The Rubber Whip: Extremist Persecution of Christians, October 2018

.... Iran: Two Muslim converts to Christianity were respectively sentenced to 18 and 12 months in prison for "spreading propaganda against the regime." However, the verdict appears to have been more specific: it reportedly said that, "believing in the Bible's authority and Jesus as Lord are attacks against Islam." Mike Ansari, an Iranian Christian activist, explained:

"If there is no codified law with respect to a particular issue, judges must deliver their judgments on the basis of authoritative Islamic sources. Iranian courts typically follow the lead of conservative clerics such as Ayatollah Khomeini who viewed apostasy a crime punishable by death.

.... In the last few years, most extrajudicial killings in Iran have been slowly replaced with arbitrary arrest and detention. Most of the arrested individuals are coerced to divulge information about their house church activities and those of their friends, under the threat of criminal persecution or arrest of family members."

Around the same time that these two Christians were sentenced for "believing in the Bible's authority," Iranian president Hassan Rouhani boasted before the United Nations of his nation's human rights record. His government, he said, was dedicated to "moderation and respect for human rights." He added, "We in Iran strive to build peace and promote the human rights of peoples and nations. We never condone tyranny and we always defend the voiceless. We never threaten anyone..." [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Why the West Must Safeguard Free Speech

.... The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) -- made up of 57 mostly Muslim-majority states(56 plus "Palestine") -- disagrees. In its 8th observatory report on Islamophobia, the OIC states, "...there is a need... to work with the media to promote the understanding of responsible use of freedom of speech... [and]... Hold the media accountable for perpetuating hate speech and extremism." The OIC's Media Strategy in Countering Islamophobia and its Implementation Mechanisms describes one part of its strategy as:

"To call media professionals to develop, articulate and implement voluntary codes of conduct to counter Islamophobia. The OIC and its Member States should be vocal in calling media professionals to use the power they have with responsibly through accurate reporting.."

What, however, if those two requirements -- accurate reporting and countering Islamophobia -- conflict with each other?

Unfortunately, many in the Western media have been acceding to such demands, either because they agree that being critical of radical Muslims constitutes "Islamophobia," or out of fear of being accused of it. The social media giant, Facebook, for example, often uses a selective definition of "hate speech" to justify censoring certain pages and posts. [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Parliament Rejects Motion To Ban Marriage Of Girls Under Thirteen

A parliamentary motion banning child marriage in Iran has been rejected by Majles (parliament), an MP reported.

A member of women's faction in the Islamic Republic's parliament, Tayyebeh Seyavoshi says, "The Legal and Judicial Commission of Majles has rejected a parliamentary motion that proposed a ban on allowing under thirteen-year-old girls to marry."

Following the rejection, Ms. Seyavoshi says, "We are waiting for the Commission's official report, and then, decide on our next step."

According to a member of the Legal and Judicial commission, Yahya Kamalpour, the motion was rejected after Grand Ayatollahs and sources of emulation" vehemently opposed it.

Without referring to a time frame, Ms. Seyavoshi announced that more than 300 girls under nine, and between 30,000 to 40,000 girls under 13-14 years old marry in Iran. [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] Read more

Muslims love Jesus. So why does everyone think we hate Christmas?

It’s Christmas time and so it hasn’t taken long for a national newspaper to run a feature implying British Muslims are poorly integrated for “refusing to celebrate a Christian holiday”. The irony of this pernicious Islamophobia, feebly hiding behind the banner of defending the Judeo-Christian values of our country, is that it is bereft of any meaningful understanding of Islam.

You see, the thing is, Muslims love Jesus.

In fact, the Prophet Muhammad said: “The dearest person to me in friendship and in love, in this world and the next is Jesus, the son of Mary.”

Respect to one of our local mosques who have filled up fridges on the street outside and said help yourself if you need food over Christmas.

But if Muslims respect Christians (and other faiths) why did 51 Islamic states effectively repudiate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of religion, when in 1990 they signed up to the ersatz Cairo Declaration, which asserts that all human rights are subservient to sharia law? In some of these states Christians are routinely persecuted and face extinction. [The Independent] Read more

French Imam Indicted Over Antisemitic Sermon in Which He Cited Hadith Urging Violence Against Jews

The imam of the Grand Mosque of Toulouse, Mohamed Tatai, was indicted this week for “public verbal provocation to hatred or violence” following an investigation into an antisemitic sermon he gave last year, French media outlets reported on Friday.

