by Raymond Ibrahim • Jun 22, 2012 at 4:56 am
Cross-posted from Jihad Watch
Salih Kharisat: Modern Jordan’s first formal apostate?
The true face of the “Arab Awakening’ continues to manifest itself. According to Al Sawt, prosecutors associated with Jordan’s Salafi movement have brought a lawsuit to the Sharia Court of Amman—a lawsuit being called “the first of its kind” in modern Jordan: they are charging a man with “apostasy from Islam.” Journalist and writer Salih Kharisat is accused of publishing an article in the media, which, according to prosecutors, “used expressions that indicate apostasy,” including rejection of the supernatural, “contempt for the Noble Koran,” and calls for universal humanism. The writer naturally denies these accusations and is calling for aid from the international community.
RAYMOND IBRAHIM, a Middle East and Islam specialist, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum. A widely published author, best known for The Al Qaeda Reader (Doubleday, 2007), he guest lectures at universities, including the National Defense Intelligence College, briefs governmental agencies, such as U.S. Strategic Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and has testified before Congress regarding the conceptual failures that dominate American discourse concerning Islam and the worsening plight of Egypt's Christian Copts. Among other media, he has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, CBN, and NPR.