د. أحمد صبحي منصور
المدير السابق لرواق ابن خلدون والمستشار الاسلامي السابق للمركز

عن الدكتور احمد صبحي منصور كاتب هذا المقال

Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour
Former assistant professor at Al Azhar University in Egypt.
Muslim scholar and political asylee in the U.S.
Former visiting fellow at the National Endowment for democracy ,and the Human Rights Program, Harvard Law School.
Web Site: www.ahmed.G3Z.com
E-Mail :< mas3192003@yahoo.com>
Summary of Qualifications
- Egyptian national with more than twenty years as a scholar of Islam with expertise in Islamic history, culture, theology, and politics.
- 24 books and approximately 500 articles in Arabic; topics include the history of Wahabism in Saudi Arabia, a critique of the concepts of Jihad, bigotry and dictatorship in Muslim thought, women’s rights in the Muslim world, the reform of Egyptian education; prose fiction and screen plays
- Democracy advocate and leader in Egypt; granted political asylum in the United States in 2002 because of persecution in Egypt
- More than a decade of high profile leadership of secular democratic organizations in Egypt; created opposition to Muslim fanatics’ fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic thought; worked to protect Coptic Christians and other minorities, improve the position of women, and establish truly democratic institutions in Egypt
Education
- 1969 Graduated Al-Azhar Secondary School, Sharkeya, Egypt. Ranked fourth in country on national university entrance examination
- 1973 B.A., Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt (Muslim History, highest honors)
- 1975 M.A., Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt (Muslim History, honors)
- 1980 Ph.D., Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt (Muslim History, highest honors)
(Al-Azhar University is the oldest, largest and most prestigious religious university in the Muslim world. It controls the religious life of the Sunni Muslims around the world.)
Academic Experience
- 1973-80 Assistant Teacher and Lecturer of Muslim History, College of Arabic Language, Al-Azhar University.
- 1980-87 Assistant Professor of Muslim History, College of Arabic Language, Al-Azhar University
- 1981-83 Secretary, History and Civilization Department, Al-Azhar University
- 1984-86 Managing Editor, Principal Spokesman and Lecturer (khateeb),“Al-Huda Al-Nabawy” (The Guidance of the Prophet), of “Dawit Al-Hak” (Call for the Truth), Cairo, Egypt
("Al-Huda Al-Nabawy” was a religious monthly with a circulation of several thousand moderate Sunnis. During my tenure I provided religious guidance to these persons).
- Because of my unconventional scholarship, Al-Azhar University accused me of being an enemy of Islam. I was tried in its canonical court and expelled March 17, 1987. Seven months later, the Egyptian government imprisoned me for two months.
Experience as Independent Scholar of Islam and human rights Activist
- 1991-92 Collaborated with Farag Foda to establish a new political party in Egypt, Mostakbal (The Future Party), dedicated to a secular democratic state. In June, 1992 Farog Foda was assassinated.
- 1993-present (Founding) Member of the Egyptian Society for Enlightenment
- Secretary General (Executive Officer) from 1993 to 1998
(This Society works to promote tolerance between Muslims and Christians. It provides a monthly forum and publication, Al Tanweer, to discuss secular issues of mutual concern).
- 1993-2000 Visiting Lecturer and Consultant on Religious and Cultural Affairs for a number of secular, democratic organizations based in Egypt including The International Ibn Khaldoun Society, The Egyptian Society for Enlightenment, The International Religious Brotherhood, The Group for Democracy, The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
-1994-96 Member of the Board of Trustees, Egyptian Organization for Human Rights This organization worked to protect Egyptians from human rights offenses of the Mubarak regime and from those of terrorists within the country and abroad.
-1994-96 Founding Member of and Religion Consultant to the Popular Movement for Confronting Terrorism, Cairo, Egypt
(This organization went into the field and provided aid to victims of Muslim fanatics, especially in Upper Egypt).
- 1996-2000 Moderator, Weekly Rewak (Conference), Ibn Khaldoun Center, Cairo, Egypt
(The Ibn Khaldoun Center was unique in the Arab World. Its purpose was to advocate and model secular democratic values in the Arab world as well as Iran and Turkey).
- Through research, discussion, and dissemination, this international Center addressed four key areas of concern: religious education reform, the persecution of minorities, democracy and elections, and fanatical fundamentalism.
(In June 2000, the Egyptian government shut down the Ibn Khaldoun Center and imprisoned its Director Dr. Saad Eddin)
- 1996-present Member of and Religion Consultant to The International Ibn Khaldoun Society
(The International Ibn Khaldoun Society focuses on Muslim communities in the United States and the West. It is dedicated to spreading secular democratic values and uniting scholars to oppose Muslim fanaticism within the United States and western democracies).
- June 2000-October 2001 Pursued scholarship and cultural and political activities in the face of harassment by the Security Police and active persecution by the Mubarak Government, Cairo Egypt
- October 2001-present Independent Scholar of Islam, Washington, D.C.
- July-September 2002 Collaborated with Abdullahi A. An Naim, School of Law, Emory University. Applied Muslim jurisprudence of the Middle Ages to Arabic history textbooks
- October-December 2002 Regan-Fascell Fellow, the National Endowment for Democracy, Washington, DC. Performed research on the roots of democracy in Islam
-June 2003- May 31 2004. One year visiting fellow at the Human Rights Program- Harvard Law School, to prepare a research aim s to “reform the Islamic schools in the U.S to confirm and to conform to the American values and the Human Rights culture.”
November 2003- March 2004.Expert in Islamic fields at Graduate Theological Foundation- Tutorial Faculty.
March 2004 – May 2004, Expert witness in Islam and Muslim fanatic culture for the U.S Department of Justice. U.S Attorney, District of Idaho.
Publications
Books in Arabic
1. Al Sayed Al Badway: Fact versus Superstition. Cairo, 1982.
This book exposes the true history of the most famous Muslim saint in Egypt, who died seven centuries ago. This book proves that Al Sayed Al Badawy was not a saint, or Sufi, although most Muslim Egyptians still idolize him. Rather he was a terrorist disguised as a saint to plot against the Egyptian regime. Al Sayed Al Badawy used religion to deceive the people and take over Egypt. When he failed he continued under that cover to protect his life. After his death his followers took their revenge by destroying all the Egyptian Coptic churches at once. Egyptian Muslims thought God was punishing the Christians. The book investigates that event proving that the followers of Al Badawy were criminals. Fearful that teenagers were being taught terrorist ideology and that bloodshed would ensue, the writer concluded with a call for a review and revision of Muslim traditions. No one listened and the writer was ostracized. Bloodshed between the Regime and the religious extremists began in 1992.

2. Using Religious Texts to Inform Muslim History. Cairo, 1984.
It has been unusual for scholars to discuss the actual religious life of Muslims, in the present or in their history. Objective historical or sociological research is dangerous, because it elucidates the gap between Islam as it is mentioned in the Quran and religious practices of Muslims. This book was the first step in establishing rules of research to encourage scholars to tackle Muslim history objectively. The Personality of Egypt after the Muslim Invasion (3) was an example of this methodology.

