OK for people to be called Muhammad, but not a teddy bear (not in Sudan anyway)

[WendyWeber]

Poor woman

40 lashes???

I love the calm quote from the Muslim teacher at the school:

"I was just impressed that she got them to vote"

These are 6-7 year-olds, they chose the alternative names and they voted for Muhammad (also the name of the most popular boy in the class apparently) and most of the parents are fine with it - just one fanatic took offence from the sound of it.

I've just read this too and I was horrified.

crazy and extreme. hope she's ok.

I am now worried, as I am organising the "Name the Teddy" for ds's school Christmas fair, and I have chosen Mohammed as one of the names to choose from. It never occurred to me it would be a problem, as loads of Muslim men/boys are called Mohammed (including ds's best friend's Grandad). But perhaps I had now better change it, in case it offends anyone.

SoMuCHToBits, unless you live in a strict Muslim regime I wouldn't worry!

This story is dreadful, I am wondering though- given that Sudan is considered a rather extremist regime- how much training the teacher received from whoever palced her on such matters? It's something i would guess at (teddy bear = image etc etc etc) but thats after 2 years study, anyone without that should have ahd been edyucated and informed on this befopre palcement, surely?

I hope it gets sorted out and my thoughts are with her

Do you think perhaps they are more alarmed at the 'voting' aspect of it than the actual name?

SMTB .. in my very honest opinion, I should leave things as they are. Giving in to this kind of fundamentalist lunacy for fear of offending people is allowing them to win a battle that should never have to be fought at all.

Let the name stand ..

How ridiculous. Worrying that the FO says 'we are in touch with the authorities and they have visited her and say she's fine'. Shouldn't the FO be visiting her, not relying on 'the authorities' in Sudan? The Sudanese officials are hardly going to criticise their own systems, are they?!

no it's strictly forbidden to depict the Prophet in any way, see previously the cartoons published....
Still seems bizarre and I hope they absolve her and charge her nothing less than naivety

nothing more than

naming a teddy bear Mohammed is not depicting the prophet
ffs (at the story not at yuou piffle)

well quite. There are plenty of little boys called Mohammed, I don't see their parents hauled up before the beak!

I hereby name my paperweight Mohammed and defy "them" to come and have a go at me about it.

Message withdrawn

A teddy bear as the image of Muhammad ... now there's a thought.

Yes, I can see how the two might be mistaken

WTF....this is a ridiculous....isn't it completely obvious that children will choose names common to them and that there is no political agenda or agenda to ridicule behind this?

Am I right in thinking this was the class teddy, as in threads on here passim?
Maybe one of the kid's dads had been taking photos of it drinking beer or something.

Muhammad Teddy

My sympathies are with this woman, and I hope that it is sorted out diplomatially very soon and she is released.

But tbh, I am not surprised that a number of parents took issue...I agree with peqachy about the level of training she received, anyone who has had close contact with practising Muslims would not be surprised to see some people question it. And as there is a civil war in Sudan based on religion and ethnicity, it is not surprising that the reaction is less than calm: it will be a point of principle, presumably. It's a shame the parents didn't complain directly to her, so that she could have given the bear a different name..but again, if you enter into troubled waters, even with the best and most constuctive of intentions, you need to pay attention to the difficult currents in those troubled waters.

I don't think her treatment is reasonable, i'm not defending it, but you can't make simple analogies with it happening here, or with other religions which have different sensibilities.

I hope for a swift and calm resolution.

nownow UD

Let's not forget the importance of bears in Christianity. For one thing there's Gladly, the cross-eyed bear.

LOL

Does Mohammed shit in the woods though?

Poor woman has now been charged. The headteacher was on Radio 4 news ahead of that development, saying he hoped she'd be released today. And that no parents complained to him. And that it was done in all innocence, by the children, because the there's a boy in the class who is very popular called Mohammed.

Bloody awful.

And I'm really, really tired of hearing how bloody sensitive some extremists are about Islam. A. I don't think they deserve to be pandered to - why should religion, and one particular religion, be privileged above all other beliefs?

And B. it's bad for Islam. Feeds the erroneous impression that many Muslims are nutters (which they clearly aren't).

She didn't name the bear. Why don't they arrest all the little children and flog them? Actually, I don't want to give them ideas.

Another example of utter barbarity.