In the remarks in question, Tatai cited a hadith saying that on Judgment Day the Muslims will fight and kill the Jews.

A video of the Dec. 2017 sermon was published online, and a translated excerpt (courtesy of the Middle East Media Research Institute) can be viewed below:

The incitement charge was brought by the Toulouse Prosecutor’s Office.

In an interview with a French media outlet this past summer, Tatai claimed his words were taken “out of context” and that he had not called for violence.

In 2012, an Islamist gunman killed four Jews — a rabbi and three students — at a school in the southern French city. [Algemeiner.com] Read more

Boris Johnson cleared of breaking Tory rules over burka comments

Boris Johnson has been cleared of breaking the Tories' code of conduct with comments he made about women wearing burkas.

He had written that they looked liked "letter boxes" or "bank robbers" in a Telegraph column in which he argued against a ban on full-face veils.

It prompted dozens of complaints but it is understood an independent panel said he had been "respectful and tolerant".

Tory chairman Brandon Lewis and Theresa May had called on him to apologise.

Responding to the news, the Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella body for 500 mosques, schools and associations, said it failed to see how Mr Johnson's comments "were 'respectful' and 'tolerant' as the panel has concluded".

The group claimed Mr Johnson's column had led "to copycat verbal assaults against Muslim women"

The founder of the Conservative Muslim Forum, Lord Sheikh, wrote to Mr Lewis after Mr Johnson wrote the column in August, demanding "serious action".

The Conservative Party has been accused of not doing enough to tackle anti-Muslim prejudice in its ranks, despite an initiative to boost tolerance and diversity. [BBC] Read more

Asia Bibi’s Case Reveals Islamists’ True Colors

This past October, the Pakistani Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Asia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman who had spent eight years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy. Following her acquittal, extremist groups across Pakistan, including the prominent Islamist movement Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), violently protested against the decision and called for Bibi to be executed. Islamists have reportedly been going “house to house” to track down her family.

After striking a deal with leading Islamist parties, the Pakistani government has prevented Bibi from leaving Pakistan. Now, her husband has appealed to the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. to provide the Bibi family with asylum. But while dozens of organizations across the United States have expressed their support for Bibi and the asylum request, there is one group that remains conspicuously silent: the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

.... For years, Muslim organizations in America have been at the forefront of the movement for more progressive immigration policies. ICNA and Islamic Relief both showcase their work for refugees on their websites, and have promoted rallies and demonstrations led by progressive, pro-immigration crowds. Islamic Relief insists that refugees do not leave willingly and that “the choice to leave home is excruciating,” while ICNA regularly posts articles chronicling its efforts to assist refugees.

But these prominent American Islamist organizations do not appear keen to extend all this progressive rhetoric to Asia Bibi, whose life is in total, irrefutable danger, as JI and other Islamist movements actively and violently campaign for her execution. [The American Spectator] Read more

The MEND connection

Despite being mentioned only once in the main body of the report (p. 51), it is clear that MEND, an organisation with a tarnished reputation in Government circles, has exerted an important intellectual influence on the APPG. Indeed, the group has long been pushing for the same kind of expansive definition of Islamophobia – as reflected in its own lengthy report on the subject earlier this year.

The connection between the APPG report and the MEND agenda is not simply intellectual. As mentioned above, Dr. Perra was, until recently, also a member of MEND but no mention is made of this affiliation. In a similar vein, the APPG makes reference to evidence it took from the “Islamophobia Response Unit” (IRU). But it fails to mention that the IRU was created in April 2017 by MEND.

MEND has long been surrounded by controversy. Earlier this year, a senior MEND representative asserted that Muslims in the UK face a situation analogous to that of Jews in Nazi Germany before the Holocaust. Its former director of engagement, Azad Ali, is reported to have said in March 2017 that that month’s attack on Parliament, which killed five people, was “not terrorism”. In February 2018, Sir Mark Rowley, the outgoing Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and former head of Counter-Terrorism Command, stated that MEND was “seeking to undermine the state’s considerable efforts to tackle all hate crime”. [Policy Exchange] Read more

‘Muslimness’ and Islamism

.... A significant problem in the APPG’s report and its definition is the use of the term “Muslimness”. Despite the discussion of “intersectionality” and other jargon borrowed from the social sciences, the report essentialises religious identity in a way that leaves little room for other forms of identity.

