Blasphemy law in Yemen

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A person who is accused of blasphemy in Yemen is often subject to vigilantism by governmental authorities. An accused person is subject to Sharia, which, according to some interpretations, prescribes death for blasphemy.

Contents

Yemen's constitution declares that Islam is the state religion. Non-Muslims are barred from holding elected office. Yemen’s legal system is a mixture of Islamic legal principles, old Egyptian laws, and Napoleonic codes. Islamic legal principles are applied in all courts—not just in Sharia courts. [1]

Sharia

Under Sharia, blasphemy is an instance of apostasy. Sharia says apostasy is a Hadd offence (an offence against God). In some jurisdictions, Sharia is understood to prescribe the death penalty for Hadd offences. [2] [3]

Human rights

Information about blasphemy in Yemen is difficult to obtain because government authorities severely restrict the freedom of the press. Human rights abuses are common. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] The Press and Publications Law No. 25 for 1990 prohibits publication of material that may: prejudice Islam; jeopardize national interests; cause tribal, sectarian, racial, or regional discrimination and spread a spirit of dissent and division among the people; disseminate ideas contrary to the principles of the Yemeni Revolution; harm national unity; and distort the image of the Yemeni, Arab, or Islamic heritage. [1]

Democracy as blasphemy

The Salafi movement in Yemen is a redoubtable force against blasphemy. The movement has more than 120 centers and more than 700 mosques. The movement condemns as blasphemous all actions that promote democracy, and calls those who participate in such actions atheists and sinners. [9]

Global law against blasphemy

In 2005, on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Yemen introduced to the United Nations General Assembly the first resolution that called upon the world to take action against the "defamation of religion". [10]

Selected cases

In 2008, Yemeni authorities arrested Firass Al-Yafi'ee, a journalist who had been an irritant to the government since the late 1990s, on charges of drinking alcohol and committing blasphemy. During Al-Yafi'ee's trial, a fatwa appeared. The fatwa accused Al-Yafi'ee of insulting the Quran, and called for his death. Judge Anwar Al-Sayed convicted Al-Yafi'ee on one charge: drinking alcohol, and sentenced him to receive eighty lashes. [11]

In 2000, Abdul Karim Al-Razihi fled to the Netherlands because of the campaign waged against him by Salafyoon mosques, Aden. The mosques accused al-Razihi of atheism and infidelity because of his poem titled "A Summer Night Dream." The mosques claimed that al-Razihi blamed angels and acquitted Satan where the poem states, "A Satan sees me and an angel seduced me." [12] [13]

In 2000, zealots orchestrated a campaign against Samir al-Yusuf for reprinting one of the classics of modern Yemeni literature, Sana: An Open City by Muhammad ‘Abd al-Wali (1940–73). The zealots accused al-Yusuf of disseminating blasphemy. [13]

Related Research Articles

Sharia is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and hadith. In Arabic, the term sharīʿah refers to God's immutable divine law and this referencing is contrasted with fiqh, which refers to its interpretations by Islamic scholars. Fiqh, practical application side of sharia in a sense, was elaborated over the centuries by legal opinions issued by qualified jurists and sharia has never been the sole valid legal system in Islam historically; it has always been used alongside customary law from the beginning, and applied in courts by ruler-appointed judges, integrated with various economic, criminal and administrative laws issued by Muslim rulers.

Blasphemy is an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a crime, including insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, speaking the "sacred name" in Judaism, and blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is "eternal sin" in Christianity. It was also a crime under English common law.

Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qutbism, Islamic extremism, Islamic activism, but also criticized as pejorative, a term used by outsiders who instead ought to be using more positive terms such as Islamic activism or Islamic revivalism.

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Islamic absolute monarchy in which Sunni Islam is the official state religion based on firm Sharia law. Non-Muslims must practice their religion in private and are vulnerable to discrimination and arrest. While no law requires all citizens to be Muslim, non-Muslim foreigners attempting to acquire Saudi Arabian nationality must convert to Islam. Children born to Muslim fathers are by law deemed Muslim.

Takfir is an Arabic and Islamic term which denotes excommunication from Islam of one Muslim by another, i.e. accusing another Muslim to be an apostate. The word is found neither in the Quran nor in the ḥadīth literature; instead, kufr ("unbelief") and kāfir ("unbeliever") and other terms employing the same triliteral root k-f-r appear.

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Hudud is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam, it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are mandated and fixed by God as per Islam. These punishments were applied in pre-modern Islam, and their use in some modern states has been a source of controversy.

Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. It includes not only explicit renunciations of the Islamic faith by converting to another religion or abandoning religion, but also blasphemy or heresy by those who consider themselves Muslims, through any action or utterance which implies unbelief, including those who deny a "fundamental tenet or creed" of Islam,. An apostate from Islam is known as a murtadd (مرتدّ).

