Coming Soon Muslim Superheroes

Here's some interesting stuff for you:

World's first Muslim superheroes, the 99, are headed for British television screens
The world's first Muslim cartoon superheroes have taken the Arab world by storm, and now they are headed for British television screens.

Published: 11:00AM BST 20 Aug 2009


Jabbar, is one of The 99, the world's first Muslim cartoon superheroes
Named the 99, as each possesses one of Allah's 99 attributes, the characters include a burka-clad woman named Batina the Hidden and a Saudi Arabian Hulk-type man named Jabbar the Powerful.

They have proved a hit from Morocco to Indonesia and were recently named as one of the top 20 trends sweeping the world by Forbes magazine.

Now they are being brought to British television by Endemol, the production company behind Big Brother, with a mission to instill Islamic values in children across all faiths.

Until now, the superhero market has been dominated by the likes of Batman, Spiderman and Superman who have typically limited their crime-fighting abilities to America and the Western world.

They were created by Dr Naif al-Mutawa, a clinical psychologist from Kuwait, who felt Muslim children needed a new set of heroes to look up to, to counter jihadist role models.

“It hit me that the stories I was hearing were from men who grew up believing that their leader, Saddam, was a hero, a role model — only to one day be tortured by him,” he told The Times. “I decided the Arab world needed better role models.”

However, despite being called the 99, there will never be a full cast of 99 superheroes since it is forbidden to depict all Allah's attributes

Dr al-Mutawa hopes the cartoons will have a universal appeal.

He said: “It is based on attributes such as generosity and mercy. These are not things that Islam has a monopoly over.”

Mom Let 3-Year-Old Son Smoke

Mom Let 3-Year-Old Son Smoke
AOL / Wire Services
posted: 17 HOURS 54 MINUTES AGOcomments: 312filed under: World News

LONDON (Jan. 22) - A British woman has pleaded guilty to child cruelty for allowing her 3-year-old to smoke in front of her.

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees said video taken by a mobile phone showed the small child popping a cigarette into his mouth, lighting it with a lighter and taking a drag.
Rees told a court in the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil that the boy's mother, 24-year-old Kelly Marie Pocock, was sitting next to him and talking on the phone at the time.
The video was shot by Pocock's friend, Natasha Dudley, who showed the footage to social workers.
"It doesn't cause him any discomfort," Rees said, according to the British Broadcasting Corp. "It is clear that the boy, at the age of three, knows what to do with a lighter and cigarette."
Judge John Curran said Thursday it was clear Pocock's child was a habitual smoker and called the situation appalling.

Pocock was given a 40-week suspended sentence.
According to the Daily Mail, the judge told Pocock he did not want to separate the single mom from her son and two other small children. He also took into account that she had completed a parenting class.
"This offense would normally cross the custody threshold but I do not want to cause your children any further emotional harm by separating them from you," he said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Copyright 2009, Reuters
2009-01-22 19:13:17

I have no comment other than that my mom never let me smoke---let alone when I was 3. I had to try it in secret with a friend when I was 10 and I still got caught and in trouble for it---but the good thing is when I tried smoking, I hated it and thankfully never did it again. Anyways, this news article is a good example of when to show grace to the world. So what are your thoughts?