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From The Times of India
Hyderabad: Weeks after the Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammed receded from newspaper headlines , the Muslim quarter of Hyderabad had been set aflutter with the discovery of Class IV Textbook that bears a sketch of the founder of Islam .
The sketch , illustrating a parable of the Prophet's kindness and tolerance even for his opponents , appears in a book titled "Moral Values" , which is uded by primary schools in the Old City to teach moral science , a compulsory subject for Class IV students under the state syllabus . The lesson on the Prophet was written by Kalpana Singh . The book , introduced this year , is published by Arkbird Publications .
Acknowledging that the tone of the chapter was not injurious to islam , the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen ( MIM ) said the episode nevertheless breached an important percept of Islam , that the Prophet should never be depicted pictorially . The party demanded that the government immdeiately withdraw the book from all schools and that the writer of the lesson and publisher of the book be arrested .
The lesson narrates how the Prophet used to pass by an old woman's house every day . The woman would insult him and throw rubbish on him to annoy him . But Mohammed never lost his composure . One day , the woman did not appear when he passed by her house . Intrigued , Mohammed asked her neighbours and discovered that the woman had fallen sick . He called on her and inquired after her health . The old woman was shamed into realising her folly .
The lesson keeps the name of the Propher away from readers , referring to him as a Pious Man . At the close of the story , the author asks children , "Do you know tho the Pious Man was ? It was none other than the great Prophet Mohammed , the founder of Islam" . The illustration accompanying this story shows the Prohpet standing beside the woman lying on her bed .
MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi said this episode was a conspiracy to hurt Muslims . "An international agency has been working to provoke and disturb Muslims . After the caricature of the Prophet in Danish newspapers rocked the entire world , how come the writer and publisher of this book did not realise the implications ? We want the publisher and the author arrested immediately and an apology tendered to Muslims" , Owaisi declared .
After the issue became public , Arkbird Publications withdrew the books not just in Hyderabad , but also from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to which they had been dispatched .
Now you start protesting positive depictions ? Would you rather they include the story where Mohammed cut of the hands of apostates , and left them to die in the desert , thirsty ? And when you start blaming this on some kooky international conspiracy , forgive me if I call you bat**** crazy !
And even assuming for a moment that it is illegal under Muslim law to make a picture of the Prophet - India is not a Muslim state , and therefore separation of church and state and the secular nature of the country demand that textbooks use the means available to them to teach most effectively , without having to worry about whether or not they contravene some retarded religious edict .
Hyderabad: Weeks after the Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammed receded from newspaper headlines , the Muslim quarter of Hyderabad had been set aflutter with the discovery of Class IV Textbook that bears a sketch of the founder of Islam .
The sketch , illustrating a parable of the Prophet's kindness and tolerance even for his opponents , appears in a book titled "Moral Values" , which is uded by primary schools in the Old City to teach moral science , a compulsory subject for Class IV students under the state syllabus . The lesson on the Prophet was written by Kalpana Singh . The book , introduced this year , is published by Arkbird Publications .
Acknowledging that the tone of the chapter was not injurious to islam , the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen ( MIM ) said the episode nevertheless breached an important percept of Islam , that the Prophet should never be depicted pictorially . The party demanded that the government immdeiately withdraw the book from all schools and that the writer of the lesson and publisher of the book be arrested .
The lesson narrates how the Prophet used to pass by an old woman's house every day . The woman would insult him and throw rubbish on him to annoy him . But Mohammed never lost his composure . One day , the woman did not appear when he passed by her house . Intrigued , Mohammed asked her neighbours and discovered that the woman had fallen sick . He called on her and inquired after her health . The old woman was shamed into realising her folly .
The lesson keeps the name of the Propher away from readers , referring to him as a Pious Man . At the close of the story , the author asks children , "Do you know tho the Pious Man was ? It was none other than the great Prophet Mohammed , the founder of Islam" . The illustration accompanying this story shows the Prohpet standing beside the woman lying on her bed .
MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi said this episode was a conspiracy to hurt Muslims . "An international agency has been working to provoke and disturb Muslims . After the caricature of the Prophet in Danish newspapers rocked the entire world , how come the writer and publisher of this book did not realise the implications ? We want the publisher and the author arrested immediately and an apology tendered to Muslims" , Owaisi declared .
After the issue became public , Arkbird Publications withdrew the books not just in Hyderabad , but also from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to which they had been dispatched .
Now you start protesting positive depictions ? Would you rather they include the story where Mohammed cut of the hands of apostates , and left them to die in the desert , thirsty
? And when you start blaming this on some kooky international conspiracy , forgive me if I call you bat**** crazy !And even assuming for a moment that it is illegal under Muslim law to make a picture of the Prophet - India is not a Muslim state , and therefore separation of church and state and the secular nature of the country demand that textbooks use the means available to them to teach most effectively , without having to worry about whether or not they contravene some retarded religious edict .
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