It is the identity of an individual Muslim as “ a Muslim” which is held to explain his or her interaction with wider British society. But - as the report itself acknowledges only to ignore – the construction of social identity is complex and situational.

And what is “Muslimness” and who, exactly, would decide what the concept meant in practice? What would be disallowed or banned? These are important questions that are unanswered in the report. They are particularly relevant given the huge diversity of British Muslims – from the Middle East, Turkey and Central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Europe itself.

There is, clearly, a risk that such terms would end up being policed by selfappointed gatekeepers. For example, in the Ofsted example mentioned above (p. 55), school inspectors are accused of Islamophobia for questioning the wearing of hijabs by girls at school.

The implication is that “Muslimness” must involve wearing hijabs, since only one interpretation of what it means to be Muslim is offered. For all the talk that Muslimness is not a single identity, there is very little pluralism in the report. There is no consideration given to Muslims who may feel that agencies such as Ofsted are protecting them from an attempt to impose a uniformity with which they do not agree. [Policy Exchange] Read more

Denmark, With an Eye on Muslims, Requires New Citizens to Shake Hands

Denmark will require anyone who takes Danish citizenship to shake hands at the naturalization ceremony, under a law passed on Thursday, which lawmakers say is aimed at Muslims who refuse on religious grounds to touch members of the opposite sex.

The law has prompted strong reactions from some of the mayors who must conduct such ceremonies, and who are upset that they will become the faces and fists of a policy they call awkward, “purely symbolic” and irrelevant to an applicant’s qualifications. They say the Danish Parliament, which approved the measure, has artificially elevated a social custom to a national value.

But Denmark is not alone. Authorities in Switzerland and France have recently cited “lack of assimilation” in rejection of citizenship to foreigners who refuse to shake hands with officials.

“If you arrive in Denmark, where it’s custom to shake hands when you greet, if you don’t do it it’s disrespectful,” said Martin Henriksen, a lawmaker who has been critical of Islam and is the right-wing Danish People’s Party’s spokesman on immigration. “If one can’t do something that simple and straightforward, there’s no reason to become a Danish citizen.” [The New York Times] Read more

Derby radio station fined £10,000 for broadcasting hate speech

A Derby-based radio station has been fined £10,000 for broadcasting hate speech.

Radio Ikhlas, which operates from premises in Lower Dale Road, Normanton, was found to have published “hatred” towards the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.

Following an Ofcom investigation, which concluded in March, the regulator has this week announced its decision to fine the station.

The broadcast took place on September 7, 2017.

The Ahmadis, a Muslim movement, follows the teachings of the Qur’an but it is considered heretical by orthodox Islam since they do not believe that the Prophet Mohammed was the final prophet sent to guide mankind.

.... In the middle of the broadcast, there was a 21-minute segment, which commenced with the presenter referring to the fact that the programme was being broadcast on the anniversary of September 7 1974 - the day on which the Pakistani National Assembly voted on a bill and constitutional amendment declaring Ahmadi people to be non-Muslim.

The presenter made comments such as referring to Ahmadi people as “dangerous”; “liars”; “enemies of Islam, enemies of Pakistan, and enemies of our religion”. [Derbyshire Live] Read more

It’s wrong to treat British Muslims as a racial group

.... Muslims themselves rejected the idea that they constitute anything like a single separate “race” in the way that, say, black Africans might. Second, Britain is home to a uniquely wide range of Muslim communities. They differ in origin, with sizeable contingents with roots in the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, central and southeastern Asia, and Europe. And third, the facts of race are not a matter of personal choice; we cannot simply declare ourselves to be white, black or Asian. On the other hand, most of those who follow Islam pride themselves on the fact that they have actively chosen to adhere to a centuries-old belief system.

