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| Africa Subsaharan | |||
| Muslim group offended by Mercury party | |||
| 2006-08-31 | |||
ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (AP) — A huge beach party to honor late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury must be stopped because the Zanzibar-born rock star was gay, a Muslim leader said Thursday. Mercury, who died of AIDS in 1991, violated Islam with his flamboyant lifestyle, said Azan Khalid of Zanzibar's Association for Islamic Mobilization and Propagation. "That's why he was branded a Queen," Khalid said, adding that anything linking Mercury with Zanzibar's Muslim population would be offensive.
Mercury, who acknowledged being gay, was born in Zanzibar when the country was still a British protectorate. He was educated in India and moved with his family to Britain in 1964, after a bloody revolution that drove out many immigrants of Indian or Arab descent. "Our main idea is to promote tourism and Freddie Mercury was from Zanzibar. It's part of our history," Mohammed said. "We are all Muslims and it's not our intention to offend any religion." Last year some 500,000 tourists traveled to Zanzibar, bringing vital foreign currency to the Indian Ocean island. This semiautonomous part of Tanzania is mostly Muslim. Zanzibar's government sent a letter asking state-owned media not to report on Mercury's birthday because of the tension between the religious group and the restaurant. The group's aim is for Zanzibar to be ruled based on the Muslim holy book, the Quran. Last year, the group broke up a gay man's birthday party in Zanzibar's Pemba island. Mercury gained fame as the bravura singer for Queen, whose elaborate and occasionally bombastic songs made the group one of the favorites of the 1970s. The group's hits included Bohemian Rhapsody,We Are The Champions and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #13 Thanks, Zen, but they wouldn't hire me. Mad Ave requires one to lie |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-08-31 23:27 |
| #12 Muslim group offended by Hon, we gotta get you a job on Madison Avenue! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-31 23:15 |
| #11 I'd say you can bet your ass that Azan will be right down in front checking out the local trade on Sept. 2nd... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-08-31 21:18 |
| #10 I guess sodomy outside the mosque/madrassah is verboten to discuss or celebrate |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-08-31 21:13 |
| #9 Whew! I thought this was going to be another planet thing. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2006-08-31 21:11 |
| #8 Muslim group offended by There - fixed that for ya' |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-08-31 20:45 |
| #7 And it's getting to the point that linking anything offensive with Islam is fun! Too true!!! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-31 17:26 |
| #6 Linking anything fun with islam is offensive And it's getting to the point that linking anything offensive with Islam is fun! :-) Anyway, Muslims have taken this denial thing to a whole new level. To many of these mullahs, it is inconceivable that anything perceived to be unislamic could be perpetrated by a Muslim! And if it obviously was, they push it away to make sure everyone on the planet sees that it didn't happen. It must be unislamic to deal with a problem in a rational way, I guess. In any case, they just end up looking like the pathetically ignorant and immature lot that they are. Except to other "true believers", it seems. |
| Posted by: gorb 2006-08-31 16:59 |
| #5 The Religion of No Fun strikes again. (I know better than to ask the obvious "Why should they care if his parents were Zoroastrians?".....) |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-08-31 16:55 |
| #4 Freddy Mercury's parents were Zoroastrian. Well, that explains little Freddy's fascination with Zorro's @ss. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-31 16:07 |
| #3 Freddy Mercury's parents were Zoroastrian. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-08-31 15:22 |
| #2 Wonder when the gay community will wake up to the fact they're on islams hit list? We're awake. And this is not the first hit list. It won't be the last either. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-08-31 13:16 |
| #1 I want to break free I want to break free, I want to break free from your lies, you're so self satisfied, I don't need you I've want to break free God knows, god knows I want to break free --- Freddie Mercury |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-08-31 12:40 |