MUSLIMS worldwide obey the Islamic injunction not to display pictures of any animal or human, anything with a “soul”, in their homes and mosques, never mind pictures of the prophet.

This aspect of Sharia has become a hallmark of their faith even though it does not appear in the Koran. It is in the Hadith — the collection of sayings of the Prophet Muhammad — that pictures of living creatures are forbidden. The Arab word used is “surah”, which can mean anything from a two-dimensional drawing to a three-dimensional figure or statue.

Hadith Bukhari 5:338 has Abu Talha, a companion of the Prophet, quoting Muhammad as saying: “Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture.” The scripture records that he meant the images of creatures that have souls.

Christians and Jews are in theory subject to a similar ordinance. The second commandment given to Moses on the top of Mount Sinai orders followers of these religions not to make any graven images.

Imam Ibrahim Mogra, a leading scholar and senior member of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “Muhammad is a very, very special person. To us he is more than our parents are. We can imagine, if someone was to make a mockery of our parents in this manner, how hurt we would be. Imagine that hurt multiplied a million times.”

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