The vulgarism 'S*** happens' has unfortunately entered the English language. It used to be seen as grossly improper to use such language in public, especially in the presence of ladies and children. Equally, one would never hear obscenities used about sacred matters.
It is a sign of the decline in public decency that a company could now consider distributing a T-shirt not only mentioning the word 's**', but also using it for religion. The firm Rosey Nieper recently published a catalogue advertising a T-shirt listing religions adjacent to the word 's**'. The idea was to describe either a purported historical feature e.g. Judaism: 'Why does s** keep happening to us?', or ostensible theological tenet as with Islam: 'S** is the will of Allah', or a supposed attitude as with Protestantism: 'Let s*** fall on everyone else' - reflecting alleged self-righteous hypocrisy as characteristic of Protestants.
Wry humour?
The catalogue was brought to the attention of the British Muslim magazine Q-News, and their journalist Miss Shagufta Yaqub contacted Rosey Nieper expressing deep offence at the T-shirt. Muslims object to the misuse of words with religious connotations such as Allah, Muhammad, Mecca, Qur'an and Islam. A few years ago, the supermodel Claudia Schiffer fell foul of Muslim sensitivities after modelling a low-cut dress with Arabic inscription. Mecca bingo halls are facing pressure to change their name, and a worldwide boycott of Nike resulted from the firm marketing a training shoe with a pattern resembling the Arabic for Allah. Of course with Salman Rushdie, some Muslims were so offended that death threats ensued.
Miss Yaqub contacted me, and I rang Rosey Nieper about the depiction of Protestants and other religions as well. Ms. Nieper stated that the idea was one of 'wry humour' and claimed that some Protestants were hypocritical. I replied that indeed some were, as were some members of other faiths and some atheists, but the qualifying adjective 'some' had not been placed next to the sentence, thereby presenting a monolithic stereotype of Protestants as hypocrites. And certain things such as paedophilia, racist stereotypes and religious matters of this kind were surely improper subjects for humour. Moreover, the use of 's***' on a T-shirt, observable by children, was wholly inappropriate.
The firm did not evidently appreciate either the offence it would cause or the possible reaction, especially by some Muslims who would regard this as an attack upon their community. When reminded of some of the actions Muslims had previously taken, the firm took the issue more seriously. Some advised the excision of only the Islamic reference, but happily Ms. Nieper decided to withdraw the T-shirt entirely and remove it from her catalogue. She emphasised to both Miss Yaqub and me that it was never her intention to cause offence nor did she realise that it would have this effect.
Some lessons
The incident is interesting from other perspectives. Miss Shagufta Yaqub is typical of a new generation of native-born young Muslim women, highly educated, articulate and intelligent, and an ocean away from the stereotype of the subjugated, opinionless Muslim female. Such young women are passionate for their faith, proudly wearing the hejab, but impatient with both the sub-continent/Middle East cultural accretions of their parents and their passivity in the face of marginalisation. These young women are determined that their community should cease to be a political and cultural wallflower in this country, and this case is an example of Muslim activism and of the trend for young women to be in the forefront of such activity.
Another point concerns Christian-Muslim co-operation. Traditionally, the two faiths have been rivals, partly because both are missionary religions. Further, the discrimination Christian minorities sometimes face in Islamic countries has been a barrier to good relations in Britain, as has been the negative attitude of some British evangelicals to Muslims, especially to the construction of mosques here. However, Muslims are discovering an affinity with evangelical Christians in social ethics, and especially in opposition to sexual perversion and immorality. Since Muslims are 'fundamentalists' in the sense evangelicals are, there is no suggestion of syncretism, but they are calling for collaboration in the social sphere.
Miss Yaqub contacted me and also the Evangelical Alliance (who complained to the firm) because she thought a joint Muslim-Christian approach would be more effective than unilateral action by one faith. She also made clear to the firm that she, like other Muslims, would still object if the reference to Christians was left while merely excising the Islamic reference. Indeed, it was probably the joint protest which made the complaint effective. Q-News is a vigorous, courageous paper, which has carried an article by a Christian identifying the mistreatment of Christians in Muslim states as a barrier to good relations. As relations improve here, one can only hope they will influence conditions elsewhere.
Anthony McRoy
Anthony is an Irish citizen, a convert from Catholicism, married with three children; he has worked as a lecturer at Emmanuel Bible College, a religious journalist and researcher, and is now researching for a PhD about the British Muslim community.
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