Islam critiqued defends free speech; the prophet was black!

In answer to the video "The Logic of Muhammad"

The statement from Qadi Iyad

"whoever says that the Prophet was black is killed. The Prophet was not black"

occurs 400 years after the Prophet and uttered in a specific context, which is as usual ignored by the polemicists who think they can freely interject in a discussion occuring centuries earlier. Ahmad ibn Sulayman was a member of the family that ruled a part of what is now Spain. He was in Europe and surrounding countries were those of Europeans. The enemies of Islam, in those days werent different than the shameless ones of today, they have always insulted the Messenger of God and this was another one in their racist view.

Secondly, to call the Prophet black would be to deny his lineage; it is to say that his mother wasn’t really his mother. Coming from the venomous Western tongue which for most of its bible loving history viewed blacks as subhumans, such a statement was an insult. Saying to anyone, especially in a derogatory tone, that he is from another race than what he and his culture proudly trace themselves to, is an insult. Try saying to a Greek that he is of Turkish descent or to an Irish that he's English.

Further, within the same statement there is a long list of acts in relation to the prophet which the rulers of the time decided to punish, such as if someone says that the prophet died before his beard began to grow, then he is to be killed. There is nothing wrong with the statement in and of itself but when one makes these statements with the aim to defame and insult, then its not something any Muslim would tolerate.