Mohammed the mole digs author into a risky hole

A BRITISH children’s author who named a mole Mohammed to promote multiculturalism has renamed it Morgan for fear of offending Muslims.
Kes Gray, a former advertising executive, first decided on his gesture of cross-cultural solidarity after meeting Muslims in Egypt.
The character, Mohammed the Mole, appeared in Who’s Poorly Too, an illustrated children’s book, which also included Dipak Dalmatian and Pedro Penguin, in an effort to be “inclusive”.
This weekend Gray said he had decided to postpone a reprint and rename the character Morgan the Mole even though there had been no complaints.
“I had no idea at all of the sensitivities of the name Mohammed until seeing this case in Sudan,” said Gray. “As soon as I saw the news I thought, oh gosh, I’ve got a mole called Mohammed – this is not good.
“I feel incredibly sorry for that teacher,” added Gray. “Luckily for me, I’m in a position where I can avoid this.” The book has sold 40,000 copies in Britain and abroad since 1999.
Gray said he tried “hard to embrace other cultures and I had no idea it would backfire like this. I was in Egypt this year and everyone was called Mohammed. I just thought it was a popular name”.
His self-censorship contrasts with the robust stance taken by many British Muslims to the naming of an animal character after a prophet.
It emerged this weekend that 10,000 British Muslim families have bought teddy bears named after a Muslim prophet to raise money for Muslim refugees in Sudan.
The bears have been sold by the Islamic Society of Britain since 2004 with proceeds going to the charity Islamic Relief. The money raised has helped Muslims displaced by floods and the state-sponsored massacres in Sudan. The society said the bears – which have sold out – were “much loved by parents and children alike”. Half of each bear’s £15 price tag goes to charity.
The toys were marketed as Adam the Muslim Prayer Bear by the society’s council, which is advised by top Islamic scholars and academics.
The bears were named after Adam, who as well as being the first human in the Christian account of the creation, is also revered as a prophet in Islam.
The bears recite the Islamic greeting “assalamu alaikum” (peace be with you) when their paws are pushed, and add lines such as “In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most kind”.
Naved Siddiqi, a spokesman for the Islamic Society of Britain, said: “Adam and Mohammed are only names. The irony is that if the Prophet had seen what Gillian’s class did, he would have probably laughed. The Sudanese government have clearly used the issue as a political football.”
Siddiqi added: “Gibbons clearly did not intend to insult Islam and anyway there is actually no law in core Islamic teachings which advocates punishing those who mock prophets or even God.”