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"Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it" (Surah 2:216). This passage from the Koran, perfectly entails the idea that many people will go to extremes for their beliefs. However, in certain cases the thoughts and actions of people become distorted, and the purpose of their ideas is blown out of proportion. When dealing with depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, people take matters too seriously. Specifically with satirical depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, people go to distant ends of the spectrum to prove their beliefs. Furthermore, there are various reasons why people become worked up, and several of these reasons are clear.

On September 30, 2005, Jyllands-posten, Denmark's largest selling-daily newspaper, published twelve cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Jyllands-posten a newspaper headed in Denmark. It is Denmark's largest-selling daily newspaper. It is based in Viby, a suburb of Aarhus, and has a weekday circulation of approximately 150,000 copies. Although the newspaper published a series of interviews with Muslims, as well as articles about Islam to show their side of the story, these attempts failed to soothe people's anger. The newspaper has been accused of misusing freedom of speech by both Muslim groups and Danes of almost all political affiliations. The Muhammad cartoons controversy resulted in withdrawal of the ambassadors of Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria from Denmark, as well as consumer boycotts of Danish products in a number of Islamic countries. Although the Jyllands-posten newspaper is receiving the most attention, there are disputes occurring throughout the world. According to Weekly Standard, "disputes have been drawn in the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Council of Europe, the European Union, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, and Hezbollah." Unfortunately this short list does not cover the extent of everybody who has been affected by these disputes.

Many Muslims feel so strongly about their beliefs that their ideals extend beyond religious factors.

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