On March 25, 2013, it became known that Islam.ru journalists were outraged by the illustration for the book “Moidodyr” by Korney Chukovsky, published by the publishing house “Kniga” JSC in Rostov-on-Don. It depicts a crocodile holding a bundle with a pattern reminiscent of Arabic script. Muslim journalists are confident that the artist placed pages from the Koran into the crocodile’s paws.

Representatives of the site note that the crocodile in Chukovsky’s fairy tale is a positive hero, because “stands up for cleanliness and scolds the dirty one, encouraging him to cleanliness, which is highly valued in Islam.” However, journalists view the illustration as an attempt to offend the feelings of believers, since “the ethics of handling the Koran does not involve tearing out pages from it and walking around with them in your arms.

In addition, the important point is that a children’s book can end up in any place, including a dirty one, and the above page will also end up with the book.”

The publishing house reported that such a version had not occurred to them, and advised them to file a claim with the artist Elena Demidenko. The management of the publishing house consulted with the mufti, “and he was never able to answer unequivocally whether this was a page from the Koran.” However, the publishing house agreed to replace the picture when publishing the next edition.

Sources

"Moidodyr" offended the feelings of Muslims // Islam.ru. 2013. May 25.
The feelings of Muslims were offended by the crocodile from the fairy tale "Moidodyr" // Newsru.com. 2013. May 25.

Islam.ru is offended by “Moidodyr”