Tag: Blasphemy

Al-Azhar bans book on blasphemy in Egypt

September 28, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Blasphemy, Cairo, Egypt, Islamic extremism

Egypt’s top Islamic authority visited a well-known bookshop in central Cairo last week, telling it to halt sales of the book “Blasphemy in Egypt” by two prominent Egyptian authors. “Officials representing Al-Azhar and the Egyptian Ministry of Islamic Endowments visited Madbouli Bookshop and asked them to stop selling the book . . . Read More

Justice moves slowly in Pakistan

September 9, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Pakistan, Punjab, Quran, Shahzad Masih, Shama Bibi

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has criticised the inaction of police in response to the November 2014 burning alive of a Christian couple, Shahzad Masih and Shama Bibi, in Punjab state. Five police officers were present Muslims descended upon the couple, who had been accused of desecrating a copy of the Quran. . . . Read More

Asia Bibi’s last chance for freedom

July 22, 2015 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Multan, Prophet Muhammad, Sawan Masih, Shahbaz Bhatti, Sheikhupura

Pakistani Christian Aasiya Noreen (known as Asia Bibi) has been allowed to take her appeal against her death penalty for blasphemy to Pakistan’s Supreme Court in the capital, Islamabad. Until the Supreme Court reaches its final decision, Noreen cannot be executed. Commentators today have praised the Supreme Court for its courage to . . . Read More

Coptic boy’s Ramadan gesture ends in detention

July 20, 2015 Egypt Alexandria, Blasphemy, Copts, Islamic extremism, Ramadan

At sundown each day during Ramadan, which ended on 17 July with the Eid-al-Fitr celebrations, observant Muslims customarily broke their fast at their evening iftar meal by eating dates. A week prior, on the evening of 10 July, 16-year-old Fawzi Osama was on the street in the northern Egyptian city . . . Read More

Police rescue Pakistani Christian from ‘mob justice’ over blasphemy

July 3, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Faisalabad, Farooqabad, Lahore, Quran, Seventh-day Adventists

Rukhsana and other family members were beaten and had their faces blackened by an angry mob, June 2015World Watch Monitor A Christian father of four was beaten, had his head shaved, his face blackened, and was dragged through his Pakistan village before he was rescued by police June 30. . . . Read More

Iceland makes blasphemy legal

July 3, 2015 Blasphemy, Charlie Hebdo, Elections, France, Iceland, Sweden

Iceland’s parliament has abolished its blasphemy laws, despite opposition from some of the country’s churches, reports the BBC. A bill was put forward in response to the attack against the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, by Iceland’s minority Pirate Party, which campaigns for internet and data freedom. The Pirate movement . . . Read More

Coptic boys on bail, anti-Islam charges pending

June 18, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Blasphemy, Copts, Gad Younan, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Ramadan

The last of four Egyptian boys accused of having “offended” Islam has been released on bail while trial is expected to continue after the Muslim month of Ramadan. The 17-year-old student from Upper Egypt was released after 62 days in prison, subject to the payment of 10,000 Egyptian pounds, equivalent . . . Read More

Second mentally ill Pakistani in 2 weeks charged with desecrating Quran

June 11, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Quran, Sindh

Twenty-year-old Yaqoob Bashir Masih was accused of desecrating the Quran in Mirpur Khas in Sindh province on June 4, even though he has been treated for his mental health, according to a Catholic priest. After Bashir (a Christian, known locally as ‘Kaka’) is said to have told a crowd who threatened . . . Read More

Pakistan ‘mob justice’ against mentally ill man prevented, but riots ensue

June 2, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Youhanabad

It was a familiar scene: hundreds of angry people in the dense urban streets of a big Pakistan city, whipped up by rumors that someone had defiled a Holy Quran. Pounding on doors. Throwing rocks. Demanding blood. This time, however, something unusual appeared in the Sandha sector of Lahore, Pakistan’s . . . Read More

Pakistan: 106 charged with murder

May 27, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Pakistan, Quran, Shahzad Masih, Shama Bibi

Pakistan has charged 106 people with murder, more than six months after a Christian couple were beaten and burnt to death by a mob, reports the BBC. Shahzad Masih, 26, and his five-month pregnant wife Shama, 24, were accused by the mob of burning pages of a Qur’an, as reported . . . Read More

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