Ahmed Subhy Mansour
Encyclopedia
Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour (also Ahmad Subhy Mansour and Ahmad Subhi Mansur), born March 1, 1949, in Abu Harair, Kafr Saqr
, Sharqia, Egypt
is an Egyptian-born noted Islam
ic scholar and cleric, with expertise in Islamic history, culture, theology, and politics. He founded the small Egyptian Quranists
sect that is neither Sunni
nor Shiite, was exile
d from Egypt, and lives in the United States as a political refugee.
Mansour was an advocate for democracy and human rights
in Egypt for many years, during which time he was isolated by Islamic extremist
clerics and persecuted by the government. He was arrested and served time in prison for his liberal political, religious, and social views.
In May 1985, Mansour was discharged from his teaching and research position due to his liberal views, which were not acceptable to the religious authorities who controlled much of university policies and programs.
Mansour sought and was granted political asylum in the United States in 2002. He has served as a visiting fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, and at the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School.
Sheikh Mansour was fired from Al-Azhar University
after expressing his hadith rejector views. One of Mansour's fellow Islamic scholars at Al Azhar University Sheik Jamal Tahir took up the same Quran alone stance.
education in 1964, and ranked second in the Republic on the national exam. He graduated from Al-Azhar
Secondary School
, in Sharkeya, Egypt, in 1969, and ranked fourth in country on the national university entrance examination
. He then attended Al-Azhar University
in Cairo
, a prestigious Sunni
religious university. There he studied Muslim History, earning his B.A with Highest Honors in 1973, his M.A. with Honors in 1975, and his Ph.D with Highest Honors in 1980.
He founded a small Egyptian sect the Quranists, who believe: the Quran is the sole source of Islam and its laws (they reject hadith
, or reported traditions of Muhammad), is comprehensive and completely sufficient in itself, was revealed to Mohamed
to clarify all controversial and mysterious religious issues, was Mohamed’s only tradition and he was ordered to abide by it alone, and Islam is the religion of peace, mercy, justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. Its fundamental principles put it squarely at odds with mainstream Islam, which unanimously holds the example of its Prophet to be a part of the religion.
From 1973–80 he was an Assistant Teacher and Lecturer, from 1980–87 he was Assistant Professor, of Muslim History in the College of Arabic Language at Al Azhar University.
In May 1985, Mansour was discharged from his teaching and research position in Egypt due to his liberal views, which were not acceptable to the religious authorities who controlled much of university policies and programs. Because of his unconventional scholarship, Al-Azhar University accused him of being an enemy of Islam. He was tried in its canonical
court, and expelled March 17, 1987. In 1987, beginning with his arrest on November 17, and in 1988 he was imprisoned by the Egyptian government for his views, including his advocacy of religious harmony and tolerance between Egyptian Muslims, Christian Copt
s, and Jews.
In 1991–92, he worked with Farag Foda
to establish a new political party in Egypt, Mostakbal ("The Future Party"), dedicated to a secular democratic state, and to defend the Christian Egyptians
. Foda was assassinated in June 1992.
From 1994–96, he was a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
, which worked to protect Egyptians from human rights offenses. In 1996, Mansour established a weekly conference at the Ibn Khaldoun Center – headed by Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim – in order to discuss Islamist
dogma, religion-based terror, and other issues. It functioned until June 2000, when the Center was closed down by the Egyptian government and Ibrahim was arrested.
Mansour sought and was granted political asylum
in the United States in 2002.
From September 28, 2009 to September 27, 2010 Dr. Mansour served as a Fellow at The US Commission on International Religious Freedom. From September 7, 2010 to May ,2011, Dr. Mansour served as fellow at The Woodrow Wilson Center.
, which includes an Internet site in Arabic and English. On its website at www.ahl-alquran.com, the organization is republishing dozens of Mansour's books and hundreds of articles he has written over the years.
Since arriving in the United States in 2002, Mansour has held a number of academic posts. In 2002, he was a Reagan
-Fascell
Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy
in Washington, where he wrote on the roots of democracy in Islam.
The next year, he received a visiting fellowship at Harvard Law School
's Human Rights Program.
