Egyptian author and thinker Sayed Al-Qimni has been threatened and denounced as an apostate by Islamic organisations including Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya and the Muslim Brotherhood Since receiving the State Award of Merit in Social Sciences from the Egyptian government for his work. Read more here
The Pope has condemned a Scottish art exhibition which invites visitors to deface a copy of the Bible as “disgusting”. The exhibit at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow was intended for the LGBT community who felt left out of religion to “write their way back in” to the holy book. A Vatican spokesperson said the project was “disgusting and offensive,” adding “they would not think of doing it to the Koran.” The Bible will remain on display in a glass case and the public will now have to write comments in another book alongside. Read more here
Palestinian militant organisation, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade that was ridiculed in the new Sacha Baron Cohen film has threatened to “respond in the way we find suitable” against the London-born satirist. The armed wing of the Fatah movement, has condemned the film Brüno , in which Cohen plays a gay Austrian fashionista, as “part of a conspiracy” against them. Read more here
In Sudan, Amal Habbani, the editor of the column Tiny Issues in Ajrass Al Horreya (Freedom Bells) newspaper, if being fined US$400,000 after she wrote an article on July 12 supporting her colleague Lubna Al Hussein. Hussein was recently tried for sensational dress. Both she and Habbani argue that this prosecution is an oppression of women.