Saudi clerics urge faithful to shun 'Islamic' superhero series
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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s top clerics have declared an Islam-inspired cartoon series, which earned praise from US President Barack Obama, a "work of the devil" that Muslims should not watch.
The television version of superhero comic book "The 99" is being aired by Saudi-owned satellite channel MBC3, based in Dubai in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates.
But in a religious decree carried by Saudi websites on Monday, the clerics ruled the series blasphemous because the superheroes of its title are based on the 99 attributes ascribed to Allah in the Holy Quran.
"The 99 is a work of the devil that should be condemned and forbidden in respect to Allah’s names and attributes," the clerics, led by the kingdom’s mufti, Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, said.
The original comic strip version, first released in 2006, had already ran into opposition from Muslim hardliners not only in Saudi Arabia but also in neighbouring Kuwait, where it was created and produced by media executive Nayef al-Matawa.
The comics — produced in English as well as Arabic — won praise, however, not only from Obama but also from Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, for their message of moderation and cultural dialogue.
They have been sold around the world and have also spawned a merchandise range and a theme park in Kuwait as well as the Arabic-language television series.
Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia applies a strict version of Islam.
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On DawnNews
Comments (62) Closed
Mar 25, 2014 10:47am
Pathetic!!
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Mar 25, 2014 11:22am
India's revered Lord Rama and Lord Krishna have been made comic strips,cartoons and Japanese anime.
Hanuman is very popular as a super hero in an American comic strip series and he comes out as videos for young children.
And,there has not been a whisper about it at all? From Hindu priests or organizations!
Ah,religious ( cultural!) differences,I guess?
Thank be to god...Indians-Hindus are on the right side..that of liberal tolerance!!:)
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Mar 25, 2014 03:14pm
am I the only one who can't stop laughing at this?
You can't make this stuff up! The clerics needs to get a life.
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Mar 25, 2014 03:39pm
In this day and age, we must provide our children role models and superhero to follow, be it in the form of comic strips. If these superheros teach our children good things, moral values and the attributes ascribed to Allah, what else does the grand mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh want?
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Mar 25, 2014 03:50pm
Actually, the clerics are correct. The 99 names of Allah are attributed to Allah, as such they can not be given to these super heroes. I don't normally agree with clerics but in this case they are right. Not sure if blasphemy is the right term but to do this is forbidden and rightfully so.
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Mar 25, 2014 03:50pm
@ROHIT PANDEY: We Muslim take our Religion very seriously. We do not make comics of our Religious Figures. This is it. Let others do whatever they want to do with their super heroes. The problem is that you do not know what Islam teaches to its followers, do some unbiased, rational research on Islam, you will yourself realize what is true Islam. Do not base your research on what Muslims do, rather what Islam teaches.
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Mar 25, 2014 04:01pm
Is Kuwait a Muslim State or an Islamic State?,
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Mar 25, 2014 04:03pm
This is perfect as ALLAH's attributes should not be ascribed to anyone but HIM...this principle is the foundation of Tauheed the basic principle of Islam.
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Mar 25, 2014 04:24pm
an 80 year old king running alongside his 70 year old heir, both donning toobs and chasing western women around the globe in their fast cars . This could be a good adaption for the clergy's super hero mindset.
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Mar 25, 2014 05:26pm
@Muhammad Ashraf: Yes Sir, we see that everyday but its the Muslims like you who chose to close the eyes.
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Mar 25, 2014 05:48pm
@Muhammad Ashraf:
Really! May be at the emotional level but hardly practice
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Mar 25, 2014 06:00pm
@Muhammad Ashraf:
But why such contradiction ... Can you explain please ?
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Mar 25, 2014 06:02pm
The clerics are correct. The 99 names of Allah are attributed to Allah, as such they can not be given to these super heroes. If you study the deen you would know. This is a very develish plot no wonder even obama is talking about it, he never cared for the millions of dead in war propogated by usa. Only people who do not have knowledge would make comments against this. And all muslims would agree on this not just hard line saudis. Islam is simple and straight forward we have the Quran and Sunnah and if some one does not want to follow it he should not lable himself liberal but rather the one who does not submit to Allah's will. Muslim is the one who submits his will to the will of the creator.
