Muslims for Progressive Values Strongly Condemns Charges Against Dr. Islam Behery

LOS ANGELES - Nov. 30, 2015 - PRLog -- Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV) strongly condemns the charges held against Dr. Islam Behery.

Dr. Islam Behery is an Egyptian television host and scholar who has been charged with “defaming” religious beliefs for questioning the validity of hadith sources on his show “With Islam” and is facing five years in prison. He was accused by the state-backed religious institution Al-Azhar.

Given that Dr. Islam Behery is due for another court appearance on November 30, 2015 at the Cairo Misdemeanour Court, we are urgently requesting Egyptian authorities to drop the charges held under Articles 98(f), 160 and 161 of the Penal Code against Dr. Islam Behery.

In his television shows, Dr. Islam has called for the protection of universal human rights (including women and religious minorities like Christians) and for an interpretation of religion that fits today's modern context.

We at MPV believe freedom of expression and conscience are not only essential to all human societies but integral to the Qur’anic view of humanity. All citizens of the world have every right to freely negotiate their faith without fear of threat, punishment, or torture, and to live a life with dignity and with freedom of conscience as the Qur'an demands.

We believe that no one should be persecuted, imprisoned or detained for declaring or promoting unpopular opinions whether political, artistic, social or religious, even when that expression may be regarded as offensive and that dissent may be considered blasphemous. We therefore urge Egypt to repeal its criminal defamation laws, which are often utilized to penalize individuals who voice critique against state authorities or religious institutions.

Join MPV in supporting freedom of expression and freedom of and from religion and belief by signing the #FatwaOnFEAR: https://www.change.org/p/support-the-fatwa-for-freedom-of...