The Muhammad cartoons were first published by in late September 2005; approximately two weeks later, nearly 3,500 people demonstrated peacefully in Copenhagen. In November, several European newspapers re-published the images, triggering more protests.
Labour strikes began in Pakistan the following month, and several organizations criticized the Danish government. More protests occurred in January 2006, and later that month a boycott of Danish goods began. Comedian Omar Marzouk ridicules Muhammad as he defends freedom of speech. Several countries withdrew their ambassadors to Denmark, and widespread protests, some of them violent, began. The protests continued in February. In Damascus, Syria, both the Norwegian embassy and a building containing the Danish, Swedish, and Chilean embassies were stormed and set on fire by protesters. In Beirut, thousands of people protested on the streets, and the Danish General Consulate was stormed and set on fire. As of February 2006, at least 139 people have died primarily during riots stemming from protests, with higher estimates being close to 250. On 1 January 2010, a man was shot whilst attempting to kill Kurt Westergaard, one of the original cartoonists.
2003
April denied an unsolicited submission that caricatured the resurrection of Jesus, with the reason that they were not funny, and would "offend some readers, not much but some".
2005
September Flemming Rose, the cultural editor of , commissions twelve cartoonists to draw cartoons of Islamic prophet Muhammad. This is based upon a motivation explained as stemming from difficulties that Danish writer Kåre Bluitgen had finding artists to illustrate his children's book about Muhammad. Artists in Denmark have been reluctant to provide these images due to a fear of assassinations by Islamists as journalist Troels Pedersen wrote in an article for the Danish news agency Ritzaus Bureau.
30 September The cartoons are printed in the Danish daily newspaper, , accompanied by an editorial text in Danish stating that Muslims are like any other religious group and will have to put up with insults, mockery, and ridicule.
October 14 October Up to 5,000 people stage a peaceful demonstration outside the Copenhagen office of . Two of the cartoonists are advised to go into hiding after receiving death threats.
17 October Egyptian newspaper El Fagr publishes six of the cartoons during Ramadan along with an article strongly denouncing them. The publication of the images does not provoke any known protests from either Egyptian religious authorities or the Egyptian government.
19 October Ambassadors from ten Muslim countries request a meeting with the Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, to ask him to distance himself from the cartoons in as well as various other allegedly derogatory comments about Islam in the Danish media. The Prime Minister refuses to meet the ambassadors, on the grounds that he cannot infringe on the freedom of the press.
28 October A number of Muslim organizations file a complaint with the Danish police claiming that had committed an offence under section 140 and 266b of the Danish Criminal Code.
November
3 November The German newspaper Die Welt publishes one of the cartoons. The Bosnian newspaper Slobodna Bosna publishes the cartoons.
7 November The Bangladeshi government issues a diplomatic protest to the Danish government following the initial publication of the cartoons.
24 November The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance request the Permanent Danish Mission to the UN to deliver their observations of the case
December
2 December A Pakistani political party, Jamaat-e-Islami apparently offers a roughly $10,000 reward to anyone who kills one of the cartoonists. It was later discovered that this was a considerable exaggeration, based on a small note in a local newspaper, citing Jamaat-e-Islami as promising a reward up to a million rupees for the deaths of the cartoonist. Jamaat-e-Islami claims to be wrongly cited, having merely suggested that the Pakistani government could promise such a reward. On its way through the Danish ambassador to the Danish media, this fact is exaggerated as involving multiple papers and flyers with the reward.
5 December The first delegation of five Danish Imams, headed by Abu Bashar of The Community of Islam, landed in Egypt on 3 December 2005 and returned 11 December 2005. Among the people the group met on their visit to Egypt were: The General Secretary of the Arab League Amr Moussa, the Egyptian Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, the grand imam of Al-Azhar university Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi and Muhammad Shaaban, an advisor to the Egyptian Foreign Minister. This meeting was arranged by Egypt's ambassador to Denmark, Mona Omar.
6 December At a 6 December 2005 summit of the OIC, with many heads of state in attendance, the dossier was handed around by the Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit on the sidelines first, but eventually an official communiqué was issued.
7 December Labour strikes begin in Pakistan in response to the cartoons.
17 December The second Danish Imam delegation, headed by Sheik Raeed Huleyhel, traveled to Lebanon and returned to Denmark 31 December 2005. In Lebanon they met the Grand Mufti Muhammad Rashid Kabbani, top Shiite Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, Maronite Church leader Nasrallah Sfeir. During that time, Imam Ahmed Akkari also visited Syria to present their case to Grand Mufti Ahmed Badr-Eddine Hassoun. Furthermore, a smaller delegation traveled to Turkey while individuals visited Sudan, Morocco, Algeria. and Qatar, where Abu Laban briefed Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi of the Muslim Brotherhood.
