Thanks for the interesting post, Fred Nerks. Setting on my desk is a small bronze replica of the statuette shown in your last photo.
There never was any doubt about Cat’s popularity among Egyptians, but modern texts about mo - HAM - ud and izleem are written (“al-Taqiyya”) (trying) to present an image that they are normal, cuddly folks like most of the rest of the world.
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The following doesn’t mention Cats, but thought I’d add it to the thread anyway, for retreads, or apologists, who may be ignorant of reality.
“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries.
“Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.”
From:
Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green | 1899
And their method of conversion:
“The Koran or the scimitar!”
I think you misunderstood my argument.
Muslims have historically revered cats. So did the Egyptians. Some societies and cultures have gone to the other extreme and demonized cats.
But one cannot be honest about the history of the feline without acknowledging all the groups which historically have held cats in high regard.
Some unscrupulous people in history have loved dogs; some unscrupulous people have loved cats.
Islam has historically revered cats and despised dogs. You may not like that fact, but that changes nothing.