A Muslim actress has caused a storm by posing naked for Playboy.
Sila Sahin has been branded a “whore” and a “western slut” after appearing topless on the cover of the German edition of the men’s magazine. And Islamic fanatics have posted threatening internet messages.
Sila, raised in Germany by conservative Turkish parents, says she fears being “spat at” and “shamed”. Her parents are said to have reacted with “horror” at the 12-page coverage, and her mother has apparently cut off all contact. Sila, 25 – star of German soap Good Times, Bad Times – claimed the shoot was a reaction to the “slavery” of her youth. She added:
“What I want to say with these photos is, ‘Girls, we don’t have to live according to the rules imposed upon us’. “For years I subordinated myself to various societal constraints. The Playboy photo shoot was a total act of liberation.”
But Islamic internet sites are being monitored by the BND – the German intelligence agency – after threats were posted about her “shaming Muslim womanhood” and “prostituting herself for money”. One poster on the Jihad Watch website wrote: “She needs to be very careful…” Another simply said: “She must pay.”A kebab shop owner, asked on German TV what he would do if Sila were his daughter, replied: “I would kill her. I really mean that.
That doesn’t fit with my culture.” The Islamic Community of Germany has called for a boycott of Sila. About three million Muslim immigrants live in Germany, which has seen numerous honor killings in recent years by fanatical husbands, fathers and brothers. In 2009, an asylum seeker was sentenced to life after killing his “too independent” German wife.
One police intelligence officer said of Sila: “I think what she did was either very brave, or very stupid. She will be double-locking her door at night for a long time to come.”
