Photo: Il Tempo
Giulia Sorrentino
All we were missing was the Islamic and inclusive nativity scene. If anyone still had doubts about the risk of erasing our identity and our Judeo-Christian roots, here you are: in Brussels, in the historic center, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and the faceless Three Kings were depicted, with only a maxi drawing made from pieces of multicolored fabric instead of their faces. In France, social media is already talking about a “Sharia nativity scene”, indignation is growing, there is talk of a real desecration done in the name of Allah. For Islam, the face of Muhammad cannot be represented, to avoid idolatry and so even the “Islamicised” Christ child, Joseph and Mary have their faces veiled.
There are those who write that “the authors issue a fatwa against the profanations of their prophet, but they do nothing but profane God (the God of Christians)”. Who, however, wonders “when will we start breaking the Ramadan fast with grilled bacon, ‘so that everyone can find something they like’?”. And who admits that “Islamists delete anything that may contradict Sharia”.
