Teddy Bears and Prophets

I got a bit of a shock last night when the ITV news was on and I thought I heard that the teacher at the centre of the row over the teddy bear called Muhammad had got fifteen YEARS in jail. I had to wait until later to find out that it was actually 15 days.

I am with the Muslim Council of Britain when it says: "the authorities have grossly over-reacted" and "Gillian should never have been arrested, let alone charged and convicted of committing a crime." A quick look around the online Islamic community of message boards and e-groups finds no support at all for the conviction of this teacher and actually a lot of anger and exasperation against the Sudanese authorities.

These days I approach the papers with a lot of trepidation. If I'm feeling a bit fragile I will avoid them altogether. Try reading the 'comments from readers' attached to an article about Muslims and you will never venture outside your door again (if you belong to this barely-tolerated faith). In this case the accusations of dangerous fanaticism seem to be richly deserved, and I can only offer up a prayer that we won't all be tarred with the same brush.

Still, having said all that.....listening to Jane Moore this morning talking about the selfless British teacher who, out of the kindness of her heart because surely she couldn't be getting paid much, chose to go to the third world to help them out by educating their children, and look how they repay her!

Well that just stinks of cultural arrogance to me. Which got me thinking about the whole episode a little bit differently. A teddy bear is a western cultural icon, not a global one. Having a soft stuffed animal and making it a focus of emotional attachment or attributing human emotions to it is pretty much taken for granted here in 'the West'. In other parts of the globe it might be regarded as eccentric at best or even contemptible or sinister. The whole exercise of sending a child home from school with a stuffed animal and a note saying "my name is (whatever), please look after me and take me places with you" sounds peculiarly British and twee, and the idea that you can just take that exercise anywhere in the world and not meet with any objection or opposition is a bit arrogant.

Of course there is a political element to the story as well - the Sudanese are under pressure internationally over Darfur and are full of resentment against 'the West'. So it's not just straightforward religious fanaticism.

In any case, I do feel very sorry for the teacher and don't think she has done anything deserving of punishment whatsoever. I don't find anything in Islamic law that says otherwise.