In Islamic Law, tazir refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state. It is one of three major types of punishments or sanctions under Sharia Islamic law — hadd, qisas and ta'zir. The punishments for the Hadd offenses are fixed by the Qur'an or Hadith, qisas allow equal retaliation in cases of intentional bodily harm, while ta'zir refers to punishments applied to the other offenses for which no punishment is specified in the Qur'an or the Hadith or is not punishable under either qisas or hudud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blasphemy in Pakistan</span> Pakistani penal code on insulting religion

The Pakistan Penal Code outlaws blasphemy against any recognized religion, with punishments ranging from a fine to the death penalty. According to various human rights organizations, Pakistan's blasphemy laws have been used to persecute religious minorities and settle personal rivalries, frequently against other Muslims, rather than to safeguard religious sensibilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam and blasphemy</span> Overview of Islamic views on blasphemy

In Islam, blasphemy is impious utterance or action concerning God, but is broader than in normal English usage, including not only the mocking or vilifying of attributes of Islam but denying any of the fundamental beliefs of the religion. Examples include denying that the Quran was divinely revealed, the Prophethood of one of the Islamic prophets, insulting an angel, or maintaining God had a son.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain</span> British branch of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blasphemy law in Saudi Arabia</span>

Saudi Arabia's laws are an amalgam of rules from Sharia, royal decrees, royal ordinances, other royal codes and bylaws, fatwas from the Council of Senior Scholars and custom and practice.

The main blasphemy law in Egypt is Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code. It penalizes: "whoever exploits and uses the religion in advocating and propagating by talk or in writing, or by any other method, extremist thoughts with the aim of instigating sedition and division or disdaining and contempting any of the heavenly religions or the sects belonging thereto, or prejudicing national unity or social peace."

Malaysia curbs blasphemy and any insult to religion or to the religious by rigorous control of what people in that country can say or do. Government-funded schools teach young Muslims the principles of Sunni Islam, and instruct young non-Muslims on morals. The government informs the citizenry on proper behavior and attitudes, and ensures that Muslim civil servants take courses in Sunni Islam. The government ensures that the broadcasting and publishing media do not create disharmony or disobedience. If someone blasphemes or otherwise engages in deviant behavior, Malaysia punishes such transgression with Sharia or through legislation such as the Penal Code.

The use of politically and religiously-motivated violence dates back to the early history of Islam. Islam has its origins in the behavior, sayings, and rulings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his companions, and the first caliphs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries CE. Mainstream Islamic law stipulates detailed regulations for the use of violence, including corporal and capital punishment, as well as regulations on how, when, and whom to wage war against.

Sharia means Islamic law based on age-old concepts. Since the early Islamic states of the eighth and ninth centuries, Sharia always existed alongside other normative systems.

Capital punishment for offenses is allowed by law in some countries. Such offenses include adultery, apostasy, blasphemy, corruption, drug trafficking, espionage, fraud, homosexuality and sodomy, perjury, prostitution, sorcery and witchcraft, theft, and treason.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apostasy in Islam by country</span>

The situation for apostates from Islam varies markedly between Muslim-minority and Muslim-majority regions. In Muslim-minority countries, "any violence against those who abandon Islam is already illegal". But in some Muslim-majority countries, religious violence is "institutionalised", and "hundreds and thousands of closet apostates" live in fear of violence and are compelled to live lives of "extreme duplicity and mental stress."

References

  1. 1 2 "Yemen". Carnegie Endowment. 2009. Archived from the original on 21 October 2005. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  2. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: An upsurge in public executions". Archived from the original on 2011-03-22. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  3. ↑ "Human rights situation in Yemen" (PDF). NT\613967EN.doc. European Parliament. 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  4. ↑ "Yemen | Amnesty International Report 2009". Archived from the original on 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  5. ↑ Campagna, Joel (9 March 2006). "Yemen: Attacks, Censorship, and Dirty Tricks". Special Reports. Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  6. ↑ Yemen Times Staff (18–21 December 2008). "Their News". 1217, Vol 16. Yemen Times. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  7. ↑ Richani, S. (January 2008). "Yemen:Freedom of Expression in Peril" (PDF). Article 19. article19.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  8. ↑ "Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur Margaret Sekaggya on the situation of human rights defenders" (PDF). A/HRC/10/12/Add.1. United Nations Human Rights Council. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  9. ↑ Al-Zaidi, Hassan (7–10 August 2003). "Parliamentary elections and Salafi Movements in Kuwait and Yemen". 657, Vol 13. Yemen Times. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  10. ↑ "UN anti-blasphemy measures have sinister goals, observers say". Canwest News Service. 24 November 2008. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  11. ↑ Masabain, Shaher (1–4 January 2009). "Journalist fears for life after being accused of blasphemy". 1221, Vol 16. Yemen Times. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  12. ↑ "Another Intellectual Seeks Asylum". 20, Vol X. Yemen Times. May 15–21, 2000. Archived from the original on November 12, 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  13. 1 2 Hafez, Sabry (September–October 2000). "The Novel, Politics and Islam". NLR 5, pp. 117-141. New Left Review. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
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