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Mar 25, 2014 06:06pm
So, what does the cleric have to say about the current monarchy in Saudi Arabia? Under Islam, kingdoms are not allowed, its rather the democratic caliphate rule.
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Mar 25, 2014 06:10pm
@ROHIT PANDEY:
I agree with you. They should not be.
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Mar 25, 2014 06:28pm
I have the found the web site for the 99 and its really nice.I personally think its really nice and the concept is really nice and it should be promoted.I dont understand what satanic thing the Saudi Mufti saw in the comic.
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Mar 25, 2014 06:40pm
@Muhammad Ashraf:
Taking your religious seriously is one thing but getting defensive is another. Islam doesn't teach getting defensive about your faith (a sign of weakness).
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Mar 25, 2014 07:10pm
I agree with the cleric.... Islam is in danger and needs to be saved
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Mar 25, 2014 07:48pm
@Muhammad Ashraf:
Well said.
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Mar 25, 2014 08:12pm
@Krishna:
Saudis never call themselves the caliphate of Islam . There rule is similar to any Nawab or monarch with much bigger estate. To make you clear they have no religious value in Muslim world other than have holy site , neither they claim. The Fatwa coming from a cleric like any fatwa coming Imam of Delhi Mosque.
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Mar 25, 2014 08:24pm
@Muhammad Ashraf:
If the end product is not good then there is definitely something wrong either with the raw material or the process. If changes are meant for improvement then there is nothing wrong in it. Need to open minded for accepting changes. I don't think the cartoon series is teaching anything about "jihad". BTW, instead of wasting time on issuing fatwas, the Grand Mufti should focus more on educating people through sermons in the troubled areas of Pakistan and other part of the world. Hate to see people killing each other.
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Mar 25, 2014 08:33pm
@Krishna:
You are right about the democratic concept of Khilafat.
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Mar 25, 2014 08:35pm
@Sajjad:
Does it mean we should punish Allah Baksh's parents for given him name with Allah's attribute. What about people who introduce themselves as Muhammad?
We as humans have part of Allah's attributes, we strive to be kind, forgiving, feeding the poor sybolically(only Allah feeds in true sense). If I accept your argument that all these acts should be banned as they are Allah's attributes.
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Mar 25, 2014 08:40pm
@Sajjad:
Yours has to be the most ridiculous comment of them all. Millions of good Muslims as well as serial killers, murderers and rapists have the same names that have been attributed to Allah. What do you want to do? Ban everyone from having the the 99 most common names in the Muslim world?
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Mar 25, 2014 08:41pm
@saeeds:
Please don't be defensive to an observation coming from a Hindu. Come to think of it, doesn't Saudi Arabia, the birth place of Islam and Khilafat and the center of the two holy places, should be the first country protecting and defending both true Islam and the Khilafat? I don't think the Saudi Kings are doing much in this regard, except protecting their family kingship dynasty. They will be gone when the oil money runs out.
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Mar 25, 2014 09:44pm
@Krishna:
Do you know what is "Democratic Caliphate" and how does it work? Can you explain?
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Mar 25, 2014 09:57pm
@Muhammad Ashraf:
Most of the nations in this world is secular. So get secular first..
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Mar 25, 2014 10:07pm
These clerics must be on a different planet. These people need to change their attitudes. If Allah (or 99 names) need defending I am sure Allah can defend it Himself.
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Mar 25, 2014 10:12pm
@Muhammad Ashraf:
if Rohit does does un-biased research on Islam, it will further strengthen his convictions. Somebody posted earlier that these 99 attributes cannot be used to name anyone. Surely nobody is called Raheem, Jabbar, Razzak, etc. Right?
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Mar 25, 2014 10:35pm
Don't Muslims ever wonder (The World laughs) about these "Cave Dwelling" Mullahs who have nothing better to say than to tell people how every thing is sin, unIslamic but never have any thing to say about humanity, forgiveness, mercy, compassion. And, God Forbid, if they ever came out with a solution for a real life problem facing Muslims. They even make things unIslamic that Islam had no idea or opinion about. And I wonder why do the news media gives these idiots the forum to spew the nonsense? If the media did not publish their rants these 7th Century relics would wither on the wine. The best way to stop these Mullahs is not to give them publicity by quoting what they say which is nonsense any way.