.... There’s a final, important lesson to be learnt from the APPG’s report. It speaks of Muslims as if maltreatment by white Britons were their only defining experience. It thus misrepresents the attitudes of most non-Muslims and diminishes Muslim identity to that of the perpetual victim. Before the government or any institution adopts a definition that treats British Muslims in this way, much deeper thought is required. [The Times (£)] Read more

Human rights court rules against Greece in Sharia law case

Greece violated a prohibition on discrimination by applying Islamic religious law to an inheritance dispute among members of the country's Muslim minority, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Wednesday.

The court, based in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, ruled Greece violated the European Convention on Human Rights by applying Sharia law in the case, under which a Muslim Greek man's will bequeathing all he owned to his wife was deemed invalid after it was challenged by his sisters.

The man's widow, Chatitze Molla Sali, appealed to the European court in 2014, having lost three quarters of her inheritance. She argued she had been discriminated against on religious grounds as, had her husband not been Muslim, she would have inherited his entire estate under Greek law.

The European court agreed. It has not yet issued a decision on what, if any, penalty it will apply to Greece.

"Greece was the only country in Europe which, up until the material time, had applied Sharia law to a section of its citizens against their wishes," the court said in its ruling. [AP] Read more

Where 'tolerance' means a crackdown on Christians

With Christmas just a few days away, Shima and Shokoufeh Zanganeh, two sisters from the city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iran, remain in prison. Arrested Sept. 2 for the crime of converting to Christianity, they are expected to spend Christmas Day in the city’s Sepidar jail. Jamshid Derakhshan, arrested Nov. 30 on his way to a prayer meeting in a house church in the city of Hashtgerd, west of the capital Tehran, is also expected to spend Christmas behind bars.

According to the British charity Open Doors UK, the Zanganeh sisters and Derakhshan are victims of an alarming crackdown on Christians in Iran. During the first week of December, at least 114 Christians are known to have been arrested in Iran on charges of either proselytizing or converting to Christianity, which can be punished with a 10-year jail term.

While Christianity is officially tolerated in Iran, the Islamic courts avail themselves of several criminal provisions to persecute Christians, including “propagating against the Islamic Republic in favour of Christianity” and “orienting toward the land of Christianity,” or more ominously, “enmity against God” and “insulting the Prophet,” crimes that can carry the death sentence. [Ottawa Citizen] Read more

Sharia ‘law’ should not trump domestic law, ECHR rules

A Greek court was wrong to prioritise sharia 'law' provisions over those of the country's domestic legal code, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled.

The ECHR ruled that the Greek Court of Cassation's decision to allocate a man's legacy according to the principles of sharia 'law' was incorrect.

It ruled that the difference in treatment which the man's wife suffered in comparison to a beneficiary of a will from a non-Muslim had not been objectively and reasonably justified.

The Greek court had ruled in favour of the man's two sisters, who claimed rights to his estate under sharia principles. There are provisions for the application of Islamic religious 'law' to Muslim Greeks in the Western Thrace region.

But on Wednesday the ECHR sided with the man's wife, Chatitze Molla Sali, who claimed his entire estate in line with his will. The court ruled that Greek domestic law should have taken precedence over sharia.

The court said "several international bodies" had expressed "concern" about the application of sharia 'law' to Greek Muslims in the Western Thrace region and the discrimination it creates. [National Secular Society] Read more

Two Christian brothers sentenced to death for web blasphemy in Pakistan

Two Christian brothers have been sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, weeks after Asia Bibi was acquitted of the same crime following international outcry.

Qaiser and Amoon Ayub from Lahore were sentenced to hang by a district judge after being convicted of insulting the Prophet Mohammed in articles and portraits posted on their website.

The brothers fled the country after they were first accused of the crime in 2011, but eventually returned home quietly. Amoon, 38, was then arrested at the airport trying to leave the country a second time and Qaiser, 44, was also held. The pair have been in Jhelum prison since 2014.

Both men were convicted last week of the “use of derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet”, under strict blasphemy punishments covered by Pakistan's penal code. [The Telegraph] Read more

Your husband is only 25% yours, the remaining 75% belongs to other women – Islamic scholar declares

Ustaz Abdulfattah Adeyemi, a renowned Islamic scholar and founder of Baynakum Family Counseling Center has told women that their husbands are meant to be shared with other women.

He advised Muslim women to share their husbands with other women, saying they have just 25 per cent access to their husbands, while the remaining 75 per cent belongs to other women, Punch reports.

