Sudan teddy insult teacher: Readers' views

British officials are trying to secure the release of Gillian Gibbons
A British schoolteacher in Sudan may face blasphemy charges for insulting Islam's Prophet after letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad.
If she is convicted, the punishment could be six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.

BBC News website readers, as well as readers of BBCArabic.com, have been sending their reaction to this story.

My 12-year-old son goes to the same school where Ms Gibbons is a teacher. The culture here, as elsewhere in the Islamic world, is very sensitive. That's why the story took such a direction. Maybe she didn't mean this to happen and it was an innocent mistake. But they don't accept that as an excuse. Lashes is a severe punishment and it is too harsh for what she did. But she has to be punished somehow. She should have learnt more about this society and taken more care about her actions. Me and other parents are not happy about the school closure. The children are going to miss so many classes and they were supposed to have exams next week. Now they have to stay at home and wait.
Fatima, Khartoum Sudan

I've been a student at the Unity High School for the last seven years. I am really worried about Miss Gillian. I don't know her because she teaches the younger schoolchildren, but I always see her playing with the kids and making them feel happy. She seems to be a wonderful teacher. I am a Muslim but I am not offended by what she did. She had no idea that it is forbidden. She should be freed.
Razan, Khartoum, Sudan

I believe this was a misunderstanding and the authorities are sensitive in light of the recent cartoon fiasco in Europe. I think it will be resolved and Miss Gibbons will eventually be cleared and allowed to go home. But it highlights how sensitive and defensive people have become. I pray it is all resolved soon and Ms Gibbions is allowed home.
Sultanah, Khartoum, Sudan

To feel offended by what the teacher did is impossible. She should not be punished for something like that. I believe that the teacher is in her right mind and is aware that she is in an Islamic country. I am sure she knows what can create religious tension and she wouldn't have done such a thing on purpose. The poor lady is being accused of a sin she did not commit. I hope and pray that the UK government will take this seriously and intervene with vigour before things get out of hand. Why aren't Muslim brothers taking more kindly to such things? Sanity my people!
Salma Aki, Khartoum Sudan

I was at the Unity High School when the event took place. I am a student there. I think it was a misunderstanding. I feel sorry for the teacher, sadly she lacked common sense. I am supporting Miss Gillian and I hope she can be free soon.
Mohamed Ahmed Osman, Khartoum, Sudan

I'm a Muslim and I find it ridiculous that such a harmless incident could incite such hatred. Where is the common sense? There are people called Muhammad who behave worse than animals and yet we have to imprison a teacher for choosing this name for a teddy bear. Simply outrageous.
Faruq, Singapore

From BBCArabic.com: Why did she choose this name in particular? There are many other names for these toy bears and children's TV shows are full of them. It is actually an insult to Prophet Mohammed.
Amira al-Marani, Yemen

I was born in Sudan. I moved to the UK two years ago. The teacher went to Sudan and she should have learnt the laws of that country. Here in England people think that what she did was an innocent mistake, but I don't think that. She was very wrong to make fun of the Prophet Muhammad. Boys are called Muhammad and that's alright because mothers are proud to name their sons after the Prophet. But to name a teddy bear after him is wrong. The teacher should be punished because she has insulted Islam and Muslim people.
Meizu, UK

It looks unintentional. Therefore the teacher shouldn't be punished. However, as a teacher she should be more careful and be thoroughly aware about other faiths in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious global environment. What would the teacher's reaction be if one of the students suggested the name Jesus?
Ismail, UAE

From BBCArabic.com: Muhammad is a very common name for Muslims. If we are to punish this teacher for calling a teddy bear Mohammad, then we should punish criminals for being called Mohammad. The truth is that these failed regimes want to keep people busy with these trivial matters. Sudan has enough problems already. How would Sudan feel if European countries deported Sudanese citizens as a response to this action?
Samer Hassan