3. The Personality of Egypt after the Muslim Invasion. Cairo, 1984.
This book proves that Egypt has always “egyptized” Islam. Egyptians recast their old religious traditions in Arabic under the title of Islam, but these traditions had nothing to do with the Islam of the Prophet Mohammed. This book also proves that all Egyptians (Muslims and Christians) share the same rituals with different names, and all of these religious observances grew out of ancient Egyptian civilization.

4. The History of the Historic Sources of Arabic and Muslim Fields. Cairo, 1984.
This book discusses the methods the famous historians of the Middle Ages used to create their different historical narratives and analyzes their false stories.

5. The Fundamental Rules of Historical Research. Cairo, 1984.
This book teaches scholars of Muslim history how to discover the lacunae in Muslim history, and how to analyze these facts objectively.

6. The Invasions of the Moguls and the Crusaders in Muslim History. Cairo, 1985.
This book discusses frankly the weaknesses of the Muslim states in the Middle Ages: dictatorships, corruption, and wars between Muslim states. The writer shows how those factors encouraged the Crusaders and Moguls to invade and occupy Muslim states. This book was banned because it gives some comparisons between the Arab/Muslim state of our time and the Muslim states of the Middle Ages.

7. Separatist Movements in the History of Muslims: The Secret History of Shiites and Sunni Movements during the Abbasy Era. Cairo, 1985.
This book analyzes the struggle between the Abbasy Sunni Empire and the secret Shiites and fanatic Sunni organizations. This book was banned because it makes some comparisons between that old struggle and the recent clash between the Arab states and their religious oppositions.

8. A History of the Cultural Development of Muslims. Cairo, This book analyzes Muslim civilization in the Middle Ages, proving its Greek roots and the gap between it and Islamic culture as put forth in the Quran. It was banned.

9. The Muslim World between the Early Stage and the Abbasy Caliphate. Cairo, 1985.
Muslim oral traditions were written down and codified during the Abbasy Empire (750 to 1258). Most of these traditions and some of the Abbasy rulers subsequently became sacred, in spite of the contradiction between them and the early Muslims. This book was banned because it shows that contradiction and calls for reform in Muslim states to get rid of the Abbasy tradition, which has nothing to do with Islam as put forth in the Quran.

10. The Prophets in the Holy Quran. Cairo, 1985.This book, which was banned, was the writer’s most dangerous book. It proves the human nature of the prophet Mohammed, and the contradiction between his presentation in the Quran and the images of him fabricated by Muslim fanatics. Using the Quranic verses, it demonstrates that the prophet Mohammed was not infallible, he is not the master of the prophets, and he will not intercede on behalf of Muslims on the Day of Judgment, as Muslims believe according to the Abbasy religious traditions.

11. The Sinner Muslim: Common Mythology Regarding the Sinner Muslim. Cairo, 1987.This book, which was banned, uses the Quran to prove that the sinner Muslim will not enter paradise, and no one will intercede to save him from Hell.

12. Egypt in the Holy Quran. Al Akhbar Newspaper, Cairo, 1990.This book reconstructed ancient Egyptian history from the Quranic verses, focusing on the political, social and religious aspects of ancient Egyptian civilization.

13. The Quran: the Only Source of Islam and Islamic Jurisprudence (published under the title The Quran: Why? using the pseudonym Abdullah Al Khalifah) Cairo, 1990.This book proves that the Quran is the only source of Islam. All Muslim sects have different sources, besides the Quran. They make their sources as sacred as the Quran. Sometimes some Muslims make their sources more sacred than the Quran. Some of these sources are tarnishing Islam and the prophet Mohammed. This book makes clear these divergent interpretations and calls for a reform of Muslim faith and jurisprudence based upon the primacy of the Quran. This book was banned. The extremist newspaper of the Muslim Brothers (Al Noor) divulged the true identity of the author.

14. Death in the Quran. Dar Al Shark Al Awsat, Cairo, 1990.This book explains the facts of death as they are mentioned in the Quran. They include: the coma of death, the difference between death and sleep, the relationship between the body and the real identity of the person who occupies and controls its body, what happens to this identity or soul during sleep and in the coma of death, what happens after death and before birth, and the meaning of Al- Bazakh or the “Barrier” between this life and the hereafter. This book had a chapter explaining the Muslim superstitions about death and the contradiction between them and the Quran, but the publisher insisted on deleting it.

15. The Penalty of Apostasy. Tiba Publishing, Cairo, 1992; Al Mahrousah, 1994; Al Mothakkafoun Al Arab (The Arab Intellectuals’ Publishing Company), 2000; English translation, The International Publishing and Distributing Company, Toronto, Canada, 1998.
This book proves that there is no death sentence in Islam for the apostate, that this penalty, which is still applied, is a law created as holy canon in the Abbasy era.

16. Freedom of Speech: Islam and Muslims. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Cairo, 1994.
This book proves that freedom of speech in Islam is unlimited, but Muslims in their history and their laws have constrained it according to political demands.

17. The Al Hisbah between the Quran and Muslims. Al Mahrousah, Cairo, 1995; Al Kahera Magazine, Cairo, 1996.
Al Hisbah is a law that separates husband and wife after accusing one or both of them of apostasy. The religious extremists used this law against Dr. Nasr Hamid Abou Zaid, a secular leader in Egypt. I had written many articles in the press campaign against them, and was asked to write a book proving that Al Hisbah has nothing to do with Islam.

18. The Torture of the Grave. Tibia, Cairo, 1996; Al Mothakkafoun Al Arab, Cairo, 2000.
This book proves that Muslim beliefs about torture in the grave after death are unfounded, that they are ancient Egyptian beliefs, which contradict Islam. The fanatic preachers usually present this belief as an Islamic tenet to terrify their audiences and control them.

19. Al Naskh in the Quran Means Writing Not Abrogating. Al Tanweer Magazine, Cairo?? 1997; Al Mahrousah, Cairo, 1998; Al Mothakkafoun Al Arab, Cairo, 2000.
This book, originally banned in 1987, proves the basic contraction between Islam and Muslim Shareeah or jurisprudence.

20. The Introduction (mokademat) of Ibn Khaldoun: A Fundamental Historical and Analytical Study. The Ibn Khaldoun Center, Cairo, 1999.
Ibn Khaldoun was a very famous Muslim scholar who died six centuries ago. He is known as the father of sociology through his Al Mokademat (The Introduction). This book analyses the details of Ibn Khaldoun’s life, his book on the history of the Muslims, and his famous Introduction. The Ibn Khaldoun Center, established by Dr. Saad Eldeen Ibraheem, the famous professor of sociology, to promote secular values, published this book to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Center and the eight centuries since the death of Ibn Khaldoun.