The cleric said this in a paper entitled: “Charity, a path to Jannah,” which he presented in Abuja during the inauguration of Sisters of Jannah, a Muslim women’s charity organisation.

Charging women to be magnanimous in sharing their husbands, Ustaz admonished them “not to deny their husbands polygamy,” but should only pray that the husbands treat all equally in any action taken.

He regretted that some married women were “so over-protective” of their husbands, thereby denying the men their wishes of having more wives, describing such as “ungodly.”

Ustaz also said the over-protective tendencies of some women towards their husbands had made many men to devise “smart means” of engaging in illegal relationships outside their matrimonial homes, advising that the trend must stop. [Information Nigeria] Read more

'A death Fatwa was issued against me': Australian ‘imam of peace’ goes into hiding after Islamic preacher from Pakistan calls for him to be killed

A 'fake' Australian imam has claimed an Islamic preacher from Pakistan called for him to be killed.

Mohammad Tawhidi tweeted the death fatwa that was issued against him by Mufti Ahmad Raza Sialvi, with photos of the call to kill on Sunday morning.

'Yesterday, a death Fatwa was issued against me by Mufti Sialvi of Pakistan,' his tweet read.

'First, I thank the officials who contacted me expressing their concerns and support.

'I’ve put all future meetings and events on hold until further notice. I’ll come out of this much stronger.'

Also known as an 'imam of peace' Tawhidi shared the translation of the death fatwa, which is a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority.

'Sharia Law Fatwa,' the translation began, 'In the Name of Allah.

'It has been reported from Imam Malik that whoever insults the companions of Prophet Mohammad: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, Muawiya and considers them deviant has become a Kafir (disbeliever) and must be killed. [Daily Mail Australia] Read more

An 8-Year-Old Bride

After the mullahs' party imposed Sharia law in Iran and made it the official unquestionable law of the land, the authorities immediately changed the age of legal marriage to 9 for girls and 13 for boys. After 40 years, the Sharia-based law has not changed.

The prevalence child marriage "still remains far too high. In a set of 25 countries for which detailed analysis was conducted, at least one in three women marry before the age of 18, and one in five women have their first child before the age of 18." — World Bank.

According to official Iranian statistics, 180,000 child marriages take place there each year. In addition, in 2013 in Iran, a law was passed that allows men to marry their adopted daughters.

Facebook acted as an auction block for a child bride in South Sudan as recently as last month.

Unless the international community steps in and, instead of appealing to the Islamist leaders of Iran, applies pressure to get these laws changed, more children will be at risk. [Gatestone Institute] Read more

‘Theresa May has failed Pakistan’s Christians’: An interview with Asia Bibi’s lawyer

.... Malook was flown out of Pakistan, because his life was in danger. Since leaving the country, he has kept a low profile in his daughter’s home, a modest detached house in a cul-de-sac off a busy road in a UK city. He asks for the location not to be revealed.

The reason his life is in danger is because Malook was a key figure in one of the most renowned cases in recent times. He was the lawyer who defended Asia Bibi, a poor and illiterate 47-year-old Catholic woman who faced being hanged for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed.

In 2009, Bibi was at her work on a farm when she stopped to drink some water from a well, using someone else’s cup. She was told that she could not share utensils with a Muslim because she was ‘unclean’. This led to an argument about religion, and Bibi and her family were later beaten by a mob who extracted a ‘confession’. [The Spectator] Read more

Baroness Warsi's attack on Sara Khan could have a chilling effect on criticism of Islamism

The Baroness is also Treasurer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims which has just proposed the first working definition of Islamophobia. She wants the government to adopt this definition, which says that Islamophobia is “a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.

While the APPG insists it will not impair “free and fair debate” over Islam, judging by Warsi’s unseemly reaction to criticism of the definition, it may have a chilling effect on criticism of Islamist intolerance and extremism.

The Commissioner for Countering Extremism, Sara Khan, observed that the APPG’s definition had nothing to say about Muslims who publicly target fellow Muslims with hatred, ridicule and occasionally death threats for not showing enough “Muslimness” by holding opinions about Islam with which their tormentors disagree.

Typical are barbs like “Sell-Outs”, “Native Informants”, and “Uncle Toms” for this too is “a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness” just like the more common non-Muslim to Muslim racism.

