{UAH} Egypt's Justice Minister Fired After Saying He Would Jail a Prophet

Egypt's justice minister fired after saying he would jail a prophet

MARCH 13, 2016 6:40 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER16 COMMENTS

This is being widely reported — as here — as the justice minister saying that he would jail Muhammad. That could indeed be what he meant. However, it is reported elsewhere that he said he would jail anyone who does wrong, "even if it's a prophet, God's peace and blessings be upon him." That report continues by saying that he was "using the Islamic saying of reverence spoken by Muslims only when referring to the Prophet Mohammad." That is actually not true. Muslims are supposed to say "peace be upon him" after uttering the name of any prophet, not just Muhammad. So I tend to think al-Zind was speaking generally of any prophet, not singling out Muhammad. In any case, whatever he meant, the hysterical rage that has greeted his words has not only cost him his job, but it endangers his life. In Egypt, even post-Muslim Brotherhood, blasphemy is a very serious matter.

"Egyptian justice minister fired after saying he would jail the Prophet Muhammad," by Amro Hassan, Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2016:

Egypt's Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind was removed from his position on Sunday after he said that even the Prophet Muhammad would be jailed if he broke the law.

In response to a question about imprisoning journalists, Al-Zind told an Egyptian private satellite TV channel on Friday that he "will jail anyone who does wrong, even the Prophet [Muhammad], peace be upon him, God forbid."

The former head of Egypt's Judges' Club has been under fire since then, with members of parliament, talk show hosts and social media users all angrily calling for his dismissal.

An Arabic language hashtag demanding the trial of Al-Zind became one of Egypt's top trending topics on Twitter….

PM