Muhammted

Absolutely Bonkers! 40 Lashes?!

A British school teacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.


Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, said she made an "innocent mistake" by letting the six and seven-year-olds choose the name. Ms Gibbons was arrested after several parents made complaints.
The BBC's correspondent Amber Henshaw said Ms Gibbons' punishment could be up to six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.


Fellow teachers at Khartoum's Unity High School told Reuters news agency they feared for Ms Gibbons' safety after receiving reports that men had started gathering outside the police station where she was being held. The school's director, Robert Boulos, said: "This is a very sensitive issue. We are very worried about her safety.


Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was following a British national curriculum course designed to teach young pupils about animals and this year's topic was the bear.
So Ms Gibbons, who joined the school in August, asked a seven-year-old girl to bring in her teddy bear and asked the class to pick names for it, he said.
"They came up with eight names including Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad," Mr Boulos said.
"Then she explained what it meant to vote and asked them to choose the name." Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad as their favourite name.

It is seen as an insult to Islam to attempt to make an image of the Prophet Muhammad.


Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was arrested on Sunday at her home inside the school premises after a number of parents complained to Sudan's Ministry of Education.
Cartoons of the Prophet led to protests around the world in 2006


He said police had seized the book and asked to interview the girl who owned the bear. The country's state-controlled Sudanese Media Centre reported that charges were being prepared "under article 125 of the criminal law" which covers insults against faith and religion.

Again, as much as it seems stupid to us, this is how they do things in there country. Who are we to judge?

so she was teaching out in Sudan??

seems harsh.............. but she should have been aware of things like this

Brutal. Almost as bizarre as this

Saudi justice officials say a woman who was sentenced to prison and flogging after she was gang-raped has now confessed to an extramarital affair.
The case of the unidentified women, 19, drew international criticism after an appeal increased her 90-lash sentence to 200 lashes and six months' jail.

The justice ministry statement rejected "foreign interference" in the case.
It insisted the ruling was legal and that the women had "confessed to doing what God has forbidden".
The statement carried by the official press agency late on Saturday said the sentence would be carried out in accordance with Saudi law.
The woman was initially to be punished for violating strict gender segregation laws in Saudi Arabia, for riding in the car of a man who was not related to her when they were attacked.

"The Saudi justice minister expressed his regret about the media reports over the role of the women in this case which put out false information and wrongly defend her," the statement said.
"The charged girl is a married woman who confessed to having an affair with the man she was caught with."

Adultery is a punishable offence in Saudi Arabia's strict system of Islamic law, and correspondents say judges are given wide powers to impose custodial sentences or corporal punishment.
She says two men entered the car and drove them to a secluded area where others were waiting, and both she and her companion were raped.

Her sentence was increased on appeal after judges wanted to punish her for attempting to use the media to influence the case. Her attackers' sentences - originally up to five years - were also doubled.
Several governments and human rights groups have condemned her sentence and urged it to be lifted. Canada described it as "barbaric".
The US, a major Saudi ally, declined to condemn to sentence, but did call it "astonishing".





-That last bit about America shows how sick politics is

[yorkie_chris]

And these things are supposedly "equal" to us?

This is a case for some quiet diplomacy, methinks.

Originally Posted by DanDare

Again, as much as it seems stupid to us, this is how they do things in there country. Who are we to judge?

that's true enough. But in a predominantly Islamic community the children aren't exactly gonna know names other than those that are used in the culture they've grown up in, what the heck do they expect?

I'm surprised they let any parent call their kid Muhammed if they feel that strongly about it...

But mohammed is the most common name in the world! It's like us calling it Dave or something.

exactly! so what's wrong with giving a teddy bear the name? was the kiddies' decision anyway

[yorkie_chris]

I think I might name my next dog muhammed and see if it provokes a civil war.