Madness
In Khartoum today, a crowd described by some as numbering in the hundreds and by others in the thousands, marched in support of a death sentence for Gillian Gibbons, the British schoolteacher who was convicted of insulting Islam after her class of seven-year-olds named a teddy bear “Muhammad”: The protesters, some carrying swords, screamed, Shame, shame on the U.K.! and, Kill her, kill her by firing squad. The demonstration followed Friday evening services in which imams denounced Ms. Gibbons, but some observers said that the marchers included “government employees ordered to demonstrate.” Others said that the protest didn’t seem especially threatening. The New York Times, in the article linked above, provides this helpful explanation: This woman gave an idol the name of Muhammad, which is not acceptable, said Ahmed Muhammad, the imam at a mosque in Khartoum 2, an upscale section of town. *** In Islam, insulting the Prophet Muhammad is a grave offense, and worshiping idols is prohibited. Actually, I haven’t seen any reports that the seven-year-olds were worshiping the teddy bear. And, while it may be slightly reassuring to be told that some of those demanding Gibbons’s murder were acting on government instructions, what is problematic is the bizarre social context in which such instructions can plausibly be given. Radical Islam–sometimes I think we would better call it nutty Islam–is a problem with which the world has yet to grapple seriously.
