does not have to come at the expense of care and decency towards others.”

After the incident at a city hall, an invited Muslim speaker, according to the New York Times, “likened showing the pictures to being taught that Hitler was good.”

After the incident at a city hall, an invited Muslim speaker, according to the New York Times, “likened showing the pictures to being taught that Hitler was good.”

The university president also said in her letter that while academic freedom is “very important,”not have to be at the expense of care and decency towards others.

In a statement to an outlet last week, a school official said they are trying to get all students to “feel safe, supported and respected both inside and outside of our classrooms.’

The dismissal also sparked backlash from those who believed the dismissal was an attack on academic freedom.

An Islamic art historian wrote an essay in defense of Dr. López Prater and launched a petition that garnered thousands of signatures, demanding that the university board investigate the incident.

Another organization, PEN America, called her dismissal “one of the most egregious violations of academic freedom in recent memory.”

This image of Prophet Muhammad shows him arriving at the gate of a castle

According to AboutIslam.net, the practice of avoiding the images dates back centuries and stems from fears that the images send the wrong message.

“In Islam, there has always been a ban on taking pictures of God and his prophets,” the website says.

“Initially, this ban was simply to resist the temptation to worship the images themselves, as people have done for centuries,” the website continues.

“As for the depiction of the Prophet, Muslims do not make any images or statues of the Prophet Muhammad for one clear reason. The reason is not that images or art are evil or evil, but that images can lead to misunderstanding.’

The author of the post, Idris Tawfiq, explains that depicting Prophet Muhammad could make him seem like a holier figure when he was just a man.

“Prophet Muhammad was a man. He was not a saint or a god, but a simple man. The love in which he is held by Muslims is intense. Creating statues and images of this man can make people see more in a man than he was,” writes Tawfiq.