Magazine risks wrath of Islam over Prophet 'guest editor'

Secular weekly Charlie Hebdo is protesting against the rise of Islamist political forces

Charlie Hebdo has a reputation for trenchant humour across all subjects in the news, as illustrated by these covers

A French satirical magazine will appear today with a cartoon of its "guest editor", the Prophet Mohammed, on the front cover.

Charlie Hebdo, a fiercely secular weekly, has renamed itself Charia Hebdo for one edition to protest against the rise of Islamist political forces in Tunisia and Libya. (Charia is the French spelling of Sharia.)

The cover shows a cartoon of a jolly-looking, bearded Prophet wearing a white turban and saying: "A hundred lashes if you don't die of laughter." Advance images of the cover appearing on the internet have brought a torrent of protests, mostly from non-Muslim French people. French Muslim organisations have so far refused to comment.

To publish any purported image of the Prophet is regarded as blasphemous under Islamic law. In 2005, the Danish cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, provoked protests across the Islamic world when he published 12 satirical images of the Prophet in a Danish newspaper. The then editor of Charlie Hebdo was prosecuted in France for "insulting Muslims" after he reproduced the Danish images. He was acquitted in 2007.

This week's Charlie Hebdo contains an editorial signed "Mahomet", which says, among other things: "There is no god except God, otherwise all hell will be let loose." There is also a supplement called "Charia Madame", showing different styles of full-length veils. The real editor-in-chief of Charlie Hebdo, a cartoonist known only as Charb, said the special edition had been planned to "celebrate fittingly" the victory of the Islamist Ennahda party in the Tunisian elections and the announcement that Sharia law would be the foundation of the post-Gaddafi state in Libya. "We didn't have to go down on our knees to the Prophet of Islam (to be guest editor) and we thank him for that," a statement said.

Another cartoon shows Mohammed with a red nose and the caption: "Yes Islam and humour are compatible."

Charb told the French news agency, AFP: "We are not trying to be especially provocative. We just feel we are doing our job, as usual." The editor also pointed out that Charlie Hebdo has a reputation for being equally mocking, or hostile, towards fundamentalist Catholics in France.

In "his" editorial, entitled the "halal aperitif", "Mahomet" continues: "Ennahda promises (Tunisians) that their personal freedoms will remain and it will not introduce Sharia law. Ha, ha, no kidding? Why should a religious party take power except to impose its ideas."

Most comments on Twitter, Facebook or the internet have been hostile. "Why should blasphemy be the sole currency of free expression in this country?" asked Nicolas E David. "Charlie Hebdo is being faithful to its reputation, nasty and stupid," said Taamul.

Charb responded: "Why do people only get angry when we attack religion? We are just commenting on a news story. We are not presenting Mohammed as an extremist."