Both Khan and the Home Secretary Sajid Javid, also a Muslim, have been victims of this abuse and it can have fatal consequences. British Muslims have been brutally murdered because they were not regarded as the right kind of Muslim.

Yet when Ms Khan, in a calm and measured way, wrote that countering Islamist extremism does not make one an Islamophobe, instead of providing reassurance to the Commissioner, Ms Warsi fired off a volley of tweets. “This opinion piece is confused on so many levels. When even Islamophobia itself can be used by @CommissionCE as a stick to beat those ‘nasty bad Muslims’. I despair Sara.” [The Jewish Chronicle] Read more

Two Christian brothers sentenced to death for blasphemy in Punjab

Qaisar and Amoon Ayub, from Lahore, were arrested in 2015 after one of the two was accused of posting offensive material against Islam on their website.

Qaisar and his wife Amina have three children, whilst Amoon is married to Huma, a teacher at Lahore Cathedral School.

The allegations surfaced in 2011 when they were accused of posting disrespectful material on their website; however, the accused say that their website was not active since 2009.

The two brothers have been held in Jhelum District Jail since their arrest. Additional Session judge Javed Iqbal Bosal informed them of the sentence directly in the prison for security reasons.

CLAAS, an interdenominational organisation dedicated to the victims of religious intolerance, has been representing the accused and now plans to appeal the sentence before the Lahore High Court.

Blasphemy charges tend to trigger violent reaction among Islamic radicals, who interfere with the proper operations of the court system and threaten judges. [AsiaNews] Read more

Non-stunned Halal meat campaigner says Kirklees should have apologised to families

Kirklees Council has come under renewed attack for serving non-stunned halal meat in its schools.

It has been accused of being "deficient" in its handling of the issue and of its "ongoing failure to be transparent with families and the wider public".

In a deputation to a meeting of full council in Huddersfield Town Hall on Wednesday, Aleks Lukic, who set up an online petition calling for all meat served in the borough's schools to be stunned before slaughter, said the authority should have issued an immediate apology to local families concerned about the issue. He also provided advice enabling them to make informed choices.

Mr Lukic, added: "This council should also have immediately considered supplying alternative choices of meat to those schools where only non-stunned meat is currently served, while evaluating the case for stopping the supply of non-stunned meat altogether."

Mr Lukic said the petition, which attracted 7,000 signatures, was set up primarily to persuade the council to change its policy and uphold welfare standards during slaughter. [ExaminerLive] Read more

Government urged to adopt new definition of Islamophobia following rise in hate crimes

The government has been urged by more than 50 cross-party parliamentarians to adopt a new definition of Islamophobia which would classify discrimination against Muslims as a form of racism, The Independent can reveal.

Members of a cross-party group of MPs and peers have warned discrimination against Muslims in the UK is going “unreported and unchallenged” because of the absence of a concrete definition.

The warning comes weeks after official government statistics showed reports of racial and religiously motivated hate crime in England and Wales had risen for a fifth consecutive year.

Following six months of consultations with various groups, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims proposed “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness” as an official definition.

Now, in a cross-party letter from the APPG seen by The Independent, dozens of parliamentarians are calling on the government to adopt the phrase to clearly identify what constitutes discrimination against Muslims. [The Independent] Read more

Egyptian Christian Receives Three-Year Prison Sentence for Insulting Islam

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on November 27, Coptic Christian Abd Adel Bebawy was sentenced by an Egyptian court to three years in prison for “insulting Islam in the first degree.” His lawyer was granted access to the verdict on December 6 and has opened an appeal which is expected to be heard at the end of December.

Bebawy was originally arrested in Minbal, a village located in Upper Egypt’s Minya Governorate on July 6, 2018. He had posted on Facebook an image of God, the angel Gabriel, and a verse from the Quran. The day after he was arrested and charged by the police, a mob gathered in Minbal and attacked several Christian homes. It is common for Islamic extremists in Egypt to collectively punish the Christian community for the perceived wrongs of one individual.

One Christian woman, Mariam, shared with ICC shortly following the July attack, “The mob stoned the houses of all the Christians (in Minbal). The Christians were afraid and all locked themselves in their houses and closed the wooden shutters of the windows.” [Persecution.org] Read more