Swedish school book depicting Muhammad withdrawn
Swedish publishing company Liber on Monday stopped the sale of a religious education book which contained two images of the prophet Muhammad.
The book's section on Islam included two pictures taken from medieval religious artwork. The book was aimed at the intermediate level of high school and was published in 1993.
One of the illustrations came from a 14th century Persian manuscript from the 1300s while the other was taken from a 13th century Iraqi manuscript. Both featured images of the prophet Muhammad.
The decision to take the book off the market came after Haga School in Varberg removed the book from its religion education syllabus.
"We will return the books to the publisher. They are a bit old - we have other books which we use today," said school head Roland Fallström to TT.
Abd al Haqq Kielan, a spokesman for Sweden's Muslims, said he found it "painful" that pictures of the prophet were still used in education. He added that he was dissatisfied that the people responsible for Swedish teaching books had not shown consideration.
However, he said that it was a consolation that the pictures in the book were not prejudiced or defamatory.
Liber announced its decision in a short message on its web site on Monday afternoon. The company declined to comment further on the decision.
TT/The Local
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The book's section on Islam included two pictures taken from medieval religious artwork. The book was aimed at the intermediate level of high school and was published in 1993.
One of the illustrations came from a 14th century Persian manuscript from the 1300s while the other was taken from a 13th century Iraqi manuscript. Both featured images of the prophet Muhammad.
The decision to take the book off the market came after Haga School in Varberg removed the book from its religion education syllabus.
"We will return the books to the publisher. They are a bit old - we have other books which we use today," said school head Roland Fallström to TT.
Abd al Haqq Kielan, a spokesman for Sweden's Muslims, said he found it "painful" that pictures of the prophet were still used in education. He added that he was dissatisfied that the people responsible for Swedish teaching books had not shown consideration.
However, he said that it was a consolation that the pictures in the book were not prejudiced or defamatory.
Liber announced its decision in a short message on its web site on Monday afternoon. The company declined to comment further on the decision.
TT/The Local
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