For the Gazilionth Time, There Are No Jokes In Islam

A Just For Laughs gag involving Muslims has gone viral, eliciting the wrath of those who decry it for "offending Islam":

Last April, Shalom Toronto reported, the program aired a gag which showed six “Muslims” lying in wait for motorists returning to their car in a parking lot, and then laying out prayer mats and kneeling to “pray” on them.

The gag showed the “prayer” taking a long time and preventing the motorists from exiting the parking lot. The motorists are shown reacting angrily to the “Muslim worshipers”.

After the worshipers leave the parking lot, the gag continues when a “policeman” appears and wishes to give the drivers a traffic ticket for having parked in the lot for longer than five minutes despite a sign explicitly prohibiting from doing so. The drivers try to explain that they were delayed because of the “worshipers”, but fail to convince the “officer”, until he finally reveals to them that the whole incident was a gag.

Shalom Toronto reported that the video was recently uploaded to YouTube with Arabic subtitles. The individual or individuals who uploaded the video complained that the gag offended Islam.

The clip was criticized by Muslims who accused the television program of deliberately humiliating Islam. The clip received 1,900 “dislikes” and one talkbacker even called to boycott the program. Another respondent claimed that the owner of channel which airs the program is probably Jewish, arguing that only Jews can make fun of Islam and Christianity. Certain angry users expressed their wishes that Allah will extract revenge and curse those behind the gag.

In contrast, other respondents made claims against Islam for carrying out acts of terrorism which murdered thousands of people, and criticized Muslims for their inability to deal with humor. Some people who identified themselves as Muslims said they actually liked the gag and did not see it as causing any damage or harm to Islam.