EGYPT: SEPARATED MUSLIM SCHOLAR FACES DEATH THREATS

(26 Jun 1995) English/Nat
In Egypt, there's more trouble for a Muslim scholar ordered to separate from his wife after being accused of deserting his faith.
Professor Nasr Abu Zeid is now living in fear of his life.
The court ordered him to leave his wife because of his linguistic analysis of the Koran.
But for some militants, the ruling isn't enough - they want his death.
In a quiet suburb in the desert west of Cairo, a lone guard sits with his walkie-talkie radio outside an apartment.
Inside lives Professor Nasr Abu Zeid of Cairo University, the man whose life he's there to protect.
Abu Zeid has been declared an "apostate" of Islam because of the books he has written about Islam and the Koran.
Islamic militants have demanded his execution.
And although his life may be protected by a guard, his marriage to fellow scholar Ibtihal Younis has already been given a death sentence.
On June 14th, a Cairo court ruled that because Abu Zeid is an apostate, he must separate from his wife.
It is a judgement Abu Zeid and his wife Ibtihal refuse to accept.
SOUNDBITE:
"I was shocked because the judge is not a judge. I'm not allowed to make a comment on the verdict but the judge is not a judge. he made himself god. He didn't ask me. No, absolutely, it is not fair."
SUPER CAPTION: Nasr Abu Zeid, Professor at Cairo University
But to Sheikh Youssef El Badry, Islamic preacher and head of this neighborhood mosque, divorce is not enough - he wants death for Abu Zeid.
The preacher led the fight by a group of conservative sheikhs and lawyers to have Abu Zeid declared an apostate.
Zeid feels that, as a preacher, Badry is not a fitting judge for a scholar.
SOUNDBITE:
"His "right" is to return to Islam. (But) he is a mortad an apostate and a mortad is as a dead man. He has no right (s). I want to judge him. Why has he cursed our religion?."
SUPER CAPTION: Sheikh Youssef El Badry, Islamic cleric
Abu Zeid and Ibtihal vow they will stay together and appeal the order that they separate.
Ibtihal says she shares her husband's beliefs,and will continue to share his life, despite the risks.
SOUNDBITE:
"I am not desperate, I am angry. I am sad, not only for me, but for all Egyptian women. I have received calls from many Egyptian women, not only intellectuals, but simple women, they have asked me to fight. Our life. If we live, we live together, if we die we will die together. I am not afraid of dying because they have already killed us morally."
SUPER CAPTION. Ibtihal, Abu Zeid's wife
But it is not just a "moral death" that has been threatened by some Islamic militants in Egypt.
Although Sheikh Badry has not publicly demanded a violent end for Abu Zeid's, he does teach that the Koran condemns apostates.
A condemnation which has been interpreted by militant Muslims as justifying the execution of Abu Zeid and others like him.
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[@MuhammetKoyuncu-ue4rw]

Hi

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😢

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😮

[@MuhammetKoyuncu-ue4rw]

RIP Nasr Hamid Abu zaid

[@paulspydar]

Has she got two black eyes?

[@MuhammetKoyuncu-ue4rw]

A

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A

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