The Dutch Muslim newspaper Moslimkrant is planning to publish a glossy magazine devoted to Mohammed.
The full-colour magazine will take the growth in anti-semitism and recent attacks in Europe as a central theme and will hit the shops at the beginning of June – the first week of Ramadan.
Editor Brahim Bourzik said the aim is to counteract the many preconceptions about the prophet. ‘I think the time is right to tell the real story about Mohammed in a playful and informative way,’ he is quoted as saying in the Volkskrant.
One-off glossy magazines are a marketing trend in the Netherlands and an issue devoted to Jesus has just been published. Previous one-offs have been devoted to television presentors, the gay community and Johan Cruijff.
Bourzik says he is not worred about angry reactions from fundamentalist Muslims and Mohammed will not feature on the cover.
Sexy
‘No, the reactions so far are overwhelmingly positive,’ he said. ‘And I tell people who have doubts they should wait and see. The magazine will honour our prophet. It will also include recipes, for example.’
The magazine should also be ‘sexy’, Bourzik is quoted as saying by the Telegraaf.
‘Mohammed was a sexy man. He had at least nine wives. You have to be bloody sexy to keep them happy. He was a good guy, a spiritual leader, a house father, everything in one. I think George Clooney would have been jealous of him.’