A few years ago, al-Sisi, in a speech before Muslim clerics from al-Azhar, said “we are in need of a religious revolution.” Nothing happened, but for years afterward I was asked about this in numerous interviews, as if it heralded genuine reform in Islam. This latest statement from al-Sisi likely won’t extinguish the fond hopes he raised back then either.
In any case, many other Muslim leaders are saying the same thing these days. The West is going to have to decide between the freedom of speech and submission to Sharia blasphemy laws, and several Muslim leaders are now trying to force the showdown.
“Egypt says freedom of expression ‘stops’ when Muslims offended,” Reuters, October 28, 2020:
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday freedom of expression should stop if it offends more than 1.5 billion people, following the display of images in France of the Prophet Mohammad that Muslims see as blasphemous.
Sisi also said he firmly rejects any form of violence or terrorism from anyone in the name of defending religion, religious symbols or icons.
“We also have rights. We have the right for our feelings not to be hurt and for our values not to be hurt,” he said during an address to commemorate the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday.
“And if some have the freedom to express what is in their thoughts I imagine that this stops when it comes to offending the feelings of more than 1.5 billion people,” he added in televised remarks.
The Grand Imam of Egypt’s al-Azhar university, one of the world’s most eminent seats of Sunni Muslim learning, also called on the international community to criminalise “anti-Muslim” actions….