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‘Aqoul has two more must-reads up: one on an insider’s perspective on the Sudanese teddy bear fiasco and the other on the politicization of the hijab.

I love Marjane Satrapi’s quote towards the end.

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Today is my beloved’s sixth birthday. May God grant you health, contentment and closeness to Him always my sweet girl - ameen!

Lots of thought-provoking posts out there this week:

Writeous Sister’s Anti-Feminist Manifesto.

As General Musharraf finally becomes Mr. Musharraf today, watch a short, shocking (but uneven) documentary on the use of the label “terrorist” to spirit away 400+ Pakistanis without due process since the war on terror began.

‘Aqoul examines the fracture lines and cognitive dissonance in Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s thinking.

One thing I think she does very well, which ‘Aqoul also points out, is telling her story in a manner that speaks to the deepest values of the West: freedom of speech and action; even as her suggestions of how to contain Islam/Muslims sometimes directly undermine both.

Jahane Rumi has a short but thought-provoking entry on author Taslima Nasrin and her recent support from the BJP (Motto: ‘Criticizing any religion but Hinduism is fine by us’).

“…atheist philosophers lived and flourished in Muslim world and were called in courts to debate with Muslim Imams. In [the] 9th century Ibn al Rawandi could live in [an] Islamic caliphate, publish and defend his works and live freely, but in 2007 Taslima Nasrin can’t do so, not in Bangladesh, not in secular India. This [in a] post philosophy, post enlightenment world”

Lastly, Sunni Sister and Indigo Jo comment extensively on the ridiculous charges against a British schoolteacher who has been arrested in Sudan and accused of insulting the Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad (1, 2, 3, 4).

Sunni Sister also comments on the MSM’s reporting on Islam and Muslims, mentioning a recent study commissioned by Ken Livingstone which finds that 91% of stories about Islam / Muslims in British newspapers are negative and only 4% are positive.

I found this part of the Beeb report interesting:

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, adding that she then had the children vote on a name.

Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad as their favourite name.

Okay wait, isn’t VOTING haram? Clearly, she should instantly be put to death for daring to introduce this Zionist concept into the Islamic purity of Sudan.

And, take those 20 children out while you’re at it too.

It’s mind-bogglingly stupid when these things happen with parts of the government and scholars approving. And it’s ridiculous when they are used to make sweeping generalizations about Islam and 1.2 billion Muslims.

Basil’s frank thoughts:

Wait wait wait…

“The bear itself was not marked or labelled with the name in any way, he added.

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

Well then, using the same rationale, we should jail/lash any parent that names their child Muhammad. After all, couldn’t that be construed as making an image? And what happens when people with that name act like a**holes and tarnish the image of the Prophet? Should we hold them liable for the same “insult”?

What’s worse, “Muhammad the Teddy Bear” or Khalid Sheikh Muhammad?