19 December Twenty-two former Danish ambassadors criticize the Prime Minister of Denmark for not meeting with the eleven ambassadors in October. The Council of Europe criticises the Danish government for invoking the "freedom of the press" in its refusal to take action against the "insulting" cartoons.
29 December The Arab League criticizes the Danish government for not acting in the matter.
2006
January
1 January The Prime Minister of Denmark makes his yearly New Year's speech, where he says: "I condemn any expression, action or indication that attempts to demonise groups of people ..."
6 January The Regional Public Prosecutor in Viborg decides to discontinue the investigation of whether Jyllandsposten had committed an offence under section 140 (publicly ridiculing or insulting dogmas of worship of any lawfully existing religious community in Denmark) and 266b (dissemination of statements or other information by which a group of people are threatened, insulted or degraded on account of e.g. their religion) of the Danish penalty law because there was not a reasonable suspicion that a criminal offence indictable by the state had been committed and "the right to freedom of speech must be exercised". The original claim was filed on 27 October 2005.
7 January Two pictures are printed in the Swedish newspaper Expressen and its sister editions Kvällsposten and GT.
10 January The Norwegian newspaper Magazinet publishes all 12 of the cartoons.
23 January The Danish government delivers its official response to the UN Special Rapporteurs' request of 24 November 2005.
24 January The government of Saudi Arabia issues its first public condemnation of the cartoons.
26 January Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador from Denmark, and Saudi Arabian consumers begin to boycott Danish products. Consumers in Kuwait and in some of the other Middle Eastern countries soon follow. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sends a letter to their ambassadors in the Middle East stating that one of the pillars of Norwegian society is freedom of speech, but they expressed regret that Magazinet did not respect Muslims' beliefs.
27 January Thousands of people in Iraq use Friday prayers to denounce the cartoons.
28 January A Danish ambassador in Saudi Arabia is interviewed by the American Associated Press Television News (AP-TV) where he criticises 's lack of judgement and knowledge of Islam. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) states that the Danish government should immediately have condemned the cartoons. The Arla Foods (A Swedish-Danish company) places adverts in Middle Eastern Newspapers in an attempt to bring an end to the boycott.
29 January Libya closes its embassy in Denmark. The Danish government announces that Denmark's ambassador to Saudi Arabia only expressed his own opinion in a 28 January interview with AP-TV. The Danish People's Party, Dansk Folkeparti, demands he be reprimanded. The Danish ambassador in Jordan is summoned for a hearing. The President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai calls the printing of the cartoons a mistake, and hopes that this will lead to the media being more responsible and respectful in the future. The Flag of Denmark is burned in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Hebron. Yemen's Assembly of Representatives (Majlis al-Nuwaab) condemns the cartoons. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) heads to the UN with a resolution that forbids attacks on religious beliefs. Bahrain condemns the cartoons. Syria condemns the cartoons. A new denial-of-service attack on 's web site. The first happened on 27 January. Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement gives Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes 48 hours to leave the Gaza Strip. Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades gives Danes and Swedes 72 hours to leave the area. A poll from Epinion for Danmarks Radio, the national broadcasting company of Denmark, showed that of 579 Danes asked, 21% believe that the Prime Minister of Denmark should apologise to the Muslims, with 52% citing that would not be political interference with the freedom of press, while 44% thought the Prime Minister should try harder to resolve the controversy. 38% of those asked believed that should apologise, and while 58% did feel that while it was the right of to publish the cartoons, they could understand the Muslim criticism. Boycott of Danish foods begins in Qatar
30 January sends out an apology in both Danish and Arabic. Apologising, not for the printing of the cartoons, but for hurting the feelings of Islamic society. The Mexican newspaper La Crónica reprints the Danish cartoons. Armed Palestinians from Fatah take over an EU office as a protest against the cartoons. The Prime Minister of Denmark says that he personally distances himself from the cartoons, but reiterates that the government cannot intervene in what the media writes. The European Union backs Denmark, saying that any retaliatory boycott of Danish goods would violate world trade rules. The Danish Red Cross says that it will evacuate some workers in Yemen and the Gaza Strip after receiving threats. sends out a second open letter, this time in Arabic, Danish, and English, trying to clear up several misunderstandings, and once again apologising for hurting the feelings of the Islamic society. An Iraqi militant Islamic organisation, the Mujahideen Army, calls for terror strikes against Danish and Norwegian targets. Gunmen from al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades storm the European Union's office in Gaza and threaten to kidnap the workers unless they receive an official apology for the cartoons from the EU.
31 January Following a live televised interview on al Jazeera, it is reported that the "apology for any offence caused" made at the opening of the interview by Flemming Rose, 's cultural editor, was not translated into Arabic. The Danish Muslim Association is satisfied with yesterday's apologies from and the Prime Minister, and say they now will help improve the situation. They claim to be deeply sorry and surprised the case got this far. A bomb threat against leads to evacuation of two offices in Aarhus and Copenhagen.