A Muslim group has criticised Have I Got News For You for making a joke about Mecca.
In Friday's edition of the show, guest host Sharon Horgan made a quip about the holy city, which is the centre of pilgrimage for Muslims.
"The Independent described the Dostoevsky metro station... as the Mecca for suicides," Horgan said. "Not to be confused with the Mecca for suicide bombers - which is Mecca."
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee has now criticised the joke, Chortle reports.
"By making such a comment she is giving the message that the holiest site in Islam is the centre of all terrorism and that Islam is inherently linked with violence," the group said. "This offhand comment does nothing except reinforce the message that Islam has something within its fundamental beliefs that makes it a threat to civil society.
"Allowing this comment to go unchecked justifies the statement and condones such demonisation, as the comment implicitly implies that all Muslims are terrorists and all terrorists are Muslim." [Digital Spy] Read more [via Religious Watch]
