Muslim press debates cartoon row

ABD-AL-RAHMAN AL-SHAYKH IN SAUDI ARABIA'S AL-RIYAD

The issue of insulting and ridiculing the [Prophet Muhammad] is larger than can be confronted by the refusal of a citizen to buy a kilogram of cheese, a tin of butter or a tin of milk from a supermarket because it is manufactured in the country of the newspaper publishing the pictures.

MUKHLID AL-FA'URI IN JORDAN'S AL-RA'Y

The extent of the repeated offence against Islam and against the person of [Prophet Muhammad] by the scum of the Danish press is a matter which calls for provocation and disgust for that bad group of people who chose journalism as a profession.

QATAR'S AL-WATAN

European leaders should change their attitudes and remember that Islam has become the second religion in a number of European countries.

YEMEN'S AL-THAWRAH

There is nothing to prevent the governments of Denmark, Norway, France and others from adopting a responsible position towards the campaign to insult the noble messenger [Prophet Muhammad] and harm the Islamic nation at the heart of its belief.

PALESTINIAN AL-QUDS

Despite the great insult, uncalculated responses - especially attacks on European nationals in the Muslim world - do not go hand in hand with the morals of Islam and its Prophet because they are the Muslims' guests, and protecting them is a sacred obligation.

AHMAD DAHBUR IN PALESTINIAN AL-HAYAT AL-JADIDAH

The Danish caricatures insulting Prophet Muhammad and Islam are a snowball rolling down the hill and getting bigger and bigger... Thus an insulting pincer movement closed down on us from two directions: the slander against our faith and our presentation as tyrants who do not recognise freedom of expression.

SINGAPORE'S BERITA HARIAN

All of these religiously offensive actions have been carried out in the name of freedom of speech. Has the West lost its sensitivity to respect for religious rights? ... It is right for Muslims to protest, but it needs to be done wisely and proportionally for the sake of maintaining the image of Islam.

SHIREEN MAZARI IN PAKISTAN'S THE NATION

The hypocrisy and falsehoods surrounding [Europe's] claim to "freedom of expression" is what needs to be exposed. Legal and political challenges are far more effective than simply burning flags or death threats which only undermine the strong case that Muslims have against these forces of hate in Europe.