21. Suggestions to Revise Muslim Religion Courses in Egyptian Education to Make Egyptians More Tolerant. Ibn Khaldoun Center, Cairo, 1999.
This book was the fruit of the Ibn Khaldoun Center’s project to reform Egyptian Education to rid it of the culture of terrorism. The book was banned.

22. Religious Thought in Egypt in the Mamluke Era: Islam versus Muslim Sufism. Ministry of Culture, Cairo, 2000.
This book shows the contradictions between Islam and the religious beliefs of the Egyptian Muslims in that time (1250-1517).

NOTE ON VARIATIONS IN CITATION FORMAT FOR BOOKS PUBLISHED:
Because of my unconventional scholarship, most Egyptian publishers refused to publish my books. Therefore I published most of my books myself, with the help of Al Akhbar Distribution Company in Cairo. When the name of the publisher is not mentioned, it means that the book was self-published and distributed by Al Akbar Company. The writer was expelled from Al Azhar University because of books 7-11. He was imprisoned because of book 11.
Articles in Arabic and English Translation- Approximately 500 articles in newspapers, magazines and periodicals in Egypt and abroad. Some of them were translated into English. These newspapers, magazines and periodicals include:
Egyptian Newspapers: Al Ahrar [Liberals], Al Aalam Alyoum [World Today], Al Midan [The Square], Al Ahaly [The National], Al Dostour [The Constitution], Al Akhbar [The News], Al Kaherah [Cairo], Misr Al Fataah [Egypt; The Youth], Al Gomhoriah [The Republic], Al Ahram [The Pyramids]. Other Arabic Newspapers: Al Khaleej [The Gulf], The Arab Emirates; Al Watan [The Home], Kuwait
Magazines: Sutour [Lines], Hawwaa [Eve], Al Mojtamaa Almadany [Civil Society], Al Tanweer [The Enlightenment], Adab Wa Nakd [Literature and Criticism], Al Helal [The Crescent], Sawaseyah [Equality], Hokouk Al Nass [The Rights of the People], Al Mosawwer [The Illustrated]
Periodicals: Al Insan Wa Al Tatawwor, [Humans and Development], Rewak Arabic [The Arab Forum]
Book Introduction: “Introduction” to Rereading the Quran, by Jacques Baroque. Al Nadeem Publishing, Cairo, 1996. This introduction explains how the Quran was revealed to the prophet Mohammed. It also shows that the Quran was written solely by the prophet Mohammed.
Some articles in Arabic and English Translation Available on Web Site www.ahmed.G3Z.com
1. “Islam Religion of Peace”
2. “The Right of Women to Rule the Islamic State”
3. “Freedom of Speech: Islam Versus the Muslims Fanatics”
4. “Islamic History: Democracy Versus Despotism”
5. Analytic reading in Fatwas about prhibition of smoking
6.The contradiction Between the Islamic State and the Religious State

Unpublished Books in Arabic
(The writer was unable to publish the following books for fear of persecution in Egypt.)
1. The Ritual Religious Service of the Egyptian Muslims in the Mamluke Era: Islam versus Sufism. This book shows the contradiction between Islamic rituals and those of the Sufi Muslims in that time.
2. The Practical Moral Life of Egyptian Society in the Mamluke Era: Islam Versus Sufism. This book shows how Egyptians in that time committed crimes that they justified through reference to the Sufi saints.
3. The Political Influence of the Sufi Saints in the Mamluke Era. This book proves the negative influence of the Sufi saints in the military Mamluke regime. It compares the current Egyptian military regime and that Mamluke regime, and shows how the two regimes used the religious saints to control the people.
4. The Daily Life of Egyptians under Shareeah (Muslim Jurisprudence) Five Centuries Ago. This book proves the crimes that happened in that time under the name of Islam.
5. The Rules Pertaining to Muslim Women: The Quran versus the Sunni Muslim Shareeah. This three-volume study points out the contradictions between Islam and the Sunni Muslim Shareeah as they relate to women.
6. The Saudi Opposition in the Twentieth Century. This book analyzes the culture of terrorism that is upheld by both the Saudi regime and its religious Sunni opposition. It also analyzes the only contradiction between the Saudi regime and its bold opposition: the source of legitimacy for ruling the Saudi Kingdom. The writer shows that the Saudi opposition’ and the Saudi State are responsible for creating Al Qa’eda and Usama son of Laden. The only perfect way is to fight them peacefully from inside Islam and from inside their own culture. It is necessary to reform the religious life of Muslims, as the imperative step to reform the political, educational and social fields in Islamic World.