Speaking as a father I do not feel this was a well thought out plan by the teacher. However, I feel that she has done nothing wrong. The children themselves should be punished for having chosen the name of our great Prophet for a lowly bear. The teacher was misguided, whereas the children were malicious. They must be brought to answer for their blasphemy.
Abdullah Al-Zawawi, Sudan

This is absolutely insane. I could understand if it was meant as a malicious attack, but it is obvious that this is far from that. It was a simple mistake made by a foreigner in that country. There are many social and cultural mistake that foreigners make in the UK. I hope that they realise soon and release this woman.
Alex, Northern Ireland

From BBCArabic.com: It was an unintentional mistake on her part to call the toy Mohammad.
Riad, Syria

The children voted as well. They should lock them up too, as a lesson to anybody who insults Prophet Muhammad.
K K Djibouto, Sudan

As a committed Muslim who would always hope to uphold the dignity of Prophet Muhammad, I am outraged by the ignorance of the Sudanese authorities. The name Muhammad is given to others and is not exclusive to the Prophet, therefore why should they think the teacher intended the toy to be an effigy? While it is not befitting to give an animal this beautiful name, any half-witted person can see that this was done with good intention. The idea of hardline rules and punishments for such trivial issues is in no way a reflection of the true Islamic teaching and I expected better from Sudan. I believe it makes a mockery of the traditionally upright and just Islamic law system. I hope the school teacher will be freed at once and apologised to.
Siddiq Bland, Leicester, UK

I say force her to watch re-runs of She's the Sheriff or Apples Way.......

Once again, trigger-happy zealots scream about issues that have no merit!

First of all Mohammed was a prophet, not a divine being. There is nothing blasphemous about naming a bear "Mohammed". Otherwise, parents would be chastised for naming their kids "Mohammed." Perhaps Muhammed Ali should be jailed for taking on that name as well.

Maybe this should manifest across all religions, and we can jail everyone who names their kid Moses, or God forbid, his only son "Jesus"...lock up a good fraction of the Hispanic community for that one!

How this escalated like it has is beyond me!

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A teddy called Muhammad
As a colleague of Gillian Gibbons, I know that none of the parents raised any objection to the name of our school's toy bear

MB Jefferies

November 27, 2007 1:25 PM | Printable version
My dear friend and colleague, Gillian Gibbons, is the head of Key Stage One and teacher of Class 2X at Unity High School, Khartoum. Gillian joined the school in August, after a long and highly respected career as a teacher and local education authority Inspector in Liverpool, UK.

In late August, or early September of this year, Gillian came into possession of a teddy bear (a gift from a parent). An Early Years activity (designed to encourage, in particular, achievement in literacy skills) plays out around a class teddy. He does the rounds of the children, going home with them, just in case the child concerned writes a diary entry for the teddy about his visit to the child's home. This was Gillian's intention and it is in line with our whole school plan to raise literacy skills - a target especially pertinent as the overwhelming majority of our pupils are of English as Another Language (EAL) status.

In line with this, the first task was to give the teddy a name. Gillian wanted to call the bear "Faris" (in honour of my new son); now we all wish she had gone with this first idea - but, excellent teacher that she is, she chose instead to ask the children what they wanted to call the teddy.

The children voted and chose the name Muhammad. All but one of the children in her class are Muslims.

Gillian then wrote a letter to the parents of Class 2X explaining that the children had chosen the name Muhammad for their class teddy bear. Not one parent raised any objection. Since late September, the teddy has been visiting many of the children of Class 2X's homes. Three of the parents are teachers in the school.

We became aware of this issue a few weeks ago. We suggested to Gillian that it was inappropriate that the teddy bear was called Muhammad, as this might offend cultural sensibilities. The school issued a letter to parents to say that the teddy bear was tired of visiting so many homes and his friend (another stuffed toy called something entirely inoffensive) would be visiting instead. The Islamiyat department in our school was consulted and they suggested that this should resolve any potential problems.

