Adam and Eve

The latest high profile fatwa involves the above picture, published in the Octane magazine. I was not able to find the website for the magazine, but there is a digital copy [pdf] available for download from a blog called: Pakistan Uncut.

Publication of "half-naked" photographs of Hazrat Adam and Amma Hawwa, considered the first creations of the god, by a Pakistani magazine has attracted the ire of a section of the clergy who has demanded death to its owners and publishers.

A fatwa was issued against the publication by Maulana Abdul Aziz of the Lal Masjid in Islamabad who has in the recent past hit headlines for the capture of a girls' seminary run in his complex for several weeks and an edict against the country's Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar. [link]

I think this is a stretch. The Adam and Eve is almost a secular folklore now. Also, the magazine pics do not refer to them with their Koranic handles, so you could argue this is a reference to the biblical Adam and Eve and not the Koranic one. In any case, I suppose an authentic Mullah knows his Islam.

The high quality Octane magazine was a pleasant surprise. The issue begins with a full-page glossy pic of Aishwarya Rai and the rest of it is full of coverage on Bollywood, Cannes and various fashion shows. There is a lot of skin in it too; compared to some of the other pics, the Eve in the picture is almost in office attire.

I was appalled by the headline carried by CNN-IBN: Pak fury over half-naked prophet pics. Come on people, there are different levels of fatwas each of which elicits a different level of response. Let's not foment any more trouble than is necessary.

[Update] CNN-IBN has changed the headline to Pak fury over Adam, Eve Pictures. Note the URL still says pak-fury-over-halfnaked-prophet-pics-43100.html.