"The prophet of Islam didn't have to be asked twice and we thank him for it, " the statement said.

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All of this took place even as the message of the Prophet, Islam, was glorified and the physical boundaries of Islam were rapidly extended beyond the confines of Arabia into Palestine and Syria, into Africa, and into Persia.

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Any depiction of Islam's prophet is considered blasphemy by many Muslims.

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Depiction of the Prophet is strictly prohibited in Islam.

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But the earliest narrators of Arab-Muslim history were not reluctant to record events surrounding the lives of the Prophet and his companions and of the difficulties and conflicts encountered in their effort to establish Islam among their people.

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Islam generally forbids any depiction of the prophet -- even favorable ones -- fearing that may lead to idolatry.

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Revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad, The Koran, or Qur'an (recitation) is the sacred book of Islam, and is, with the Bible, the most widely read of sacred texts.

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Another, in the 18th century, was Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who advocated purging Islam of modern accretions and relying strictly on the Koran and hadith (the record of the prophet's words and deeds).

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