Death for a Teddy Bear
November 30, 2007
Death? The penalty for naming a cute, cuddly teddy bear "Muhammad" is death? Are you serious? The Sudanese rioting in Khartoum's central square seemed to have taken leave of their senses! Brandishing knives and clubs, they scream "kill her by firing squad" and "No tolerance: Execution."
This woman obviously wasn't plotting with a bunch of seven-year-olds to overthrow or knowingly insult Islam. Quite the contrary. What the rioters may not realize is that in many Western cultures, naming a treasured stuffed animal after someone real is often seen as a compliment.
Here's the key to understanding why this case has suddenly blown up in to a dangerous controversy: the rioters were coming out of their mosques after Friday sermons. According to the Associated Press report, the imams of these mosques whipped the crowds in to a frenzy to the point of inciting a riot. Among other things, the report says...
A Muslim cleric at Khartoum's main Martyrs Mosque denounced [Gillian] Gibbons during one sermon, saying she intentionally insulted Islam. He did not call for protests, however. (emphasis mine.)
That sounds like back peddling to me. It seems as though they're saying, "I justified and encouraged setting a wild fire and talked about how someone should set a fire. I handed someone a can of gas and matches. But I didn't tell him to strike the match!"
I have met several sheiks and imams around the world, including Sudan, who are good and fair; educated and just. The power of decision, life and death, lay in their hands to either calm their congregations or incite violence. Please, imams of Sudan, I appeal to you to bring peace to the situation. Using incendiary language is dangerous. If you play with matches-or encourage others to do so- someone might get burned. Now is the time to show your benevolence and good sense and bring an end to the escalating violence.
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