ATTACHMENT
number [1]
Outline Of twenty five years of persecution in Egypt:
As a professor at Al Azhar University, the oldest and most famous and conservative religious university in the Sunni Muslim world, I wrote five books in 1985 to reform the religious life of the Sunni Muslims. I was accused of being against Islam because I deny the intercession of the prophet Muhammad in the day of judgment, deny his infallibility, and deny that he is the best and the master of all the prophets. In March of 1987 I was fired.
(There are 10 documents for this period).
In November 1987, I was arrested, along with 24 of my followers, and accused of being a denier of the Sunna, the sayings and the deeds of the prophet Muhammad. The government claimed that my writing were a call for Muslims to abandon Islam. After two months I was released.
(There are 12 documents for this period)
I escaped to the United States, where I was welcomed by Dr. Rashad Khalifa and his mosque in Tucson, Arizona. After two months, he claimed to be a prophet and called on me to believe in his prophet hood. I refused and escaped from his mosque. He sent letters to Egypt and to Al Azhar University describing me as the assistant of the new prophet. When I returned to Egypt in October of 1988 I was again arrested, and released after two days on the condition that I not defend myself whenever the fanatics of Al Zahra attacked me. In that period (1988-1995), I was attacked so severely that I asked the court to protect me, because some of these attacks called for my death.
(There are 24 documents for this period)
From January 1996 until June 2000 I worked at the Ibn Khaldoun Center as a Muslim scholar and the moderator of the Center’s weekly forum. The Center is owned and run by Dr. Saad el deen Ibrahim, the most famous sociologist in the Arab world, who works as a professor at the American University of Cairo, and is the leader of the movement for human rights, civil society and liberal culture in the Arab world. As an American citizen and part-time counselor of President Mubarak, Dr. Ibrahim has had a large influence in Egypt in the 1990s. Because of his rank, we were encouraged in the Khaldoun Center’s weekly forum to discuss frankly many sensitive and difficult issues, but I was severely attacked by religious fanatics.
(There are 10 documents for this period)
My life was in real danger after I wrote a book as a project for the Ibn Khaldoun Center on reforming the Egyptian education system to make it more tolerant. I was severely attacked in the Egyptian parliament because of my book, which suggested that the fanatical ideas inside the religious courses of the Egyptian educational system should be changed.
(There are 31 documents for this period)
Because of high-level problems between Dr. Ibrahim and President Mubarak, Dr. Ibrahim has been arrested and the Center shut down. Because of this, I was in serious danger. I explained the situation to officials in the US embassy in Cairo and gave them the documents to prove my grave situation. Before the arrest of Dr. Ibrahim, some of my relatives were arrested. The government kept asking them what they know about the Center and me, my ideas, and my connections. I wrote a complaint and gave a copy to Dr. Ibrahim, asking his help to save my relatives. Dr. Ibrahim was so angry that he asked me to submit this complaint to President Mubarak himself, and he promised to do his best in helping my relatives. After that, he told me to contact someone in the security service who would remove the pressure on my family. I went to that office, and was told that it was better for me and my family to abandon Dr. Ibrahim and his center. I informed Dr. Ibrahim, and two weeks later he was arrested.
I spent more than 14 months after the arrest of Dr. Ibrahim in isolation, expecting my arrest at any time. I asked my friends-who used to meet me on our weekly Friday prayer –not to meet me in my home to avoid any trouble .I emailed some of my friends at the US embassy and in the US asking for help.
After I lost my job at Ibn Khaldoun Center, I accepted that condition hoping the security service may left my family and me in our bad situation, but they did not. The security service was not content to let me live, however, and kept terrifying us. They set up a center in the nearest town to my family village to watch my relatives, and were keen to let me know that I was being watched, and that my telephone was tapped. Finally they arrested some of my friends who live in my neighborhood [Al matareyah] and who used to attend my weekly prayer at home. They questioned me twice about them and their ideas in October 2001. One of my friends who had been arrested with me in 1987 called me and informed me that they also arrested and questioned some of our old friends. He told me that he expected them to arrest both of us along with some of my relatives. He asked me to forsake my friends and save myself, because they –as usual –would force my friends to recognize me as their leader. Taking this advice, I escaped to the US on October, 15, 2001, four days before the Conference of New York, which I was invited to attend.
In its International Religious Freedom Report [2002] about Egypt, the U. S Department of State has mentioned the case of my friends ,it says:[On Marc 5,2002,a state security Emergency Court convicted eight persons from the city of mataria near Cairo of violating Article 98(F)of the penal Code They were arrested in October 2001 for holding unorthodox Islamic beliefs and practices .Sentences ranged from 3 years in prison for the two principal defendants to 1-year suspended sentences for 6 persons ,who were dealt with more leniently because they were not accused of propagating the unorthodox beliefs.]
There are some absent facts here :1- those people used to attend my weekly prayers, but when I asked them not to come anymore to my home ,they used to meet in another home in the same neighborhood ,In spite of being at their own house , they were arrested .
2- They arrested more than 20 persons, including the house wives and children. It is usual to arrest many people to interrogate them, this means torture often. After that they release some of them and keep the others to be prosecuted.
3- They are officially accused of [insulting a heavenly religion].the U S report referred to this ,under title [Abuse of Religious Freedom] ,but the Egyptian newspapers have defined them as the [Quranic group]My Quranic Group upholds Islam as the religion of peace ,tolerance, justice , freedom of speech and human rights. Being against the fanatics and the religious culture of terrorism, it means you will be thrown in jail; even you are practicing your own belief inside your own home. That what was prepared for me in Egypt in 2001, and it is still waiting for me.
Attachment (2)
My struggle to reform the Egyptian Education
During Nasser’s rule in Egypt, I was a student at Al Azhar preparatory and secondary school. Nasser reformed education at Al Azhar by adding modern subjects and modern colleges to bring Al Azhar scholars more up-to-date. So at that time we studied modern subjects along with religious subject that went back to the dark Middle Ages, and were written by scholars who died more than seven centuries ago. The gap was so wide between the modern and old subjects that we felt ashamed of that backwardness of the old religious subjects. During Nasser’s rule, we were overwhelmed by his dreams of progress, and we tried to challenge ourselves and bring ourselves up to date. This progress was the general target of Egyptians, and Egyptian education reflected this goal both in general education and in the education received at Al Azhar. Nasser should have completed his reform of education at Al Azhar by modernizing the religious curriculum, but he became distracted by the Egyptian-Israeli conflict after the Six Days war in 1967.

