CAIRO: Saudi scholar Muhammad Al Munajid, who recently stole the limelight in the international press over the notorious Mickey Mouse fatwa, said on a Youtube post that he was viciously misquoted and his words were taken out of context. MEMRI TV, which was behind the sound bite's initial circulation, had spun his words as a fatwa to the effect that both household mice and their cartoon counterparts must be killed. Al Munajid clarified that in his weekly television program, he was discussing the Islamic ruling on rats and rodents, where he said that because they spread diseases, Islam rules that they must be exterminated. In that context, in jest, Al Munajid commented on how the Tom and Jerry cartoons make children like mice, also alluding to Mickey Mouse's heroics, while clearly indicating that it is real mice not the cartoon character that should be eradicated because they are a health hazard. When Fox News, Sky News, NBC, ABC and Late Night Show with Conan O Brian ran the comments as a news story about how a Saudi Sheikh had issued a death fatwa on Mickey Mouse, Al Munajid decided to respond, this time in English, to avoid deliberate misquotations and mistranslations. Of course I know, as I have known for 40 years, that Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character. Thus I did not issue such a fatwa; nor would any reasonable person say such a thing. What was said in the program, he continued, "was in the context of rulings in dealing with harmful animals such as rodents and scorpions. This was part of a broader discussion of the effects of media and cartoon characters on the family and children. He went on to say that such controversies often result from cultural misunderstanding but also misinformation. In this case, he said, it was due to a misleading representation via a written translation that did not reflect his facial expressions while speaking. "The real issue under discussion was how to deal with harmful rodents, not Mickey Mouse. People who honestly search for the truth will utilize authentic sources, he said.