Amir Abdul-Malik Ali spoke to an audience of about 100 people at SF State on Friday at noon in the Malcolm X Plaza about the highly controversial cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad.

“They presented him as some bloodthirsty type terrorist,” said Ali, an imam (spiritual leader) associated with the Masjid Al Islam mosque in Oakland, and SF State graduate.

The cartoons were first published in September in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, and were later reprinted in other European publications in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. One of the cartoons shows Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse. Consequently, riots erupted throughout the Muslim world earlier this month.

In Islam, it is considered sacrilege to depict a prophet because it could lead to idolatry, according to Ali.

“Once you depict the prophets, you make a picture of them and then you start getting into how they looked...and then you miss out on the spirituality of their message," said Ali, who speaks generally on college campuses and has been involved in Muslim Student Association events across California. “Then, a picture becomes a statute... next thing you know, you have people praying in front of that statue, and that’s idolatry."

Some applauded as Ali said he supported the protests and riots of the Muslim people in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

“If you have freedom of speech, we have the freedom to be offended, if you have freedom of speech, then we have freedom to be upset,” he said.

One SF State student said that it is widely known that such depictions are "blatantly disrespectful."

"You cannot make depictions, everyone knows this and they still did it,” said Habibah Johnson, a 21-year-old sociology junior.

Another SF State student said that the papers are within their rights to run the cartoons, and the Muslim world is within its rights to protest.

“Expressions have consequences," said Daniel Elash, 38 a first year graduate student of history. “It's like if you go down the street screaming racial epithets at people, you’re going to get into a fight.”

Director of the Performing Arts Mauta Kenyatta was among the listeners and said that the cartoons are intended to incite violence.

I think the goal (of the published cartoons) is to demonize Muslims and start another holy war," Kenyatta said. “I think a lot of disservice has been done by these cartoons."

Ali told the crowd that this issue should not be ignored.

“Don’t focus on the response of the people who are responding to this racism, focus on the people who perpetuate it, focus on the people who precipitate it," he said.