Muhammad the Bear and the Spirit of Tolerance in Islam

Many of my Muslim Brethren have been writing to ask me about why did Allah permit me to be called Muhammad the Bear and what is my mission to the brotherhood?

I have been called to bring a spirit of tolerance to my Muslim brothers and why should Allah appoint a bear to preach on tolerance to the brotherhood. It would be useful to consider the words of the eminent Islamic scholar Dr. Muzamnil Siddiqi. Dr. Siddiqi is quite clear that the literal meaning of "tolerance" is "to BEAR". Therefore it should be no surprise that Allah should chose a bear to speak to the brotherhood about tolerance, and that as this message is so important it should equally be no surprise that Allah permitted me to be called Mohammad. Is it a mistake that I should be propelled on to the world stage by the actions of Muslim children who are full of trust and obedience to the will of Allah? NO of course not, who would dare question the will of Allah. Accepting the will of Allah requires us to be humble enough to allow Allah to chose his servants regardless of our fears of prejudice. Your first act of tolerance is to accept the will of Allah in having me named Mohammad.

The word Islam means “submission” to the will of Allah, and if you can not accept his decision to have me called Muhammad then how can you be a Muslim?

I appeal to all the Ummah submit yourself to the will of Allah. How can you say "en shallah" and yet when Allah wills for a bear to be called Muhammad and to preach love and tolerance to the Ummah you reject his will and rebel.

Surah 47.8. But those who reject ((Allah),- for them is destruction, and ((Allah)) will render their deeds astray (from their mark).
47.9. That is because they hate the Revelation of Allah. so He has made their deeds fruitless.

Spirit of Tolerance in Islam - IslamonLine.net - Ask The Scholar: "As far as the question of the spirit of tolerance in Islam is concerned, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, President of the Fiqh Council ofNorth America, states: Intolerance is on the increase in the world today, causing death, genocide, violence, religious persecution as well as confrontations on different levels. Some times it is racial and ethnic, some times it is religious and ideological, other times it is political and social. In every situation it is evil and painful. How can we solve the problem of intolerance? How can we assert our own beliefs and positions without being intolerant to others? How can we bring tolerance into the world today? I would like to discuss some of these issues from an Islamic point of view. What is tolerance? Literally the word 'tolerance' means 'to bear.' As a concept it means 'respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of the world’s cultures, forms of expression and ways of being human.' In Arabic it is called 'tasamuh'. There are also other words that give similar meanings, such as 'Hilm' (forbearance) or ''`afu' (pardon, forgiveness) or 'safh' (overlooking, disregarding). In the Persian and Urdu languages, we use the word 'rawadari' which comes from "