A professor at an American university has lost his job after showing depictions of Prophet Mohammed, which sparked protests among Muslim students in the institution.
In an incident in October 2022, the unnamed liberal arts professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota showed paintings of the Muslim prophet from the 1300s and 1500s.
The professor showed the historic depictions during an Islamic art class, reports say.
Muslims generally consider depictions of Prophet Mohammed an act of blasphemy.
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President of the Muslim Student Association at the institution, Aram Wedatalla reported the incident to the university’s management a day after it occurred.
“I’m like, ‘This can’t be real’. As a Muslim, and a Black person, I don’t feel like I belong, and I don’t think I’ll ever belong in a community where they don’t value me as a member, and they don’t show the same respect that I show them,” Wedatalla said.
A representative of the institution, David Everett, told students in an email on November 7 that the action was “undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and Islamophobic.”
He said that the professor had been fired from the institution.
“In lieu of this incident, it was decided it was best that this faculty member was no longer part of the Hamline community,” the school’s rep said.
He added that the university administrators had to decide whether or not the professor’s action was a “hate crime” but ultimately determined it was an “act of intolerance.”
However, the professor denied a deliberate act of malice in his action, noting that “my perspective and actions have been lamentably mischaracterized, my opportunities for due process have been thwarted.”
He also rejected Everett’s “intolerance” accusation, saying it was “misapplied”.