We watch with interest as hundreds of people in Khartoum call for the execution or severe punishment of a 54-year old British elementary school teacher.
She has been convicted of the crime of insulting Islam and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation. But evidently that is seen by some in the Sudan as too light a punishment for her having allowed her 7 year old students to name a teddy bear Mohammed.
In the west, observers are completely baffled by the severity of the punishment for what seems to be an innocuous incident. West and East seem to be poles apart in the case.
Here is the key to understanding the case.
In Islam, there are certain animals that are considered unclean for a number of reasons. Most Westerners know about dogs being considered as unclean but most are not aware that bears are also unclean. It is a great insult to call a man a “Dhib” or bear. So even the lowly teddy bear is charged with religious meaning on a level most of us don’t understand. By naming the toy after the Prophet Mohammed the students were allowed to associate his revered name with an unclean animal. That’s what all the fuss is about. I doubt that Gillian Gibbons knew that fact when she allowed the students to pick a name or even when she picked the toy bear as a classroom tool.
Cultural understanding is important in avoiding situations like this that can then escalate to levels of unpleasantness that are unwarranted.
Unfortunately the nice British lady will probably spend two uncomfortable weeks in jail, young Sudanese students will lose a good teacher, and East and West will feel more alienated. All over a toy bear.
