A British teacher at a high school in Sudan, Gillian Gibbons, 54, was arrested on blasphemy charges for allowing her six- and seven-year-old students to name a class teddy bear "Mohammed," says the Telegraph. She was interrogated for five hours, according to the Daily Mail, and the teacher now may face forty lashes and six months in prison. Protests against Ms. Gibbons, a divorced mother of two, have broken out all over Sudan and the school has been closed through January to prevent retaliation. On one hand, you want to say Ms. Gibbons should have known to avoid the name, especially given the recent Danish cartoon debacle, which resulted in dozens of deaths. The Koran say, "[Allah is] the originator of the heavens and the earth... [there is] nothing like a likeness of Him." The ban is supposed to prevent idolatry.
But it's hard to make a case the class' teddy bear project, which involved students taking "Mohammed" the bear home and recording his "activities" in a diary, could be construed as deliberately insulting.
Hassan Aberdeen, a researcher at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, quoted in Sky News, says that the anger over this does indeed seem to be disproportionate, even given Sudan's strict Islamic Sharia law. He says, "It seems that the parents made an issue of the teacher calling an animal Mohammed. Calling him a dog or a pig is insulting, but this is just a teddy bear."
And who would think the teddy bear (whose name was voted on by the class; Assan and Abdullah lost to Mohammed) was actually intended as a representation of the prophet? And who would imagine he would turn the students into teddy bear cultists?
It just seems like a logical fallacy to say that calling a teddy bear Mohammed is the same as calling Mohammed a teddy bear. After all, Muslim children are routinely named Mohammed; no one thinks they're being cast as reincarnations of the prophet.
In the case of the Danish cartoons, the image was actually supposed to represent the true Mohammed. Suddenly, by comparison to this, the rage over those little sketches seems imminently reasonable.
(Photo of Gibbons is from her Friends Reunited account via Reuters)
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 43)
1. This type of thinking cannot be tolerated. It is every Christian's duty to stamp out this type of disgusting tyranny. A christian "Jihad" is what these fools need. I show you the sole of my shoe!
Brad at 11:36AM on Nov 27th 2007
2. This strict interpretation is completely against Islamic Law. As someone who has studied the history of Islamic Law, there has been a recent trend to elevate the prophet to an almost God-like status. Blasphemy would be to name the bear "God" and idoltry would be to have the children worship it. This act of naming the bear Mohammed is NOT blasphemy nor idolatry--it is idiocy on the part of the Sudanese officials. Indeed, it is blasphemy on the part of the Sudanese officials to make the argument in the first place and it is they would should be lashed 40 times, not this innocent teacher.
Zagros Sadjadi at 12:02PM on Nov 27th 2007
3. Do you realize how frightening you sound? "A christian "Jihad" is what these fools need"? This is hate that you are advocating, and violence. Christ came to us to offer salvation and to teach love, not that we might hate each other in God's name.
If you are worried about Mrs. Gibbons, write a letter to the Sudanese ambassador and keep her in your prayers. But do not bring hate against an entire country of people, most of whom are innocent of any wrongdoing.
Amanda at 12:12PM on Nov 27th 2007
4. Islam should be against the law!!!! It is cowardly and perverse!!!! I would like to get a tattoo that says Islam is for Fags!!!!
michael gilbert at 12:39PM on Nov 27th 2007
5. To even ask if this is over reaction, suggests someone is considering it may NOT be. How much Kool-aid does one have to drink before they even come up with a question like that??
bjhdkh at 12:40PM on Nov 27th 2007
6. Don't insult the "teddy bear" by calling it Mohammed! A symbol of one of our great presidents...perhaps that is the crime?
jaguar93lady at 12:40PM on Nov 27th 2007
7. Islam sucks!!! It should be against the law!!!!!!!!!
michael gilbert at 12:40PM on Nov 27th 2007
8. I pray that Gillian Gibbons delivered from this madness and evil that is trying to entrap her.
In the mighty Name of Jesus the Christ alone -- I pray all charge are dropped for Gillian and that no lashes be given and that she be set free.
"...ye have not, because ye ask not." James 4:2
Paula Mooney at 12:41PM on Nov 27th 2007
9. So...are we going to give a beating to every person in the Muslim Wold named Mohammed? Are we going to beat their parents also for naming thier childern Mohammed? How about all of those who convert to Islam that take on the name Mohammed? Shall we beat them also?
wgrodkiewi at 12:43PM on Nov 27th 2007
10. What do you expect from a backward country and a religion that is now famous for being the advocate for death, destruction and decapitation for non-believers. Yup a real tolerant religion.
Pete D at 12:43PM on Nov 27th 2007
11. I think this is a sad case and I think it is even worse that you people have the audacity to get on here and profess hate for the islamic religion. If any of you bothered to research the religion even in the slightest, you would know that it is a peace loving religion. Much as is Chiristianity. But you people would rather believe the media in the radical muslims that do, indeed, give islam a bad name. No, I am not islamic. I'm not even Christian. But I have enough respect for other people to understand their beliefs before I pass Judgement. I know somewhere in your bible it says you shouldn't judge other people. For with what measure you judge, your God will judge you.
Kim at 12:48PM on Nov 27th 2007
12. I am with Amanda. All of the Christianity I have been taught has shown me to promote love and acceptance. Accept that there are other religions and do not spread hatred. The Sudanese officials are being stupid. Its just a teddy bear that some kids named. LET IT GO!
Ruth at 12:48PM on Nov 27th 2007
13. Wow! This should be the biggest problem Sudan is facing!
Typical of the crap that happens here: people are dying and being maimed everyday, but we care about an ad that makes a pun out of a general's name.....or a chocolate Jesus in nyc, for another example.
stuart joshua at 12:48PM on Nov 27th 2007
14. I thought that Mohammed was one of the most common Arabic names out there. There were many people named Mohammed before THE Mohammed became known. There were many people named after him following it. It is a common name, like John or Mary. It is one the children were most familiar with. It is only the perverse adult mind that finds idolatry where there isn't any and makes baseless threats. One of my friends in high school was named Mohammed Mohammed (we called him MoMo or Mo squared). I do wonder how people would feel if somebody named a teddy bear Jesus. Actually, I think we would find it quite endearing, except for the foaming at the mouth Conservatives, like the first poster here. People are starving to death in Sudan, but all they care about is what some teacher names a teddy bear. Pretty backward.
Crys at 12:48PM on Nov 27th 2007
15. This is so stupid! I don't have anything against Islam, but why would they even have a "law" preventing somebody from naming an object after their prophet? That just doesn't make sense to me. Anyway, teddy bears are meant to be a sign for something like affection, and if those kids chose Mohammed it means they obviously respect him! Like I said, I don't have ANYTHING against Islam, but they overreact too much and I'm sick of hearing about the problems we have today that involve them... Again, I don't have a thing against them but it seems like now, in England especially, they're just out to create problems, and make mountains out of molehills. PLEASE, NOBODY TAKE OFFENSE BECAUSE OF ANYTHING I HAVE SAID IN THIS COMMENT.
Sam at 12:50PM on Nov 27th 2007