However, on Sunday, the school was visited by officers of the Ministry of Education. Our school director, Robert Boulos, was interviewed at length by these officials. The government officers declared themselves unsatisfied with his responses.

The government men then asked to see and interview Gillian. Gillian gave exactly the same report of her actions. Again, the men from the ministry found this unacceptable and demanded that Gillian present herself at the police barracks.

On arrival at the police barracks, accompanied by the school principal, Gillian was interrogated for five hours. Gillian was then remanded to the cells.

Early yesterday morning I was informed that Gillian had been charged under the Sudanese penal code with blasphemously defaming the Prophet - an offence that is incredible serious here.

Having consulted with a number of religious Muslim people hereabouts, all are of the opinion that Gillian's offence (if it may be described as such) was to inadvertently offend religious sensibilities by allowing the children to name the teddy bear with the same name as the Prophet. As this was not done maliciously, or with deliberate intent, they are puzzled about why Gillian has been detained.

All our parents, both Muslim and Coptic Christian, have stepped forward to offer their support; and the parents of Gillian's class have gone on record to assert that they never had any objection to the name of the teddy bear. I reiterate, the vast majority of these parents are themselves Muslims.

The school is now closed for at least the next week. This was the suggestion of the Ministry of Education. We have been provisioned with extra security around the school; school names have been removed from our transports. The risk of attack against school property and staff has become a concern.

Now, perhaps Gillian was foolish not to have taken advice when the teddy bear was named. However, her intention was clearly not to insult the religious sensibilities of anyone - and she certainly did not upset anyone in the school, or any of the parents.

We are all deeply concerned for Gillian, who is not half as tough as she likes to make out. She is alone, effectively being held in solitary confinement. She does not speak Arabic and the police staff where she was held until Tuesday morning did not speak much English. The police station had been surrounded by a mob baying for Gillian's blood.

She now faces the strong possibility of being charged for an offence that no one, Sudanese or otherwise who knows her, believes is reasonable. At the very least, Gillian will be expelled from the country, losing her job and income.

My wife was, before the birth of our son, Gillian's learning assistant. My wife is Sudanese and had worked in the school before Gillian's arrival.

She and Gillian became good friends. My wife's esteem for Gillian as both a person and a teacher was due, at least in part, to the respect in which Gillian held her. My wife presently oscillates between anger and a distraught sense of not being able to help Gillian when she most needs our help.

Gillian was a kind, considerate and wonderful friend to my wife and I during the latter stages of my wife's pregnancy; something we shall not forget.

Gillian's goodness, excellence as a teacher and respect for all those who worked in the school shone out. The very last thing that Gillian would do is to deliberately offend others. Gillian's respect and interest in Sudan, Arabic culture and the Muslim way of life and belief was manifest at all times.

It was a joy to have Gillian amongst us. We want her back. Now.

At least we see reasonable Muslims putting in their two cents in this story. Maybe people will realize they exist.

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1984 300TD

Sure they exist and they probably represent the overwhelming majority of educated Muslims. The problem is not with them just as the problem with wacky Christians isn't the modest, educated Christians. It's the poorly educated, culturally isolated Muslims who have no clue about the greater world outside of their village. They are easily manipulated by zealots such as Bin Laden or cynical Muslim politicians who manipulate them into focusing their attention on others (such as Jews or Christians) and blame them for the miserable conditions in which they live.

B

Agree.
This I disagree with. IMO It's not ignorance and isolationism that creates the Christian and Muslim zealots. There are plenty of zealots on both sides that are well traveled and educated. Lack of Reason and perspective are more of a cause for zealotry I think.

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1984 300TD

Insted of worrying about pointless issues that just make them look bad, how about important things...like say oh starting new business to give people jobs...you know stuff like that.

I think HP got more patent's in the last decade than all the Muslim countries put together.

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I say change the teddy's name to Buddha then blow it up. That should take care of any pent up aggressions.

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Yep or Jesus or Shiva

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I didn't say that. Read it again.

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I still read it the same. What did you mean?

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