This video is about the recent controversy in Sudan in which a British...(More)

This video is about the recent controversy in Sudan in which a British teacher, Gillian Gibbons, was jailed for 15 days due to a teddy bear incident in which she allowed her students to name the teddy bear Muhammad... "British teacher Gillian Gibbons has been jailed for 15 days after insulting Islam's Prophet by allowing her pupils in Sudan to name a teddy bear Muhammad. The toy was named in September after children were asked to vote on a name for a teddy bear as part of the class's study of animals and their habitats. One boy said: 'The teacher asked me what I wanted to call the teddy. I said Muhammad. I named it after my name.' The boy's family said he was not thinking of the prophet when he chose the name." - BBC Although this incident seemed to be a simple misunderstanding to begin with but then culminated into unnecessary chaos that was blown way out of proportion, it should be noted that as Muslims, we respect all of the prophets--Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and all the rest of them, peace be upon them. Just think about how you would feel if someone tried to insult the person closest to you (your spouse, mother, father, grandparents, sibling, children, grandchildren, etc.). To Muslims, prophets are closer to us than all of those people. Nonetheless, as this seemed to be a simple misunderstanding to begin with, they should have just simple changed the name of the teddy bear--there's no need to punish for such a simple and seemingly unintentional misunderstanding! http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/scislam.html Background recitation by Hani ar-Rifai http://audio.islamicnetwork.com/quran.php?reciterId=27 The following is a video transcript: Sudan... A British teacher asks her Sudanese students to come up with possible names for a teddy bear... After choosing some names and voting, the students ended up with the name Muhammad. The teacher is then "jailed for 15 days after insulting Islam's Prophet by allowing her pupils in Sudan to name a teddy bear Muhammad." The teacher was also "suspended from her teaching post, and the school has closed until January." I'm a Muslim. What do I think from an Islamic perspective? I think this is just silly. The teacher didn't even choose the name. Additionally, the bear wasn't named as such to offend. "One boy said: 'The teacher asked me what I wanted to call the teddy. I said Muhammad. I named it after my name.'" "The boy's family said he was not thinking of the prophet when he chose the name." So do you see the silliness we are dealing with? Why didn't they simply just change the teddy bear's name? This silly ordeal reminded me of another silly incident that previously happened in Sudan in which a Sudanese man had "been forced to take a goat as his 'wife', after he was caught having sex with the animal." So it seems this is just another one of Sudan's silly and ignorant non-Islamic verdicts. However, one must keep in mind the massive underreporting and extreme bias on behalf of the media. Although both this teddy bear and the goat incident occurred in Sudan, Things like this are a rarity in Sudan. Not only that, but the ones passing these verdicts are even more rare. Most Sudanese do not agree with these two rulings. But in the end, it was up to the ones passing the verdict. And in these two cases, silly ignorance prevailed. Although ignorant, the media jumps on it and passes it off as something from Islam. But in reality, Islam is entirely free from such ignorance. It makes one remember the hadith of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh): "Narrated Anas: Allah's Apostle said, 'From among the portents of the Hour are (the following): 1. Religious knowledge will be taken away (by the death of Religious learned men). 2. (Religious) ignorance will prevail. 3. Drinking of alcoholic drinks (will be very common). 4. There will be prevalence of open illegal sexual intercourse.'" Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 3, Number 80 This teddy bear issue in Sudan is a prime example of this ignorance that was prophesied over 1400 years ago by the final messenger (pbuh). May God rid the world of this ignorance. And what better way to do this than to follow the advice of God, Himself? "Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists), Has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood). Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught (the writing) by the pen. Has taught man that which he knew not." Qur'an, 96:1-5 (The first verses revealed of the Qur'an) Read! Pupil defends Sudan row teacher http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7116401.stm Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4748292.stm Background nasheed is "Articles of Faith" by Talib Al Habib http://www.nuralhabib.com/download/rahma%20tracks/6.mp3(Less)