Monday, August 2, 2010

AL Arabiya News Channel Newspaper cancels publishing controversial prophet book


Egypt website hacked for 'trial of prophet' book

Hackers left a message accusing the website of apostasy
Hackers left a message accusing the website of apostas
CAIRO (Amira Fouda)
The website of an Egyptian newspaper was hacked on Sunday after it had announced plans to print a book titled “The Trial of Prophet Muhammad” and deemed to use offensive language in reference to the Muslim prophet.
This is how they welcome the Holy month of Ramadan, by hurling insults at the prophet "
Egypt\\\'s Council of Senior Scholars
Al-Youm al-Sabea (The Seventh Day) newspaper stirred a wide uproar when it announced last week it would print the book, which contains chapter titles perceived by critics as sensational and offensive such as: “The red secrets of the prophet’s relationships with women” and “Why did he fight his enemies with the sword?” 

Hackers left a message denouncing the book, by Egyptian writer Anis al-Degheidi, and accusing the website’s administration of promoting apostasy and spreading sedition.
 

The message also contained references to sectarian conflicts in Egypt and the alleged violations committed by the Coptic Church against Muslims. Hackers also posted 100 questions and answers about the Christian doctrine.
 


Announcing the publication of Degheidi’s books drew angry reactions from religious circles in Egypt and the Council of Senior Scholars at al-Azhar, the world’s leading institution of Sunni Islam, which issued a statement condemning the newspaper for "helping to promote books that defame the prophet."

“This is how they welcome the Holy month of Ramadan, by hurling insults at the prophet,” the statement said. “This is an unforgivable crime and an apology is not going to fix it.”

The statement demanded journalists in the newspaper to express their views on the issue and to identify those involved in pushing forward to idea of publishing the book.

“They have to issue a blacklist that contains the names of all accomplices in this horrid crime.”

Egyptian lawyer Nabih al-Wahsh also filed a lawsuit calling for revoking the license of the paper and banning it from publication.

Editor-in-chief denies allegations
I personally objected to the title of the book.But the book itself is excellent. I read it myself and it has nothing that defames the prophet "
Khaled Salah, editor in chief Al Youm Al Sabea
Khaled Salah, editor-in chief of the paper and the website, expressed his surprise that the hacking took place even though an announcement was made Friday that the book would not be posted unless authorized by al-Azhar. 

“I personally objected to the title of the book,” he told Al Arabiya. “But the book itself is excellent. I read it myself and it has nothing that defames the prophet.”

Salah denied allegations that his website receives donations from Coptic organizations and accused the hackers and other extremist groups of spreading lies to create more tensions between Muslims and Copts.

“They are adding fuel to the fire and escalating sectarian tension. Copts have nothing to do with this. These are extremist agents.”
 

Degheidi was not available to comment on the incident. He switched off his cell phone and Al Arabiya was not able to reach him.
 


(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid and edited by Mustapha Ajbaili).

برامج | صناعة الموت: القاعدة بالصومال

برامج | صناعة الموت: القاعدة بالصومال

برامج | صناعة الموت: عمر عبدالكافي

برامج | صناعة الموت: عمر عبدالكافي

Al Arabiya News Channel









US evangelicals pan church’s Quran-burning plan
orida church says its plans to burn the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks
A Florida church says its plans to burn the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks


DUBAI (Mustapha Ajbaili)
Christian evangelical churches in the United States blasted a Florida church’s plans to burn copies of the Muslim holy book on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida had called for repeating its “Everybody Burn Quran Day” it celebrates “in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam.”
If I want to win a Muslim to Christ, I surely won't do it by burning the Qur'an in public and provoking them to hate us more "
Angel Nuñez, vice president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference





"Dove World Outreach Center, shame on you," responded Angel Nuñez, vice president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, according to Christianity Today, an Evangelical Christian magazine. 

"If I want to win a Muslim to Christ, I surely won't do it by burning the Qur'an in public and provoking them to hate us more," said Nuñez. "The greatest weapon a Christian has is godly love."

The National Association for Evangelicals (NAE) also reacted in stament urging the Dove World Outreach Center to cancel its planned event to burn the Quran.
 

“The plans recently announced by a Florida group to burn copies of the Quran on September 11 show disrespect for our Muslim neighbors and would exacerbate tensions between Christians and Muslims throughout the world. The NAE urges the cancellation of the burning,” the NAE said.
 

The Florida church’s pastor Terry Jones told CNN earlier this week that “Islam is of the devil, that it's causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times.”

Jones wrote a book titled "Islam is of the Devil," and the church sells coffee mugs and shirts featuring the phrase.
The church launched a YouTube channel to diffuse its messages. 

"I mean ask yourself, have you ever really seen a really happy Muslim? As they're on the way to Mecca? As they gather together in the mosque on the floor? Does it look like a real religion of joy?" Jones asks in one of his YouTube posts.

"No, to me it looks like a religion of the devil."

NAE President Leith Anderson said, “It sounds like the proposed Quran burning is rooted in revenge. Yet the Bible says that Christians should ‘make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else’ (1 Thessalonians 5:15).”

“We have to recognize that fighting fire with fire only builds a bigger fire,” said Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Orlando, Fla., and member of the NAE Board of Directors. “Love is the water that will eventually quench the destruction.”

Anderson said, “The most powerful statement by the organizers of the planned September 11th bonfire would be to call it off in the name and love of Jesus Christ.”

American Muslims and other people of conscience should support positive educational efforts to prevent the spread of Islamophobia "
CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper
Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) had called on American Muslims to react to the planned burning of the Quran by hosting educational "Share the Quran" Ramadan fast-breaking dinners (iftars) at which copies of Islam's holy book will be distributed to neighbors, public and law enforcement officials and journalists. 

"American Muslims and other people of conscience should support positive educational efforts to prevent the spread of Islamophobia," said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
 

Hooper added that the initiative to burn the Quran is one many Islamophobic efforts in that state of Florida and across the United States.

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.


*Ahmed Alsheeti contributed to this story from Washington