Sadat followed Nasser with another policy. He allied himself with the Muslim Brothers and gave them the opportunity to control the media, education, and religious and cultural affairs. As a result of this policy, Egyptian culture became more fanatical, and the traditional Al Azhar subjects spread to influence the Egyptian mind through the media, general education, and mosques.
In 1973 I graduated from Al Azhar University and worked as an assistant professor at the university. I began the difficult process of trying to reform the religious life of Muslims from within Islam. I was fired and put in prison in 1987. I have been insulted severely in the Egyptian media and few defended me while I was helpless in prison. Farag Fouda, the leader of the secular trend in Egypt, was one of those who defended me. After I had been released from prison, we became friends and we tried to form a new party called the Future Party, which called for reform of different aspects of Egyptian life, especially in the fields of media, education, and culture. We had both been insulted in the media, and the leaders of Al Azhar and the Muslim Brothers issued a fatwa calling to assassinate us.
Fouda was killed in June 1992, accused of being a Muslim who committed apostasy and therefore should be killed by any means. The secular trend in Egypt has struggled against the penalty of apostasy because it is a deadly weapon in the hands of the religious movement who use it to frighten their political opponents. As a Muslim scholar, I proved that the penalty of apostasy has nothing to do with Islam, and that is a fabricated tradition created and applied two centuries after the Prophet Muhammad’s death. That gave us a great victory at the time, in spite of the opposition I faced. We changed Fouda’s office to be the Egyptian Association for Enlightenment. I became its general secretary. In 1994 I gave a lecture about the important need to reform education at Al Azhar entitled “Al Azhar and the Enlightenment.” Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim attended that meeting, and we became friends. I worked with him in his Center as a counselor in the religious fanatic tradition. In January 1996, I began my weekly forums, held every Tuesday night until Dr. Ibrahim was arrested in June, 2000.
In the weekly forum, we discussed the need for reform in Egyptian society, especially in education. The reactions of the Rewak of the Ibn Khaldoun Center were intense, and so was the suffering we experienced. But the greatest suffering came when the Ibn Khaldoun Center handled the project of reforming the Egyptian education system, in order to be more sensitive to the Copts, the Christians in Egypt. The Copts in Egypt have suffered since the time of Sadat, when the religious political movement used his authority inside the regime and among the public to oppress the Copts, especially in education. For example, mainstream Egyptian history ignores Coptic history, and when taking Arabic language courses, Copts are forced to study verses of the Quran and Muslim traditions. In religious courses, Christian students are usually separated and taught by a Christian teacher. Meanwhile, Muslim pupils are taught that their Christian classmates are disbelievers and will go to hell. In this way, the Muslim students begin to be ardent fanatics. The same education policies are in effect in Algeria, which leads to killing each other as a jihad. General education in Egypt is supposedly secular, but it is not. What is happening in religious education establishments (such as Al Azhar) is even more extreme. Therefore, I felt it was important to begin a campaign of reform of the Egyptian education system.
In June 23, 1997 I wrote an article in the magazine Rosalyousif, in which I argued that in order to get rid of fanaticism, we should reform the religious courses in the general education system. I called for a new curriculum based on moral values and on the culture of human rights, rather than on the culture of fanaticism which dates to the traditions of the middle Ages.
In the following year, the Ibn Khaldoun Center took the initiative of reforming Egyptian education, specifically in religious courses and in some aspects of history and Arabic language courses. I was assigned to prepare an alternative religious course to suggest to the Minister of Education, who approved of the project. The members of the committee prepared their suggestions in one year. I also prepared another book, a guide for the teachers of the religious courses, in addition to the main book proposing suggestions for the religious courses. The second step was to review all of the suggestions of the experts, the well-known writers, and religious and cultural leaders, including individuals from Al Azhar and the church. The fanatics did not react immediately, but waited for the approval of the Minister of Education, who they disliked very much. When the Minister commended the project in an open assembly, the campaign against us began. It lasted for four months, and was full of awful and false accusations.
The following are some examples:
On April 30, 1999 the official newspaper Akedaty (My Belief) had written on its front page: “We expose Saad Eddin Ibrahim and the Ibn Khaldoun Center. The Quran never says ‘the Israelis are Egyptians.’” This comment was in regard to my suggestion for the religious course that Jews who are born in Egypt are Egyptians like Muslim Egyptians, and they have the same rights, according to the Quran.
On May 4, 1999 the Alsha’ab (People) newspaper, controlled by the Muslim Brothers, wrote: developing the courses in the Ibn Khadoun Center and the title with the religion (Islam). The suggested courses are a part of the Zionist project in assaulting the Muslim faith. Accepting the courses by the Ministry of Education should be questioned personally because of that. The writer of alternative religious courses was fired from Al Azhar because he makes doubts about the Prophet.
On May 4, 1999 Akedaty wrote: With the approval of the Ministry of Education, the creators of the proposed new religious courses (in Egyptian education) are terrorists. The Center wants the West to attack us. The suggestions for the religious courses made by the Ibn Khaldoun are a result of an agreement between the leaders of the Jews and the Vatican.
On May 11 1999, Akedaty wrote: Our campaign succeeds; the goal of the Ibn Khaldoun Center will be discussed in the Parliament. Before the dean of Al Azhar: A report about the nonsense of the Ibn Khaldoun Center is not equal to KG boys. It has confusing information that misleads young men.
On May 16 1999 the official newspaper Alsayasy Al Masry (The Egyptian Politician) wrote: Conspiracy to teach the Zionist ideology inside the religious courses in our school. Stop this crime before it is completed. Zionist courses to be taught in the religious courses in our schools. The writer was fired from Al Azhar and he wants to make an encounter between the two elements of the nation – which means Christian and Muslim Egyptians.
On May 17 1999, Alesboua (The Week) independent newspaper wrote: The front of Al Azhar’s leaders will resume fighting the denier of Sunna and the Ibn Khaldoun Center. They branded me a denier of Sunna, meaning I should be killed.
On the same day, Al Ahrar (of the liberal party) wrote about three interrogations in the Parliament about a book that insults Islam, referring to my book.
On May 18 1999, Al Midan (Square), an independent newspaper wrote: Ibn Khaldoun Center project to teach pupils how to insult the Prophet. A. Subhy Mansour says the Prophet had no right to judge people according to their faith.
On May 18 1999 Akedaty (My Belief) wrote: After denying the Sunna and insulting the Prophet, they aim to foster doubts in the Quran. They claim that the friends of the Prophet are not good examples and that the Abbasid Caliphate invented the penalty of Apostasy.
On May 20 1999 Al Ahrar (the liberals) wrote: the fund is Germany, the attitude is Jewish, and the Minister of Education blessed it. The nonsense of the Ibn Khaldoun courses is discussed in the parliament. The Center suggests confusing, misleading religious courses that say that Jews born in Egypt are Egyptians so they have the right to get Egyptian citizenship. The prophet had mistaken in the battle OHOD and insulted his soldiers, and he has no right to intercede in the Day of Judgment (or to help any Muslim). A full report in the hands of the dean of Al Azhar contains all the mistakes of that course.
As a result of this campaign, my life was in real danger. I found some shelter in the influence of Dr. Ibrahim but after he was arrested in June 2000, I became an easy target for my enemies inside the regime and inside the religious movement. I had to escape to the US to seek political asylum.

Attachment 3:
THE QURANIC TREND .
In any language, Islam means submission to the one God, and to be peaceful.
It is the Divine Message of all the prophets, and Mohammed was the seal of them, his seal divine message [the Quran] was expressed in Arabic, confirming what was revealed before him to the previous prophets.

After his death, Quraish, the Arabic tribe of the prophet Mohammed has used the name of Islam to invade and establish the Arabic Muslim Empire that for centuries had ruled many nations in Asia, Africa and Europe. That political use of Islam was against the religion of Islam.
Muslims - in that time and under that empire -created another religious traditions which have been their practical religions under the name of Sunna, Sheeah, and Shuphism. Every sect has its own belief, its own tradition, its own jurisprudence, its own scriptures, and its own scholars or [imams]. Every sect understands Quran in the way that it supports his own ego, and according to his own tradition. So every sect has his own scriptures of [Tafseer Al Quran] or the interpretation of the Quran, which is their interpretative vision of the Quran and Islam. Every sect has also his Sacred [fabricated] Revelation which they believe that it came from God .The Sunna sect attributed their revelation to the prophet Mohammed two centuries and more after his death ,The Sheeah attributed theirs to the prophet Mohammed and his Family [Aal al Bayt ] some centuries after their death .However, the Suphy people believe that their revelation comes at any time directly from God through their Saints.

