Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Sudan charged a British teacher with insulting Islam and sedition after she allowed pupils to name a toy bear Muhammad, the U.K. Foreign Office said. Gillian Gibbons was charged under ``Article 125 of criminal law relating to insulting religion and inciting hatred,'' a spokeswoman for the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a telephone interview, reading from a statement. Gibbons was arrested after parents of her pupils at an English school complained she had insulted the Muslim Prophet by allowing pupils to name the bear. Physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad is considered blasphemous and is strictly forbidden by devout Muslims. Gibbons could face up to six months in jail or forty lashes and a fine, Agence France-Presse reported.
I know, I know: its their country, their religion, they get to do whatever they want. You play in their park, you have to abide by their rules. So I suppose the message here is, Momma, don't let your babies grow up to work anyplace Islam holds sway. Islamic kids in those places, you're on your own. Good luck with the outside world.
Sheesh.
=======================Update:
"School officials have said the students suggested names for the bear and then voted. Their choice was Muhammad - the most popular boy’s name in the Muslim world. But while naming a child after Islam’s revered prophet is acceptable, many consider using it for an animal or toy to be insulting.
In Britain -- where Muhammad is now the second most popular name for baby boys -- the reaction had been shock and disbelief, from both non-Muslims and Muslims. Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said Sudanese authorities had “grossly overreacted.” “Gillian should never have been arrested, let alone charged and convicted of committing a crime,” he said."
Momma, don't let....
5 comments:
I just don't get how 'naming' a bear Mohammad is a 'physical depiction of the Prophet Mohammad'. Aren't there lots of Muslims that name their children Mohammad?
Well, of course, that assumes rational thought, which is never a strong point for religious fanatics. I suppose their feeling is that this is a toy, hence you're saying Mohammad is as trivial as a toy...or something like that.
A bear is a statue. Specifically, it is a statue of Mohammed. You will not find ANY picture, or statue to Mohammed anywhere in a country where Islam holds sway.
No fanatisism, not even anything particularly unusual, but I DO think there is a good possibility that Sudan is trying to see how far they can push the British government.
I am going to have a manger scene in front of my house with a baby jesus cradling a Gin bottle, and the wise men dressed up as Mohammed and Ali. See if the catholics next door even notice...
snort!
By that logic, though, the interpretation would be that they're saying Mohammed looks like a cute, fuzzy little bear.I could actually see someone being upset about that.
Wonder if anyone's suggested whipping the kids that named it? Or their parents?
As for the manger, that depends: would this be Muhammed Ali?
(chuckle)
The teacher was in loco parentis. The kids, because they are kids, are not responsible. Their parents are not there, and they eventually registered the complaint.
Most Moslems around the world think that any punishment for this "crime" is stupid. Just get rid of the bear.
Makes you wonder why it took so long for her to realize why there were no toy bears, no GI Joes, no cabbage patch dolls, no "representations of anything living" in the toy stores in the Sudan. Or maybe she did realize, but didn't connect it to the dominant religion in her county. Or maybe she did, and was simply trying to push the envelope.
There are also no beer parlours, liquor stores, or beer being sold in the grocery stores.
I also note that under government pressure, they backed off from the "lashes" part of the sentence, and simply ordered her out of the country, after a two week hell in a Sudanese jail.
Me thinks the poor lady was a pawn in the government versus organized religion tug of war. Teachers have been fired in the US (and here in Canada) for the "crime" of getting on the wrong side of that very same tug of war.
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