On chat groups I sometimes post this emoticon `@:*)> crudely representing the cartoon of the warlord Mohamed. To be more clear, an ASCI art (such as it is) ’emoticon’ of a cartoon of a real person which Muslims claim is a sacred image and must not me made in any way.
I have often wondered if the cartoon of the warlord Mohamed which caused riots burnings looting and killing of people as well as more general mayhem and of course a massive bombing of the Danish Embassy in Pakistan, then does an ASCI art representation have the same effect? Shouldnt each typing of `@:*)> be cause for a school burning or two? at what level of abstraction is it alright to represent the guy. I mean clearly Muslims say the name all the time so you can make sounds that refer to him but drawings are verboten I get that. But ASCI art?
The answer was posted today on The Religion of peace, your one stop shopping for all things Islamic. Yes all emoticons are forbidden especially for women. This one `@:*)> representing a happy Mohamed with a bomb turban especially so. This site has some great examples of the degree to which we will all need to learn exactly what characters we may represent in what order under the new caliphate.
November 12, 2008
Fatwa: Emoticons are Un-Islamic
Dude, that’s some crazy stuff right there:
Emoticons are forbidden because of its imitation to Allah’s creatures whether it is original or mixture or even deformed one and since the picture is the face and the face is what makes the real picture then emoticons which represent faces that express emotions then all that add up to make them Haram
I especially love this discussion over why this —> 🙂 is okay, but not this —> 
Then there’s this:
A woman should not use these images when speaking to a man who is not her mahram, because these faces are used to express how she is feeling, so it is as if she is smiling, laughing, acting shy and so on, and a woman should not do that with a non-mahram man.It is only permissible for a woman to speak to men in cases of necessity, so long as that is in a public chat room and not in private correspondence.
Since I’m already in for a penny, might as well be in for a pound. If emoticons are harem, what about emoticons of dancing terrorists?
Thanks to Jane.
UPDATE: Black Flag gets the fatwa for the day!
