Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders attends a joint news conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, June 16, 2015 (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, denounced on Thursday the "sick imagination" of cartoonists who depicted the Prophet Mohammed in the Netherlands.
The cartoons were aired a day earlier by an anti-Islam politician on Dutch national television.
The 100-year-old Al-Azhar has urged Muslims to ignore the "hateful terrorist act" which saw 10 cartoons featuring the prophet broadcast by politician Geert Wilders on Dutch national broadcaster NOS, using the public broadcast time allocated to political parties.
"The stature of the prophet of mercy and humanitarianism is greater and nobler than to be affected by cartoons that have no respect for moral restrictions or civilised standards," the statement read.
The Dutch politician said he was promoting "freedom of speech" after a Mohammad cartoon competition in Texas was attacked by two gunmen who were shot dead by police.
For many Muslims, drawings of Mohammad are offensive and sacrilegious and such acts have in some incidents provoked deadly violence by extremists.
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