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Mar 25, 2014 11:51pm
@Faraz A:
I fully agree with you. Islam is really in danger when women want to drive, get education, go out without their parents or want to live a life as human beings. It flourishes when a 69 year old man marries a 17 year old girl or young girls are burnt to death in an accidental fire and not allowed to be rescued because they are not in their proper attire (whatever it means).
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Mar 25, 2014 11:56pm
I agree with the clerics. Not only 99 names of Allah, but any word that occurs even one time in Quran should not be used for any other purpose except for singing glory of Allah and his prophet Muhammad PBUH.
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Mar 25, 2014 11:56pm
@Sajjad:
so would you say then that us humans cannot have the same names either?? What about a man called Khaliq, Rehman, Malik, Aziz, Jabbar, Ghaffar, Wahab, Razzak, Basit, Sami, Latif, Ghafoor, Shakoor, Kabir, Hafiz, Qawi, Mateen, Qayyum, Wajid, Ahad, etc etc etc.... So have they all done something un-islamic by keeping a name associated with Allah??? How can an ordinary human being have a name attributed to Allah?? I honestly sometimes fail to understand that why even educated people do not use their brain.. Sorry brother you might not like my response but I would love it if I can get a counter argument from you.
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Mar 26, 2014 12:09am
To all those who are saying Allah's attributes cannot be associated with anyone else.. Then why do we humans have taken some of his names... I have a long list but i'll just share a few of them.. Ahad, Razzak, Basit, Rashid, Qadir, Wajid etc etc...
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Mar 26, 2014 01:13am
@hissam:
Imo, the names that you have mentioned are "shortened" from the original names like Abdul-Khaliq, Abdur-Rehman, Abdul-Malik, Abdul-Aziz, Abdul-Jabbar, Abdul-Razzak etc etc.(where Abdul means 'servant/slave of...'). Obviously most common name Abdul-llah cannot be shortened to Allah.
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Mar 26, 2014 01:19am
Only two things clerics around the world can do: issue fatwas and degrade women.
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Mar 26, 2014 01:24am
test
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Mar 26, 2014 01:26am
@khurram Qadir:
test
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Mar 26, 2014 01:26am
@hnmirza:
hello what is your name?
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Mar 26, 2014 01:53am
Does he have any physical evidence that this is the work of the devil?
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Mar 26, 2014 01:59am
Well that's a first, people feeling threatened by Cartoons.
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Mar 26, 2014 06:49am
If anything, I believe that such a cartoon series (or whatever it is) will PROMOTE Islam, rather than harm it in any way... when young impressionable minds can learn positive things in a manner that they best and easily understand... and these young ones are tomorrow's Muslims. By issuing such statements then, these clerics (and others supporting them) are effectively OBSTRUCTING the spread of Islam! Is that what they want? Good luck and my sympathies to the religion then...!!
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Mar 26, 2014 06:59am
I wonder why is RELIGION discussed and debated so much day in and day out on National News Papers in Pakistan. No where else in the world it is done so. Issues on religion should better be discussed in publications of religious institutions and not on prime national media (Both print and other).
Let people foucuss on many other important issues of development, education, politics, health, science and technology, sports and many more positive things over here.
The more coverage you give to such nonsense in the name of religion, the more nation goes backward by each passing day. Keep religion out of Public domain for few years and see how Pakistan as a country develops.
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Mar 26, 2014 07:49am
Yeh dont watch this, and yeah keep watching walt disney though!
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Mar 26, 2014 08:36am
@ROHIT PANDEY:
What you claim is true, as imagery is part of your religion. Islam is a different.
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Mar 26, 2014 09:30am
Ship'em all to a remote island - further south of Australia ..
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Mar 26, 2014 10:08am
After reading all this Stuff with the comments, I really think that Islam is in danger as Muslims are confused what really a Islam is ? every body have its own definition of Islam !