All their beliefs and ritual services were in accordance in both Muslim and Christian worlds with the religious and political life of the Middle ages. In Europe, they had struggled for centuries to bring the secular state and human rights alongside democracy and justice. This is the culture of our Modern Age, but, it is not the culture of the so-called Islamic Arabic World, where the dictators rule in the name of Islam or the title of Nationality. However,it is not the only problem ,the existing problem is the fanatic religious trend ,that works hard to take over the Muslim world to restore the middle ages culture which includes wars against the west or [Jehad] as it was before. This fanatic trend belongs mainly to the Sunny and the Sheeah sects, but also receives supporters from the Suphy sect and even from the secular left wings after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They have all set aside their disputes to ally against the west, the Christians, and the Jews. Though the opposition of the dictators should be the secular trend that upholds the culture of democracy, civil society, justice and human rights, the religious fanatic trend controls not only the oppositions but also many fields inside the regimes and the masses.
After September 11, the problem is no longer a domestic one, and arguably world war three has begun. In such a war, the military forces are not the effective weapons. The enemy could be your neighbors or your friends, or the soldiers themselves who are supposed to defend you, but in a certain moment one may embrace Islam- that is the version of Islam invented by Muslims-then he becomes an ardent enemy, who believes that killing you and the innocent people is his way to please God, and to live in His Paradise.
In such a war, the criminal is just a victim, because the real criminal is the false religious teachings that hijack Islam many centuries ago. In such a war, the struggle should include the field of religious thought, which it means to fight from inside Islam.
This is the expertise of the Quranic trend through 25years of struggle and persecution in Egypt.
This attachment gives a brief glance about the Quranists , the trend that has been created through my struggle and persecution.
From 1977-1980, I endured three years of persecution inside Al Azhar University, I was persecuted because my PH, D was considered against the sacred Sufi saints , their tradition, and it showed their corruption and vices from inside their own scriptures. In that time I was accused to be the enemy of the righteous allies of God. The Sunny sect welcomed me because they are also against the Sufi sect and I worked with them for five years, inside and outside Al Azhar University.
After studying the Sunny tradition, I discovered its culture of terrorism is more dangerous than the peaceful superstitious Suphy tradition. I have proved the contradiction between Islam and the Sunny beliefs, and as a result I have suffered from severe persecution; I was fired from the university, thrown in prison, doomed, accused to be the enemy of the prophet Mohammed and Islam. More over, I have been given an official bad brand of the rejecter or the denier of Sunna.
During [1977-1988] my struggle resulted in many conflicts. My enemies had the power, but they had no legitimate or justifiable argument. In order to justify their violence against me, they distorted my writings to refute them, which unintentionally spread some of my ideas. It helped me to find followers, supporters, and friends, inside and outside Egypt, who helped me to publish serial of articles under the title of [The Quran is the solution] which led to the birth of the new title [The Quranists].
Through 1990 s, I have involved in Arabic and Egyptian movements for democracy, civil society, and human rights NGO’s. The Quranic trend has been established in and out these NGO’s, but the weekly forum of Ibn Khaldoun Center has been their stand from 1996-2000.
The documents reflect the history of the Quranic trend in spite of the blackout sponsored by the regime and the fanatic terrorist religious trend in Egypt and the Saudi kingdom.
Before the birth of the ‘Quranists’in 1987, the brand name ‘the denier of the Sunna; rejecter of the Sunna ;’ was the favorite title they gave me .The Egyptian media reflected that emage on their front pages when we were in prison, For examples :-
Al Ahram, the famous official newspaper, wrote on its front page, on November 30,1987.” 16 of the members of the group who denies the Sunna are detained.” On page 6 it wrote “A Fired professor from Al Azhar leads a group rejecting the Mohammadian Sunna and insulting the friends of the prophet .” .Actually we were 28 peaceful persons ,most of them are professors, lawyers, and high educated people .
On December 5, 1987, Akhbar Alyoum[news today ] wrote “Who are the enemy of the Sunna ? The story of the fanatic organization which is interrogated by the state high prosecutor,” In this instance, they added another brand “the fanatic organization”.
On December 10,1987, the official religious newspaper Al Lewaaa Al islamy [The Islamic Flag ] wrote: “Surprise in the case of the rejecters of Sunna.”
Out of Egypt, the media responded in Arabic and in English. For example,
On November 29, 1987 Tehran Times wrote “28 Moslem activists held in Egypt. Cairo (AP)-Police has detained 28 alleged members of an “extremist’s Moslem organization”, the weekly Akhbar Al youm said in yesterday early editions. The state-owned newspaper said the group advocated non-compliance with the Sunna, a code which consists of the deeds of the prophet Mohammed(S).A good Moslem is required to obey Mohammed s(S) words and emulate his deeds. The Sunna is considered part of Moslem Law and is second in importance only to the Quran, the Holy Book which Moslems revere as the word of God reveled to Mohammed(S). Moslem’ fundamentalists ’in Egypt have been clamoring for strict implementation of Moslem law as laid down in both the Quran and Sunna. The newspaper said state security prosectors are interrogating the detainees ...”
From1989 the title of the Quranists has appeared because of my involvement in many NGO’s of human rights, civil society and enlightenment, specially when Ibn Khaldoun center has given me a continuous weekly forum ,where all the intellectuals from different back grounds could argue in a civilized way ,and the silent trends like the Egyptian Sheeahs and the Quranists had a stand to practice their freedom of speech ,beside The Copts { The Christian Egyptians) ,and the Egyptians advocated peace with Israel, It was a unique open forum where all different people could listen to each others, and discuss their views in a decent way ,without any accusations.
But this forum has been doomed in the Egyptian media, because the fanatics could not tolerate the freedom of speech in one building in Cairo, although they control the media, the education, the mosques, and all the means that enable them to brain wash the masses.As a result,theQuranic trend in this forum has been insulted more in the Egyptian media when they practiced their freedom of speech .For examples:
On February,17,1979 Al Osboua [The week] on its front page wrote “in Ibn Khalddon center which becomes the center for the children of Zionism: Ahmed Subhy Mansour says: the prophet Mohammed did not go up to the heavens in the night of “israa”
On February,25,1997,Akedaty [my belief] wrote “A suspected center is running a forum lead by a fired professor to serve the needs of the international Zionism. They are a devilish plant which we should sweep” .In such kind of writing you find no arguments ,but just accusations in a way that urges the zealots to kill us. Of course they ask their [imams] or scholars to discuss our perspectives, but they have nothing except dooming us.
On May,26,1997, Al Osboua [The week] wrote a call saying “Oh, Imams of Islam [scholars of Al Azar] refute [the sayings of] Ahmed Subhy Mansour “.
On August, 21,1997 Aafak Arabeyya ;[Arabic horizons] wrote “In a forum in Ibn Khaldoun center: Ahmed Subhy Mansour rejects the Sunna of the prophet ‘Mohammed .”
Due to one of the forum’s sessions, which discussed the case of the marriages that usually happens between the Egyptian males and the Israelis women, the center and its weekly forum was insulted severely. For example :
On March,16,1999, Akidaty [my belief] wrote in its front page “In Ibn Khaldoun center ,in a suspected session ,they defend –hardly- the marriage between the Egyptian men and the Israelis women “. On page 9 they wrote “Change its name to be center of Son of Zion instead of Ibn Khaldoun “. [ Zion and Zionist] are a very bad names in Egypt .
On March,22,1999 ,Al Osboua [the week ] wrote “Find a way to deal with those people who are destroying ‘us’. In Ibn Khaldoun center : an invitation to marry the Israeli woman to decrease the violent between us “
On March,23,1999 ,Al Shaab [The people ]wrote “Believe it or not : Ibn Khaldoun center ask ‘us’ to respect the marriage between the Egyptians and the Zionists.”
On April,6,1999,Akidaty [my belief ] wrote “Ibn Khaldoun and its defending the Zionists.”
On April,13,1999, Al Shaab, [The People] wrote “Ibn Khaldoun and its suspected forum.”
The forum of Ibn Khaldoun has discussed some of the Sheeahs issues which are not acceptable by the Sunna trend, they were controversial sessions, Akidaty wrote on May,18,1999, [A quarrel in the center of Ibn ‘Zion’ about the enjoyment marriage] “of the Sheeah”.
The effect of the Quranists in Ibn Khaldoun center made Al jeel [The Generation ] write a dangerous article on 7-11-1999, saying “The Quranists are coming!!. A new sect is appearing in Islam .!!. It will make a big argument in the coming days.” This actually was an echo of the campaign against Dr Saad el Deen and me, because of the project of reforming the Egyptian education which was born in the weekly forum.
This project was a real chance to declare the belief of the Quranists as suggestions in the Islamic courses to be instead of the fanatic Sunny courses. The Quranic suggestions have pointed out that Islam is the religion of tolerance ,peace ,democracy, justice and human rights ,but Muslims in their tradition are against all of these high values .
Al Azhar has begun to evoke the regime against the Quranists in frank way in mosques and in newspapers in his calling the authorities to arrest them. For example , in his articles, the dean of Al Azhar University ,Ahmed Omer Hashim, has threatened us in the official newspapers. On June,4,1999, he wrote in Al Akhbar calling the regime to act against us, under the title: [to the enemies of the Sunna of the prophet].On Al Ahram, September ,1999, he said [The Quranists has been predicted by the prophet ‘Mohammed ‘who has warned ’us’ from them.],
In the same time, the fanatic trend has moved through their mosques and the media attacking the Quranists to make the masses mob against us .It was a big story; However, I will give one example :Al Ahrar newspaper [The liberals] has led a severe continuous campaign ,consists of more than 23 long daily articles from August,12,1999.
On August,12,1999 they wrote “the rejecters of Sunna are warring Aaysha [the wife of the prophet Mohammed ]and Aby Horayrah [the friend of the prophet and the biggest narrator of his sayings ]and Al Bokhary ,[the biggest saint of the sunny trend ] in the same time,they –the Quranists – accept the sayings of Ahmed Subhy Mansour “
On August,13,1999, they wrote under my picture [The Quranists are saying: The prophets wives are slave women, widows and homeless].
On August,17,1999 ,they accused me to be an agent to the U S Congress, and I have assigned myself to attack the Sunna of the prophet Mohammed , and I have the revelation from GOD .
On August,18,1999, they attribute that I would doom anyone who testifies that Mohammed is the messenger of GOD .
On August,19,1999, they accused me to be an agent of the Masons to destroy the Islamic belief.
Because of these false accusations ,my life was in a real danger ,so I sent one article in my defense. It was published on September,4,1999, under the titles:”There is a conspiracy to assassinate me”, ‘by this campaign’. But the campaign against the Quranists has continued to pave the way to the regime to arrest us and to accuse us to be the enemy of Islam.

