Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Religion & Law Blogs -> Religion Clause

Religion & Law

: Religion Clause

Palestinian Blogger In West Bank Faces Possible Life In Prison For Heretical Postings

By Howard M. Friedman

AP reported Friday from the West Bank Palestinian town of Qalqilya that a mysterious blogger who angered the Arab world by his Arabic language postings blog postings and Facebook pages claiming he was God and that Muhammad had the attributes of a "primitive Bedouin" has now been caught.  It turns out that the blogger, whose website spoofing the Qur'an drew over 70,000 visitors, is Walid Husayin, a quiet 26-year old son of a Muslim scholar. Husayin led a double life, working in his father's barber shop and praying each Friday with his family. But he spent evenings blogging, in English and Arabic, arguing in favor of atheism and criticizing Islam as fostering irrationality and ignorance.  Husayin has now been arrested and charged with "insulting the divine essence."  Seer Press News says that Husayin, who was apprehended because he spent an unusual amount of time in an Internet cafe, could be sentenced to life in prison. According to Dbglobal News,even Husayin's mother wants him to be imprisoned for life to restore the family honor and protect the family.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on November 14, 2010 (boomark / email).