Abdel Kareem Nabil (aka Kareem Amer), the first Egyptian blogger jailed for criticizing Islam, al-Azhar and the government freed after a 4yrs sentence

Abdel Kareem Nabil, 26,² who wrote under the name Kareem Amer, was the first Egyptian blogger jailed specifically for his writings as part of a crackdown and to serve as a warning to others.¹

In his writings, Nabil called President Hosni Mubarak "a symbol of tyranny"¹ and Al-Azhar

"the university of terrorism," the "other face of the coin of al-Qaida" that "stuffs its students' brains and turns them into human beasts ... teaching them that there is not place for differences in this life."¹

For expressing his opinions online, Babil was expelled from the state-run religious al-Azhar University² where he was studying law¹ and arrested in 2006.²

The judge at his trial said that he also insulted Islam by writing in an article that

Muhammad and his seventh century followers were "spillers of blood" for their teachings on warfare.¹

The article was written after Muslims rioted and attacked an Egyptian Coptic Christian church in 2005 over a play deemed offensive to Islam.¹ He also wrote in it that

"Muslims revealed their true ugly face and appeared to all the world that they are full of brutality, barbarism and inhumanity."¹

 In a later article not cited by the court, Nabil clarified his comments on Muhammad saying he was "great" and that he should be viewed in the context of the seventh century.¹

After his release, he said that he has no regrets and would not be deterred from future activism.²

Gamal Eid, head of Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) which had supported Nabil said,²

"We defend opinions regardless of whether we agree or disagree with them."²

"We would [also] protect (religious) extremists' right of freedom of expression on condition that their thoughts remain thoughts and are not coupled with implementation,"²

Sources: 1. AP, 2. Reuters


Comment:

Gamal Eid is not entirely correct by supporting the religious extremists here. He has made the usual 'moral equivalence' error.

Those who argue for freedom to criticize oppression and repression are not equivalent to the Islamists who abuse freedom of expression in order to destroy it. Unlike others, Islamists want freedom only for themselves and are using freedom in order to deny others their freedom.

Freedom comes with the proviso that it be not used against freedom. Using freedom to destroy freedom is a perversion of freedom. Freedom is not meant for such purposes and therefore can and must rightly be denied to those who abuses it.

As Abraham Lincoln said

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

Islamists wish to deny others freedom and so they do not deserve any and so should not have any.

Nabil also went to far in trying to excuse Muhammad with the usual 'out of context' explanation. The quick reply to it is that if one looks at all of what Muhammad did, a lot of his actions are inexcusable even by the contexts and standards of the seventh century or even the stone age. And if each individual cases are looked at closely, the excuses given for the violence and extremism of Muhammad can also be questioned. 

Like Nabil, Walid Husayin, who is now in custody facing a possible life sentence, recently said

Allah has attributes of a "primitive Bedouin."

and called Islam a "blind faith that grows and takes over people's minds where there is irrationality and ignorance."

The fact that even supposedly secular and 'moderate' Muslim governments in Egypt, the Palestinian West Bank ( Walid Husayin facing life in prison for blasphemy) and Pakistan (Asia Bibi's death sentence for alleged blasphemy) are like this shows that depth of Islamic problem despite politically correct lies.

It is also ironic that while Human Rights activists in Muslim countries like Egypt are calling for freedom of expression, the politically correct elites in the West are trying so hard to bring in blasphemy laws, disguised as 'hate speech' and 'Islamophobia', to censor, silence and punish any criticism of Islam or Muslims and turn it into a taboo.


Some previous similar or related stories:

Ex-Muslim Atheist Palestinian, Walid Husayin, facing life sentence for “insulting” Islam as some call for his death for apostasy

Death sentence for Christian woman Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy in Pakistan

Finally some PROOF: German studies find religious and cultural roots to Muslim propensity to violence, PC excuses can't explain all – like so DUH!!!

Muslims angry Coptic Bishop Bishoy said they were guests in Egypt and questioned Koran 5:7

Muslims burn Christian homes in the Egyptian village of Nawahid over rumors of relationship between a young Christian and Muslim girl

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