In the Egyptian code there is no penalty to who reject the Sunna ,but it has a penalty to who insult the heavenly religion .The fanatics usually insult the Christian and the Jewish religions in the religious educational courses and in the mosques, but when I tried to reform this culture they have prepared a case to punish us according to the penalty code ’insulting the religion’. It had begun before the case of Dr; Saad el Deen Ebraheem, when they arrested members of my family and relatives in my village, then it became worse after they arrested Dr, Ibraheem. I isolated myself in my home in Cairo, expecting that they would come to arrest me any time .I have sent many complains to the authorities asserting that arresting me means my assassination. Since most of the prisoners who control the prisons are fanatics, once I am in the prison the fanatics will kill me as if is their own [Jihad ] .One copy of this complain was sent to the U S embassy in Cairo. Finally they have arrested some of my friends who used to meet one another in Ameen Yosif’ home.
The Egyptian newspapers have mentioned the arrest of my friends along with the false accusations. For example:
On October 3 ,2001, Al Ahram wrote [13 detained in the case of releasing fanatic ideas.] This explained that they were accused to insult the religion of Islam, from inside there house in Al matareyah ,Cairo .’Matareyah is my county.’
On October 15,I was escaping to the U S .
On November,15,2001, The Washington Post talked about “Egypt Jails Gays for ‘Debauchery.” The newspaper further said :”The case was one of several in recent months to be criticized by local civil liberties as evidences of government repression. A prominent academic was sentenced to seven years in prison for accepting foreign contribution in violation of government regulations designed to combat the financing of terrorists, and an author was investigated on charges of apostasy.”In this article the newspaper referred to Dr, Ibraheem, and to my Quranic friend Ameen Yosif .
On December,26,2001 ,Al Akhbar mentioned the same case of the Quranists as “The fanatic organization of Al Matareyah,who are insulting Islam” .
On January,16,2002 ,Al Ahram said : “ In the case of the Quranic group : they embrace an anti- Islam thought.”
The same news on Al Wafd newspaper on January,28,2002,and on Al Ahram on January,30,2002.
On June,-6, 2002, Al Ahram and Al Gomhoreyah mentioned that Ameen Yousif has disowned his Quranic belief.
But on March,5,2002, the state security Emergency Court convicted the eight Quranic persons. Sentences ranged from 3 years to 1 year.

During the last decade of the 20the century I used to receive calls and letters from the Quranists around the world, and to meet the press and media in and out of Egypt to give the Quranic perspectives in any issue they concerned. On October 11, 2001, Four days before my escaping to the U S, the newspaper Die Zeit ,Hamburg (Germany) wrote one complete page about Al Azhar,saying { NEW BOOKS,500 YEARS OLD. At Al Azhar University they teach medieval Islam. Is this institution, too, a school for militant Muslims?}.The talked about Al Azhar, its history ,its role, its biggest leader: ”Shaihk Sayed Tantawy, and about me .
The German newspaper said “Ahmed Subhy Mansour has had such doubts for more than twenty years. He knows Al Azhar since childhood. First he attended one of its elementary schools in his hometown of Zagazig, later he studied for 16 years at Al Azhar University in Cairo.’ I was taught that Islam is the best of all religions and is the superior to all others. But,’ he adds ‘Al Azhar remained stagnant. Its teachings are irreconcilable with the modern understanding of human rights, democracy and tolerance. The youngest of its books are 500 years old’. Mansour is a kind of black sheep (enfant terrible ) for Al Azhar. Because of his provocative writings he was expelled from the university in 1987. His opinion about the peaceful character of Islam concurs with that of Shaikh Tantawi, but Mansour doubts the sincerity of the Azhar scholars, ‘They speak with two tongues; To the outside world they present a tolerant Islam; domestically, however, they say something different.’ The basic problem –according to Mansour- is not in the Quran.’ I can prove, at the instance of the Quran, that Islam is a peaceful religion reconcilable with modern human rights. The problem is the Sunni tradition that emerged in the centuries after the death of the prophet Mohammed. With the help of this tradition it is possible to justify a militant Islam.’
Al Azhar is not prepared to discard that tradition which includes, according to Mansour ,many Hadith(sayings of the prophet) that do not really originate with Mohammed but were attributed to him by posterity. A striking example to illustrate this phenomenon is the punishment of apostasy. According to the traditional interpretation every Muslim becomes liable to capital punishment if he abandons Islam. In 1993 Mansour published a study in which he demonstrated that this punishment has no basis in the Quran. The Quran states unambiguously “let there be no compulsion in religion.” Because of this book Al Azhar scholars issued a verdict against Mansour in which they accused him of apostasy, thus making him an outcast. Because of such methods some intellectuals accused Al Azhar of “intellectual terrorism.”.
This is what was written in the German newspaper on October,11, 2001.
The persecution could not veil the truth, it makes it grows and flourishes around the world.

