 Later , Rose explained his intent further in The Washington Post : " The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity , Buddhism , Hinduism and other religions . And by treating Muslims in Denmark as equals they made a point : We are integrating you into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society , not strangers . The cartoons are including , rather than excluding , Muslims . " The publication of the cartoons was also accompanied by an editorial titled ' Truslen fra mørket ( ' The Threat from the Darkness ) condemning Islamic spiritual leaders " who feel entitled to interpret the prophet 's word , and cannot abide the insult that comes from being the object of intelligent satire . " In October 2005 , Politiken , another leading Danish newspaper , published its own poll of thirty @-@ one of the forty @-@ three members of the Danish cartoonist association . Twenty @-@ three said they would be willing to draw Muhammad . One had doubts , one would not be willing because of fear of possible reprisals , and six artists would not be willing because they respected the Muslim ban on depicting Muhammad . 
