Here is yet more indication of why we don’t see more genuine Islamic reform.
“Egyptian Islamic Reformers Still Face Prison Sentences,” by Hany Ghoraba, Algemeiner, January 27, 2022:
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promises to launch “a new republic” this year, led by a development boom and a new commitment to democracy and religious tolerance.
But a November prison sentence handed down to an Islamic reformer shows that the country has a long way to go before reaching Sisi’s goals.
Egyptian human rights lawyer and Islamic reformer Ahmed Maher was sentenced to five years in prison for violating the country’s blasphemy law. Maher’s 2018 book, “Deluding the Nation through Jurisprudence of Imams,” criticized Islamic scholars whose Koranic interpretations form much of the current Islamic political thought.
Al-Azhar University, considered the world’s oldest and most prominent Sunni institution, is the source of many of those interpretations. Maher exposed the books being taught to Al-Azhar students that incite hatred against Christians, Jews, and non-believers.
In a 2018 interview, he called for Al-Azhar to be shut down.
“Al-Azhar should be closed for 10 years, and groups of dedicated jurists should be assigned to develop new approaches to a new reading of Islam,” Maher said.
Sisi has repeatedly called upon Al-Azhar clerics to spearhead religious reforms and be more inclusive of Christians in Egypt.
He demonstrated his commitment to inclusiveness by leading an annual delegation of prominent officials attending the great celebrations of Orthodox Christmas, most recently on January 6.
“In Egypt we have taken a path together, a path that we pledged in front of God and to you that we shall finish that path. This path is the path towards the new republic which is inclusive to everyone, it includes us all without any discrimination,” Sisi said.
Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II praised Sisi’s attendance and called the visit as “one of the features of the new republic.”
Despite these gains, Egypt’s blasphemy law still hinders religious reforms. It was introduced by President Anwar Sadat in 1981 to protect Egyptian Christians from radical Islamists. But according to civil rights lawyer Hamdy Al-Assyouti, 90 percent of blasphemy chargers are filed against Christians.
But recent cases against prominent critics of Islamic doctrine like Maher show that the law is used to stifle thinking that strays beyond rigid Sunni doctrine.
Efforts to abolish the law began in 2016, but the Egyptian parliament has been unable to pass a bill. The blasphemy law still enjoys strong support from some MPs and Egypt’s Ministry of Justice.
“In the absence of this article (law), anyone can offend others and will not take into account the feelings of others and the freedom of their beliefs,” Egyptian Justice Minister Omar Marwan told Egyptian TV in September.
In Maher’s case, he confirmed his adherence to Islam in a November video, but reiterated criticism of the jurisprudence based on early imams’ opinions, many of which are based on unverified sources.
Maher received support from a number of Egyptian intellectuals and celebrities. Author and journalist Fatima Naoot, who was previously imprisoned for blasphemy, issued a plea for Sisi to eliminate Maher’s prison sentence.
“My heart is sad and losing hope in what I thought was a light shining on the new republic,” Naoot wrote.
Naoot was sentenced to three years in prison in 2016 after calling the Islamic feast Eid Al Adha the “greatest massacre committed by human beings” because part of the tradition is slaughtering sheep and cattle and donating them for charity. The sentence was later reduced to a suspended six months in prison.
A year earlier, Islamic thinker and TV host Islam Beheiry was sentenced to one year in prison. Beheiry presented Koranic verses that contradict claims by Al-Azhar and other Islamic scholars that non-Muslims can’t go to heaven.
His sentence was reduced by a presidential pardon.
“Our problem today is that we live in a time in which the sacred is not God, Islam or the Quran, but religious scholars and their interpretations, mosque preachers and stars of religious programs. You don’t have to attack them as people, just discussing their ideas can land you in jail,” wrote Moroccan writer Sana al-Agy.
Maher’s case was triggered by a lawsuit filed by attorney Samir Sabry, who has brought a number of public lawsuits against Egyptian celebrities. Egyptian law enables any citizen to sue to defend community interests. Broad interpretation of the law has led to dozens of blasphemy cases against writers, artists, and celebrities. Convictions often lead to prison time.
Maher “is fighting Islam and making Muslims question their religion,” Sabri wrote in the 2020 lawsuit.
