Mickey Mouse can dismiss his bodyguards, Egypt cleric says Mickey Mouse is not agent of Satan
AFP
An Egyptian Muslim scholar has called for an end to risible religious edicts after a Saudi cleric said Mickey Mouse was an agent of Satan who should die, local media reported on Wednesday.
Sheikh Mohamed al-Munajid, a cleric who often appears on Saudi television and who is also a former Saudi diplomat in the United States, said last week that mice were "agents of Satan" and should be killed.
"Sharia (Islamic law) calls for the extermination of all mice. That includes the rodents as well as 'the famous cartoon mouse'," he said.
He blamed Mickey Mouse for causing people to become soft on mice.
However, Suad Saleh, a woman preacher who hosts a popular television programme on fatwas, or religious edicts, told the English-language daily Egyptian Gazette that Munajid's ruling "tarnishes Islam's image."
"An edict should be based on knowledge, logic and reason," she said. "Yes, mice should be killed when seen according to Islam's teachings. But it is illogical to deal with a cartoon character as a live mouse and kill it."
In 2005, the former dean of Egypt's Al-Azhar University, the world's oldest Islamic seat of learning, said in a widely criticised ruling that nudity during sex annuls a couple's marriage.
Saleh said Muslim clerics should learn to become more media savvy.
Earlier this month, another Saudi cleric said owners of satellite television channels that broadcast "immoral" content deserved to die.