Here once again is an example of why we don’t see more genuine Islamic reformers.
“Algerian justice wants prison for academic accused of insulting precepts,” translated from “Justiça argelina quer prisão para académico acusado de insultar preceitos,” Noticias ao Minuto, April 1, 2021:
An Algerian court today demanded “law enforcement,” that is, a sentence of three to five years in prison for the academic Saïd Djabelkhir, accused of “insulting the precepts of Islam.”
The information was transmitted by Saïd Djabelkhir’s lawyer to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The 53-year-old Algerian scholar’s trial began this morning in the municipality of Sidi M’Hamed, Algiers province. The date of the verdict is not yet known.
Saïd Djabelkhir is accused by seven lawyers and another academic of “offending the precepts of Islam and Muslim rites.”
Algerian law provides for a punishment of three to five years’ imprisonment for people who offend the Prophet Muhammad or who denigrate “the dogma and precepts of Islam, whether in writing, design, statement or any other means.”
“I have nothing to censor. I have all the arguments to defend myself,” this academic specializing in Sufism – a mystical and contemplative current of Islam that spread, in particular, between the 9th and 12th centuries – told AFP shortly before the start of the trial.
During the hearing, Saïd Djabelkhir told the judge that the works he produced are intended for reflection and interpretation of the texts that are at the foundation of Islam, according to a local media outlet.
To the AFP, the investigator said, during a recent interview, that “a great effort is needed” to make a new reflection on “the founding texts of Islam,” since “the traditional readings” do not correspond “to the expectations, needs and issues “of contemporary man.”
With a degree in Islamic Sciences, author of two works on religion, Saïd Djabelkhir stated that he is being accused “by people who have no competence in matters of religion.”
The scholar’s lawyers said that the key issue in the case is to have a judgment on matters of a religious nature without having specialists in the matter to decide.
Another lawyer for Saïd Djabelkhir explained that the trial is an “inquisition,” stating that the ideas that are being debated in court should be the subject of outside reflection.
In an interview with Le Figaro, published on Tuesday, the investigator said it was the “first time in Algerian history that an academic has been prosecuted for speaking out in his area of competence,” since, “normally, people prosecuted they are activists or young people “who have posted content on social media, but” are not experts in Islam.”
PRCS says
No true scholar would conclude that Qur’an was “revealed” by some guy in the sky to an illiterate, 7th-century desert dweller.
mortimer says
PRCS describes exactly what Muslims in fact DO BELIEVE, namely, that the Koran is of divine origin. However, modern textual scholarship is showing that this text has been SUBSTANTIALLY EDITED and CONTINUALLY EDITED for 1300 years. Recent big edits were done in 1924 and smaller ones in the 1970s and 1980s. The Koran has gone through constant human interventions in order to eliminate bad writing and ‘improve’ the text so it isn’t so bone-headedly stupid and incomprehensible.
Once Muslims see that the Koran has NOT been perfectly preserved in its original form (which original version cannot be found anywhere), Muslims start to doubt the alleged divine origin of the Koran.
Sharia law is based on a stable text, but the Koran has never been a stable text. Most Muslims don’t yet know this.
gravenimage says
Mortimer wrote:
Recent big edits were done in 1924 and smaller ones in the 1970s and 1980s
………………..
Mortimer, what official changes to the Qur’an were made at these times–and by whom? I have read several translations of the Qur’an dating back some decades and have not noticed any great changes.
gravenimage says
Mortimer, I suppose that your reference to 1924 is the Cairo Edition of the Qur’an:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Quran#1924_Cairo_edition
This mostly has to do with including symbols for pronunciation of vowel sounds–the actual text is based on Asim’s recitation, the 8th-century recitation of Kufa.
Not exactly changes in the way this is usually meant.
hammar says
He wasn’t even a desert dweller, he was a pillager.
gravenimage says
These things are not mutually exclusive.
Emilie Green says
Apparently this guy didn’t know that the Gates of Ijtihad [Interpretation] of Islamic texts had closed long ago. When they closed, all the stupidly and cruelty that forms the sum total of Islam were locked into place. And remain with us today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijtihad
gravenimage says
Yep.
Michael Copeland says
“the traditional readings” do not correspond “to the expectations, needs and issues “of contemporary man.”
Expressed another way by Hamed Abdel-Samad, son of an Egyptian imam,
“…offers no answers to the questions of modern life.”
Michael Copeland says
A man in Iran who held Koran study groups in his home made the suggestion that the story of Jonah and the whale be taken figuratively. He was hanged.
gravenimage says
Grimly true, Michael. Here is that terrible story:
“Trust Iran? It Just Hanged a Man Who Doubted ‘Jonah and the Whale’”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trust-iran-it-just-hanged-a-man-who-doubted-jonah-and-the-whale
Needless to say, Jews or Christians would never do this.
Hadrian says
I couldn’t find this, can you provide a link?
Hadrian says
Ah gravenimage’s reply never appeared on my window for some reason. Never mind.
gravenimage says
Thank you, Hadrian.
gravenimage says
Algeria: Islamic scholar calls for ‘new reflection’ on Islamic texts, court wants him imprisoned for insulting Islam
…………
This poor man. More barbaric blasphemy laws–but this is grimly orthodox Islam.
mortimer says
What is ‘perfect, eternal and complete’ cannot be improved, must not be changed and cannot be added to.
gravenimage says
Mortimer–with all respect–you just denied that this was the case in your comments above.
loek de vette says
Dear Sir,
In the comments, Mortimer wrote that there was a large edit of the Qur’an in 1924, but he does not provide any details, which I would have liked.
How can I communicate to ask him for more details?
yours faithfully,
Loek de Vette (The Netherlands)
Michael Copeland says
see videos by CIRA `International, with Al Fadi speaking to Dr. Jay Smith. There are several on the development of the Koran. The Hafs reading was adopted in Egypt in 1924 as their standard, and other, variant, editions in use in the city were gathered together and dumped in the Nile. Since then the Hafs has been the standard in that part of the world. Nevertheless it is not the same as Korans in use in Morocco and Indonesia.
gravenimage says
Thanks, Michael.
Andrew Blackadder says
One day speaking truth will be a revolutionary act… George Orwell…
That day has arrived..
Beneath the Veil of Consciousness says
Islam is a cancer. You can’t reform cancer.
Just another example of why you should BOYCOTT all MUSLIM COUNTRIES. They are CESSPOOLS of HATRED.