Article 65 of Egypt’s constitution guarantees freedom of thought and expression. Similarly, article 64 guarantees the absolute freedom to worship for all monotheistic religions. But in practice, the blasphemy law overrules those protection, especially when Al-Azhar is involved.
A number of Islamists and other radicals gloated over Maher’s sentence….
Boycott Turkey says
Biden has cut $130 million aid to Egypt because he was cracking down on the Muslim brotherhood who are terrorist https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-hold-130m-egypts-military-aid-over-human-rights-sources-2021-09-14/ this will make things worse for Coptic Christians Biden is a scumbag
gravenimage says
I certainly agree that cutting aid to Egypt because they are cracking down on some Jihadists is madness. I really doubt that much of that aid ever reached the Copts, though.
Boycott Turkey says
Gravenimage What I meant was not the Copts getting the money I doubt they would either but it might cause the Egyptian Goverment to be less tough on the Muslim brotherhood who are attacking Copts they cracked down on the jihadist after the Coptic churches where attacked it’s not a good idea cutting the aid for those reasons Biden doesn’t care about governments cracking down on terror his absolutely usless
gravenimage says
True. I think that thr Egyptian government is more concerned about the threat the Muslim Brotherhood presents to them than the Copts–but cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood is a good thing in any case
gravenimage says
Egypt: Islamic reformers still face prison sentences
……………..
And this is under Al Sisi. Things would have been even worse under the Muslim Brotherhood.
OLD GUY says
It appears that following ones constitution by Egyptians current leadership is the same problem we have with some of our current political leaders with the American Constitution. These political leaders in America are elected and take an oath to uphold our constitution so why are they allowed to ignore it and abuse their power of office? When you allow the elite and political figures to pick and choose what laws they want to enforce or not, you no longer have a CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT you have a dictatorship.
Alfredo says
It was at the Al-Azhar where the Hafs version of the Qur’an was chosen as the official version only in 1924 (!?)
The so called eternal, uncreated unchanged, preserved by Allah, according to some golden tablets up in Heaven somewhere. (Don’t ask…)
Questioning might land you in jail.
What did the “enlightened scholars” at the Al- Azhar do with the previous versions of the Holey Qur’an?
Well, they threw them in the Nile (!?)
The Nile do you say? Doesn’t it rhyme with denial? Yes it does indeed!
Unfortunately for Muhammadans and the world at large for that matter, the followers of the “religion of peace” are still waiting for the essential reformation it needs if Islam is to join the family of civilized religions.
Until that miracle happens Egypt will remains groping in the darkness of a primitive personality cult to a seventh century warlock, remarkable for the extreme cruelty he exhibited.
gravenimage says
It was believed that the Hafs version is a more funadmental version of the Qur’an. I am not necessarily making a case for this–I am not a Qur’anic scholar–just that this was the reasoning behind this.
Walter Sieruk says
On the topic of a reformation within Islam, a very different yet possible valid and true view on this had been explain by the Christian, Nabeel Qureshi, who was in the past was a Muslim. He wrote in his book which is entitled ANSWERING JIHAD wrote about the suggestion “that Islam needs a reformation. What they may not realize is that radical Islam is the Islamic reformation. This might sound shocking but consider: Just as the Protestant Reformation was an attempt to raze centuries of Catholic tradition and return to the canonical text, so radical Islam is an attempt to raze centuries of traditions of various schools of Islamic thought and return to the canonical text of the Qu ‘ran and Muhammad’s life. This desire to return to the original form of Islam can be seen not only in the words of Sayyid Qutb, but also in his method. He focused almost entirely on references to the Qu ‘ran. it is true also of the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS today, whose publications and proclamations are punctuated by references to the Qu ‘ran and hadith literature. Radical Muslim organizations are explicit in their aim to reform Islam.” page 75. Further on pages 79,80 the author makes his case clear by writing that “Radical Islam is the Islamic reformation. The endeavor to modernize Islam and make it relevant to the twenty -first century is called progressive Islam. Progressive Muslim thought leaders, though few in number and limited in influence are present and are working to recreate Islam’s religious framework from within. Indeed, that is what it would take for Islam to become devoted to peace – not reformation but reimagination. “
gravenimage says
All true. And the aim of most reforms is a returng to the fundamental diktats of an ideology; in the case of Islam this is apt to be *more* violent and oppressive.