Prophet Muhammad comic book biography to be published by French weekly Charlie Hebdo

French weekly Charlie Hebdo plans to publish a comic-book style biography of the Prophet Muhammad, complete with illustrations.

Editor Stéphane Charbonnier, known as Charb, who also illustrated the comic, made the announcement to Agence France-Presse on Sunday. His magazine-style satirical paper has previously depicted Muhammad on several occasions — an act that is forbidden in Islam — in what he calls an effort to defend free speech and defy Muslims who believe portraying any image of the Prophet is sacrilegious.

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"It is a biography authorized by Islam since it was edited by Muslims," said Charb. "I don’t think higher Muslim minds could find anything inappropriate."

According to the Guardian, Charb argued that the biography, called Life of Muhammad, would be "perfectly halal," as it is a compilation of past writings about Muhammad by Muslim writers, and his publication had "simply put it into images."

The biography will be published Wednesday and was compiled by a Franco-Tunisian researcher known only as Zineb, AFP noted.

In 2011, Charlie Hebdo's offices were firebombed and its website was hacked after the publication released an edition titled Charia Hebdo, featuring several Muhammad cartoons. Charb has received death threats and lives under police protection.