Graven Images?

Some 100,000 Muslims across the globe are petitioning Wikipedia to remove all images of Mohammed from its English-language page. Citing Islamic aversion to "graven images", many Muslims believe that artistic representations of holy men smack of idolatry. Now, 100,000 is but a drop in the bucket when speaking of a one-billion member religion but I think the story is telling nonetheless. A curious footnote to this vignette is that some of the images used by Wikipedia are Ottoman works of art, dating back to the 14th, 15th 16th centuries. The Ottoman Empire was renown throughout Europe for its appreciation of art. Istanbul, under the supervision of the Sultan, became a mecca of cultural achievement. Granted, Byzantine and, by extension, European culture rubbed off mightily on the Ottomans as they came within a hair's breadth of conquering all of Europe, but it is noteworthy that the largest Muslim empire in history saw nothing wrong with the reverent depiction of their prophet in art, while the far more modern incarnation of radical Islam, following the radical tradition of Wahhabism, decries such art as the stuff of pagans. Who is right here, the Ottoman or the Wahhabite?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,328966,00.html