An Egyptian blogger - Abdul Kareem Nabeel Soliman - was arrested on Wednesday 26 October 2005 by the Egyptian State Security (Amn El Dawla). According to his family, his arrest might be a result of his writings that are attacking Islam. His brother said that Abdul Kareem has a tense relation with Salafis in his hometown of Alexandria. He added that they might be the ones behind filing a complaint against his brother. Sources: Manalaa.net , Miss Mabrouk, and Amr Gharbeia.I've visited his blog before and I do really disagree with his writings about Islam; however I still cannot find any reason for arresting someone for what he says or writes. And for those who think that he should be arrested for offending Islam, I believe that arresting him is more offending to Islam. Because by arresting him you are just telling everyone that Islam is in a real danger because of a couple of blog posts. And finally I do believe that Islam is great enough not to need any security forces to defend it, and will never be in danger because of a couple of blog posts, or even millions of them. Tags: Egypt, Abdolkarim, Detention, Blog, Gr33n Data
03 November 2005
Arresting Abdul Kareem: Defending Islam or Offending It?
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You are right . Nobody should ever be arrested for saying what they think outloud . Simply because arresting them wont make them change their mind . And forcing them to keep their opinions to themselves is not going to change it .
ReplyDeleteIf you think somebody offended you, just file a complain against him . Thare's something called court and this is why it was made .
If you think arresting Abdul Kareem is offending Islam , try hearing grown educated students say they are happy with "Muharram bek" events.
I think that the impetus to censor is more political than religious. Egypt has long enjoyed a state monopoly on the media and has been able to promote the dominant social paradigm through its media avenues. Radio, television, and (to a lesser extent) printed media are one way avenues for information dissemination, rather than two way conduits for social conversation. The internet in general, and blogs in particular, are a new social forum that fulfills the function of a sook, but one that is not just local. Governments are threatened by that, and the forum allows for the minority to have a much greater voice. Using Islam as an excuse to censor non-party ideas gives the government a moral justification for heavy handed techniques in controlling the social dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that I am not "coming down on" either Egypt or Mubarrak's government. As an American, with our tradition of free press, I witness DAILY the attempts of many politically motivated special interest groups (not to mention the two dominant parties) to control the media. Here they don't censor as much as they make ad-hominem attacks in order to discredit, but censorship still goes on.
We live in interesting times. I personally suspect that we're witnessing an inexorable shift in paradigms from heavy handed censorship to subtle political manipulations. But as long as there are people in power, they will have a vested interest in promoting their vision of reality in which they get to stay in power.
I join in here to say, "free the voice."
ReplyDeleteI think it's going to happen. I think the voices will be freed. I think it's just a matter of time. But I also think that it NEEDS to take time, because when change happens too quickly for the paradigm to keep up you end up with excrement happening like the French Revolution, and that kind of destruction can destroy what's valuable in a culture even as it enlightens it in another respect.
ReplyDeleteLife, politics, community, and humanity are all balancing acts.
If I was a muslim who wanted to become a catholic - should I be arrested - or executed - if I lived in an islamic country?
ReplyDeletewell no matter how bad he was talking about Islam none deserve to be put in prison for something he/she said...funny when u said that Egypt n' Syria r somehow alike...well even in these matters...we Syrian bloggers always joke about ending up at "OUR ANTE'S SPECIAL HOUSE" :D....
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