As long as the secular system exists, attacks on our values will not stop!
(Translated)
News:
The weekly magazine Leman published an offensive cartoon in its issue dated June 26, 2025. The cartoon depicts the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ saying, "Peace be upon you, I am Muhammad," to which the Prophet Moses replies, "Peace be upon you, I am Moses," against a backdrop of conflict. Public outrage prompted the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office to open an investigation and issue an order to confiscate the drawing. (Agencies, June 30, 2025)
Comment:
Leman magazine overstepped its bounds by depicting the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, whom Muslims only mention with prayers and greetings upon him, and the Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, in a hideous cartoon.
As the topic spread on social media, Muslims flocked to Istiklal Street in Taksim to protest with anger. The Ministry of Interior intervened and arrested those involved in the cartoon. The images of these anti-Islam individuals, bound in handcuffs and dragged barefoot to the police station, alleviated some of the tension among Muslims.
Erdogan and other politicians exchanged messages expressing their love for the Prophet ﷺ. The government calmed public anger with reassuring statements. Officials were arrested and imprisoned. But nothing else happened, because the current legal system, which has distanced the Prophet's ideas from public life, does not allow for any further action.
In this system, the laws protect Mustafa Kemal and the President from insults, but there is no special law that protects Muhammad ﷺ, who is the highest of values and the guide for Muslims. This is not surprising, as the laws reflect the chosen creed of the state. In secular systems where opposing God and His Messenger ﷺ is considered an official creed, religion becomes merely a matter of private conscience, forbidden from influencing public life. Calling for religious influence, or forming a political party for it, is a crime under Turkish law. Therefore, the government's statements defending the Prophet ﷺ are merely emotional gestures lacking real substance ﴿Have you not seen those who claim to have believed in what was revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you? They wish to refer legislation to Taghut, while they were commanded to reject him﴾.
Such political statements often aim to exploit the feelings of Muslims. A striking example of this is the participation of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in the Paris funeral after the Charlie Hebdo attack in 2015, a scene etched in the memory of Muslims as a mark of shame.
Thus, the claims of the so-called conservative democratic leaders of loving the Prophet and Islam and defending them are nothing but self-consolation. Their true loyalty lies in their positions, their Western allies, and the secular system of Western origins. This truth is proven by many painful events, betrayals, and the corrupting influence of democracy.
Excluding the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ from life, and leaving Al-Aqsa Mosque, Gaza, and the holy land of Isra and Mi'raj to the Crusader-Zionist occupation and the massacres it commits, is one of the most severe insults to the Prophet ﷺ and our values.
As for the secularists, Kemalists, communists, atheists, and other proponents of anti-Islamic principles who defend such drawings, their fate is defeat and Hell. For God Almighty sent Muhammad ﷺ as a mercy, elevated his status, and humiliated his attackers in this world and the Hereafter. This divine law never changes.
Every Muslim who loves God, His Messenger, and the believers must work to establish the Khilafah state, which protects Islam, applies it, and spreads it as guidance to all people. Otherwise, as long as the secular system remains linked to global disbelief, attacks on our values will continue. «None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his father, his child, and all people.» (Sahih al-Bukhari)
Written for the Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Muhammad Amin Yildirim