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Mar 26, 2014 10:12am
Shall we now stop naming our children Rehman, Rahim, Qudoos, Bari, Malik etc etc
If we take the logic of the clerics that comic heroes cannot be given the attributes of the 99 names of Allah then why is it ok for Humans to have them? Or do I get another fatwa that we have to put 'Abdul' in front of each of those otherwise we get gunah!
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Mar 26, 2014 11:17am
@Muhammad Ashraf:
Do you have any other excuses besides "You don't know about Islam."
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Mar 26, 2014 11:18am
@Faraz A:
First save it from the Saviours ;-)
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Mar 26, 2014 11:21am
World would be very boring without these Mullahs ;-)
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Mar 26, 2014 02:42pm
@ROHIT PANDEY:
You are absolutely right Rohit about Indian Hindus being on the right side. My dear friend, you don't know how lucky you are. Living in a country where people have understood the value of education. Not only that, the successive governments in India have tried their best to provide world class education at the most affordable prices. In Pakistan, unfortunately, the governments have been busy doing other things. No one can get a decent education in government schools. Also, your religious leaders have not become the powerhouses, Pakistanis have allowed their Mullahs to become and the result is quite clear. India is around 10 times bigger than Pakistan in population but the economy is more than 100 times bigger. To me, until Pakistan (and specially the young generation) realises the value of education, nothing will change in Pakistan for the better.
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Mar 26, 2014 03:57pm
@NHM:
Now how does this comment of yours justify itself? This is what we Pakistanis are good at: languid details of morally inappropriate hearsay. That is our only attack, and sorry to say, out only defense.
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Mar 26, 2014 04:37pm
@ROHIT PANDEY:
What is opinion regarding tolerance of women in India ? The Satti chapter in Hinduism? where wifes burned alive with dead husband ? is that not inhumanity? what tolerance you are talking about, where you don't have any concerned!
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Mar 26, 2014 04:52pm
@Khalid:
Totally agree with you Khalid. Education is the key to success. The whole education system needs to be revamped. Erase anything which implies hatred, enmity etc... Fifteen/Twenty years from now you will have a strong and a vibrant country...
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Mar 26, 2014 06:54pm
Mufti is more concerned about life after death. Cartoon is work of devil, work of western infidels, though he does not mind riding around in a luxurious SUV which is also a work of western infidels.
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Mar 26, 2014 07:13pm
you can do anything you want clerics as long as you keep digging oil, once you stop digging oil your wish of going back to stone age will really come true Inshallah
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Mar 27, 2014 06:10am
@Khalid: Thank you for your very kind remarks,Khalid!
When I see a Syrian child,dying howling at the camera with " I am going to tell god about what you are doing here" I can barely hold back my tears.
Same with the story of Malala Yusufazai...in it the common duty of humanity to provide proper nurture for little tykes...be it love,nourishment or education.
I have a lot of political views which an average Muslim might strongly dislike,but I try very hard to be balanced.
It is in OUR hands to mend ourselves...and,I do hope Pakistan finds it's feet..as you said once " We are one and same people"!!:)
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Mar 27, 2014 06:21am
@Krishna:
Very good point Krishna and you're correct that in Islam, the type of lavish lifestyle and self proclaimed " Kingdom " style governance is not permitted in Islam. There are many Muslims around the world who don't condone the superficial, flashy and extravagant lifestyle of the House of Saud. The true Islamic political system is democratic - not handed down from father to son as in a monarchy.
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Mar 27, 2014 12:41pm
These comics are an opportunity for the Islamic world to exert soft power. It is a shame that these opportunities to communicate with the west are lost on these clerics who prefer keeping their heads in the ground.
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Mar 27, 2014 05:53pm
Can Saudi clerics define the term faithful. Our problem is not to find better values but to be faithful to those we profess. In this bizarre world of Muslim ummah , the one who pulls the trigger says la illaha ill alalah the one who has been killed says the same thing. Wonder who is the believer and who is unbeliever
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Mar 28, 2014 04:38pm
......and I "urge" faithful to shun saudi/pakistani/any cleric.
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