The Eagle Times

This Thursday, a British woman teaching in a Sudanese school was arrested for allowing the children in her class to name a class teddy bear “Muhammad.”

The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, was found guilty of insulting the religion Islam and sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation back to Britain. The charges were made under Article 125 of the Sudanese criminal code, and according to Robert Boulos, Gibbons got off easy. “She could have had six months and lashes and a fine, and she only got 15 days and deportation,” Boulos told The Associated Press. Both the White House and the British Foreign Office are appalled by Gibbons’ sentence.

Gibbons, 54, taught a class with students of around seven years old. As a class project, she asked one child to bring in a teddy bear and then had the class choose a name for the bear. The names nominated were Abdullah, Hassan, and Muhammad, the last of which was chosen. Parents then complained to the Education Ministry, saying that she insulted Islam’s prophet by naming a teddy bear after him.

While this seems trivial to us Americans, since we are used to the policy of separation of church and state, Muslims believe that Muhammad’s name is sacred, and therefore should not be used on inanimate objects.

By Susie LeJeune