Attachment 4:
the Saudian Opposition in the 20th Century [ The last book written in Egypt.]
The Religious Sunni Opposition in the Saudi Kingdom in the 20th Century was written in Arabic in June 2001. The book is 471 pages which does not include the attached documents.
The Religious Sunni Opposition at a Glance
Both the Saudi regime and its religious Sunni opposition maintain the same beliefs and ideologies. Together, they represent the fanatic Muslim Sunni , who are against other Muslim sects such as Sophy and/or Sheeah.
.Inside the fanatic Sunni sect they –together- uphold the most fanatic jurisprudence known a Hanabela. Hanabela is more fanatic than the other Sunni schools such as Ahnaf, Malekia, Shafeiah, and Zaheria.
Inside the radical school of Hanabela they –together- maintain the hardest line of Hanabela that belongs to the famous scholar, Ibn Taymeia, who died in 1327. Ibn Taymeia revolted against the Mameluke regime in Egypt and Syria during the 14th century.
Inside the teachings of Ibn Taymeia ,they- together - follow the hardest line that was written and applied by Ibn Abdel Wahab, who cooperated with the Saudi family in establishing the first Saudi state in the 18th century. Wahabia is the official belief of the current Saudi state and the Saudi opposition. In representing Wahabi they oppose other Muslim sects and non-Muslim nations, especially Europe and America. They believe that the non-Wahabi are infidels who should be killed or fought as a Jehad. , sooner or later.
Within the Wahabi belief, there is only one aspect of the ideological conflict between the regime and its religious Wahabi opposition. What is that ideology? This book answers that question through an analytic study of the fundamental and historical roots of the Saudi Wahabi opposition in the 20th century, from King Abdel-Aziz until his son King Fahd. This book also analyzes the culture of terrorism, which produced Osama bin Laden and his Al Kaeda network. Moreover, this book presents how one can face this religious culture from inside Islam.
The Religious Sunni Opposition in the Saudi Kingdom in the 20th Century consists of an introductory chapter and three sections. The preliminary chapter explains the historic and dogmatic roots of the Wahabi doctrine. The following three sections contain ten chapters.
The first section consists of five chapters that explain how Abdel Aziz established the Saudi state through utilizing his radical tough warriors, the Mojahedeen. The Mojahedeen are known as Ikhwan which means Muslim brothers. They were young Bedouins or nomads, but Abdel Aziz taught them how to uphold and to absorb the Wahabi doctrine. By engaging in Jehad or self sacrifice, Abdel Aziz had established the third Saudi state from 1902 to 1926. Abdel Aziz wanted to modernize his state by dealing with Egypt and with countries in the West. The Ikhwan revolted against him because he became an ally of the infidels. Abdel Aziz defeated them but he kept their ideology alive since it correlated with his own beliefs.
The second section deals with the Saudi Wahabi opposition during the time of King Saud –son of Abdel Aziz-. Then, the second chapter addresses the Saudi Wahabi opposition during the time of King Faisal and his brother King Knaled.
Chapter one analyzes the opposition to Naser Alssaed who was the labor leader of the Aramco Company workers. He successfully conducted many strikes and established a new movement in the kingdom which angered King Saud. Naser Alssaed was inspired and influenced by Abdel Nasser and the Egyptian revolution in the 1950’ Yet his own moderate religious dogma, made him different from both King Saud’s beliefs and Abdel Nasser’s beliefs. Actually, Naser Alssaed is the only one in Saudi’s opposition groups whose complete political program is to peacefully reform the state from within. Despite being a peaceful moderate, in 1977, the Saudi Service assassinated Naser Alssaed in Lebanon. During his life, after his death, and despite the blackout, Naser Alssaed was the leader who inspired and encouraged many opposition groups from within the Saudi family, Saudi Army, Saudi intellects, and the masses as well.
The second chapter of the second section analyzes the big movement of Johiman Alotaybi and his group. They occupied the sacred holy Mosque in Mecca on November 22, 1977, which according to the Muslim calendar was the first day beginning the 15th century. Johiman’s grand father was one of the [Ikhwan ] of Abdel Aziz , who revolted with them and was killed in the famous battle of Al Seblah on March 30, 1929. Johiman was a scholar who had his own secret organization. However, his effective weapon was his secret messages, which were compiled in an unpublished book entitled The Messages of Johiman Alotaybi. The Saudi authority still pursues the book. In Johiman’s messages he called for a fight with the Saudi regime, which represented an ally to the infidels and an enemy of Islam.
The last section analyzes the current opposition, which has emerged after the Gulf War and has produced Osama bin Laden and his Al Kaeda network.
The first chapter of this section gives a historic profile of this opposition group and its struggle against the Saudi state during 1990 to 2000.
The second chapter analyzes the ideological conflict between the independent religious committee, which leads the opposition and the Saudi state. In this dogmatic conflict, the official scholars of the Saudi state were completely defeated because the religious oppositions have their own arguments from inside the teachings of the sacred old [Imams] or scholars, including Ibn Taymeya and Ibn Abdel Wahab, who are idolized by all the Saudis.
The third chapter analyzes the main religious discourse of the current opposition,[Al amr bel maaroof Wa Al nahy an Al monkar] which means advocate what is good and forbid what is evil. The chapter further dissects how the current opposition use the Wahabi dogma to criticize the Saudi family, which mandates destroying their kingdom as the enemy of Islam.
The final conclusion of this study analyzes the future of the Saudi state--state that has been established three times and destroyed twice in the last four centuries. The future is influenced by its critical situation between the two long established states, Egypt and Iran. The future of the Saudi state will also be influenced by the regime’s need to reform and to moderate its religious dogma, along with a political, social, and economic reform. These reforms will be necessary for the state to survive longer than the former two Saudi states in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The attachments to this study include many pages from the confiscated and secret materials which are written by Saudi opponents. Since the documents are prohibited inside the Saudi kingdom, they have been compiled and published outside the kingdom. Consequently, some of the documents were published through the internet. Possessing some of these materials could lead to punishment by prison or death without a real trial. The documents include pages from Naser Alssaed’s book History of the Saudi Family; pages from the secret messages of Jehiman Alotaybi; messages from the internet of Al Masary, the leader of the religious committee, who is exiled to London and who has inspired Osama bin Laden; and documents of the human rights reports, which indicate the violations that exist within the kingdom.