Ship of Fools: The priest in the mosque

Thread: The priest in the mosque Board: The Laugh Judgment / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Simon (# 1) on :

Joke submitted by goodric:

A priest, driving in an Islamic country, broke down just outside a mosque at 2 o'clock in the morning. He called at the Imam's house for help and the Imam kindly and hospitably invited him in.

After spending some time on the phone it appeared no one wanted to come out and fix his car. The priest was perturbed, and told the Imam it was important that he should be on his way as he was visiting a believer who was terminally ill in hospital.

"Well," the Imam said, "I can't suggest anything else except that we pray."

The priest agreed and so they both headed into the mosque. Walking in, the priest was amazed to see a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and then to see the Imam kneel down in front of it.

"Hang on," the priest remarked. "Surely you as a Muslim shouldn't be doing that?"

The Imam promptly replied, "What, do you expect me to disturb Muhammad's mother at THIS time in the morning?"

[ 05. August 2005, 09:42: Message edited by: Simon ]

Posted by ACOL-ite (# 4991) on :

But, Muslims don't pray to Mohammed's mother... do they?

Would be funnier with a Hindu priest, who doesn't want to wake one of his gods.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

quote:
Originally posted by ACOL-ite:
But, Muslims don't pray to Mohammed's mother... do they?

Not that I know of. Though that angle in the joke does throw the practice of praying to Christ's mother into stark relief. Is it as ridiculous a concept as praying to Mohammed's mother would be to a muslim?

Posted by KenWritez (# 3238) on :

Not bad, but could be better. There's no set-up for the punchline, though, and the cognitive dissonance of a BVM in a mosque breaks the "suspension of disbelief."

Posted by rewboss (# 566) on :

My reaction was, I guess, the same as ACOL-ite's, and can be summed up in one word: "Huh?"

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

quote:
Originally posted by KenWritez:
Not bad, but could be better. There's no set-up for the punchline, though, and the cognitive dissonance of a BVM in a mosque breaks the "suspension of disbelief."

ditto.

Posted by Papio. (# 4201) on :

quote:
Originally posted by ACOL-ite:
But, Muslims don't pray to Mohammed's mother... do they?

Would be funnier with a Hindu priest, who doesn't want to wake one of his gods.

(Tangent)

Some Christian missonaries to Hindu's (if you take Hinduism to be a religion, as opposed to shorthand for a variety of religions) were dissapointed to find that a statue of Christ had simply been added to the pantheon...

For some Hindu's, Christ is just another avatar of Brahman..

(Tangent)

Posted by Joan_of_Quark (# 9887) on :

Not to mention that strict Muslims don't have figurative art, there wouldn't be statues of anyone anywhere near a mosque.

This joke doesn't work for me on any level either.

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

Knowing Goodric's a priest, I expected this joke to be funnier. I wish I had a muslim friend to check with on this Muhammed's mother business, but my muslim friend died of cancer a few months ago. Who was his mother anyway? Why would even intercession from the BVM be able to convince God (or Allah) to heal an inanimate object?

I find the joke falling a bit flat for these reasons.

Posted by Midnight Scholar (# 9112) on :

Doesn't work for me either, neither funny nor offensive - though I suspect it might be slightly more offensive to Muslims, who (a) do indeed venerate (NOT 'worship') the BVM as the mother of Saint Issa, but who wouldn't under any circumstances have an image of her in a mosque (for reasons already discussed); and (b) who don't AFAIK regard the Prophet's (PBUH) mother in quite the same light.

Muslims generally do accept the Virgin Birth (it's in the Holy Qur'an, Sura 19:19 and other references - in fact Sura 19 is actually called Maryam (Mary) after the BVM) and ascribe a special status to Mother Mary; but there's no similar status ascribed to the Prophet's (PBUH) mother.

Most sources including Wikipedia
state that the Prophet (PBUH) was the son of Amina, and lost his mother when he was six years old, having scarcely known her (he is supposed to have been given at an early age into the care of a Bedawin wet-nurse, desert life being supposed to be most healthy for children). His father Abdullah ('Servant of Allah') died before he was born.

Neither his father nor his mother have any special status in Islamic lore.

hth

cheers

mn

Posted by Goodric (# 8001) on :

It apparantly was told to a church leader in an Islamic country by an Imam. That church leader told it to me recently. He seemed to think it was both funny and quite risque.

Posted by rewboss (# 566) on :

It was probably a "had-to-be-there" moment. I can imagine the two of them having a rollicking good time and swapping jokes, and laughing themselves silly at this one.

Posted by Goodric (# 8001) on :

I have a feeling there is also something of a different culture at work here. Certainly the chap he told me the joke, told me about telling it and "getting away with it" - as though he were fortunate too - in that particular country.

Posted by Julian4 (# 9937) on :

It does seem to take on a new angle, once you know it was told by an Imam. Before reading Goodric's post, it just seemed too implausible for the reasons everyone else has given: a statue, particularly of Mary, in a mosque; a Muslim praying to Mary; a Muslim praying to Mohammed's mother...
Makes me wonder whether the Imam was actually joking, on another level, about the Catholic habit of praying to someone's mother rather than to Someone (but then I think, Muslims don't pray to Mohammed either so perhaps I'm over-analysing)

Posted by Goodric (# 8001) on :

No Muslims do not pray to Mohammed (or to his mother)and that is, why I think the Imam found it an amusing joke to tell to the Christian leader - particularly in an enviroment which is fairly, let us say, strict. BTW Some nice quiet interfaith dialogue going on there in the midst of a sea of some rather nastier fundamentalism.

I think some jokes are clearly amusing to some people from some cultures and just not amusing to others.

Posted by The Bede's American Successor (# 5042) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Goodric:
I think some jokes are clearly amusing to some people from some cultures and just not amusing to others.

You have to be willing to accept some cognitive dissonance for many jokes to work.

By the way:

Q. Who is the only female mentioned by name in the Quran?

A. Mary. As in the BVM. Yes, her.

Knowing that Mary is respected enough in Islam to be the only female mentioned by name in the Quran, I still had a chuckle from this joke.

Don't take things so seriously.

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