In October 2004, he said that the leaders of the Muslim organization behind a new $22 million mosque in Roxbury tolerated "hateful views", and harbored extremists. In 2004 Daniel Pipes
lauded him for speaking out against Islamist
s.
In 2007, The Washington Times
reported that his teachings have earned him dozens of death "fatwās" from fellow Muslim clerics, the punishment of Apostasy
in traditional Islam.
In 2008, he said of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR), "The culture of CAIR is the same as Usama bin Laden
, but they have two faces. Who are the moderates? You probably never heard of them, and that, they say, is part of the problem. The message of peace does not make the news."
International Quranic Center
Mansour founded and is a board member of the International Quranic Center (IQC) to further his vision of moderate Islam. His interpretation of the letter and spirit of the Quran focuses on the values of democracy and religious tolerance. The IQC sponsors research, convenes conferences, and disseminates the ideas of Mansour and like-minded advocates in the U.S. and abroad through scholarly and educational publications, Arabic and English-language websites, movies, and TV productions. Its Board of Directors includes Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
They do not identify themselves as Sunnis' or Shiites' sects but simply call themselves Muslims because they believe that the Qu'ran
represents the single authentic scripture of Islam. The basic differences with the rest of the Orthodox Muslims is that they reject the Hadith
and Sunna
, purported sayings and traditions of the prophet Muhammad
. Dr. Mansour claims about 10,000 followers in Egypt.
Americans for Peace and Tolerance
He is a co-founder and board member of Americans for Peace and Tolerance
, along with political activist Charles Jacobs
and Boston College
political science professor Dr. Dennis Hale
(an Episcopal
layman). Its purpose is to "promote peaceful coexistence in an ethnically diverse America by educating the American public about the need for a moderate political leadership that supports tolerance and core American values in communities across the nation." The group is a primary critic of the $15.6 million mosque in Roxbury Crossings, which the group asserts is led by extremist leaders and contributors. Mansour said: "I visited this mosque one time with my wife. I found their Arabic materials full of hatred against America. I recognized they were Wahhabis." The Islamic Society of Boston sued him over his attacks on anti-American and anti-Semitic statements he said he read and heard inside the society's mosque. He is also a founder and board member (since October 2004) of Citizens for Peace and Tolerance.
Free Muslims Coalition
Mansour is also a board member (since September 2004) of the Free Muslims Coalition, a nonprofit organization of American Muslim
s and Arabs who feel that religious violence
and terrorism have not been fully rejected by the Muslim community. The Coalition seeks to eliminate broad base support for Islamic extremism
and terrorism, to strengthen secular democratic institutions in the Muslim world by supporting Islamic reformation efforts, and to promote a modern secular interpretation of Islam which is peace-loving, democracy-loving, and compatible with other faiths and beliefs.
Center for Islamic Pluralism
Mansour is the founder and the Interim President of Center for Islamic Pluralism.
Paul Marshall analyzed the arrests in the Weekly Standard
as follows:
Mansour lamented:
He added: "Few Americans understand that the battle against terrorism is a war of ideas. It is a war that is very different from the military in its tactics, its strategy and its weapons."
, Al Khaleej, and Al Watan
) in Arabic, dealing with many aspects of Islamic history, culture, and religion. They include a history of Wahhabism 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; and various pieces of prose fiction and screen plays.
Kafr Saqr
Kafr Saqr is one of the oldest centers and the seat of a Markaz of Sharqia Governorate of Egypt.-Notable persons:*Ahmed Subhy Mansour, Islamic scholar, cleric, and founder of the Quranists, who was exiled from Egypt, and lives in the United States as a political refugee....
, Sharqia, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
is an Egyptian-born noted Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic scholar and cleric, with expertise in Islamic history, culture, theology, and politics. He founded the small Egyptian Quranists
Qur'an alone
Quranism is an Islamic denomination that holds the Qur'an to be the only canonical text in Islam. Quranists reject the religious authority of Hadith and often Sunnah, libraries compiled by later scholars who catalogued narratives of what the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said and done,...
sect that is neither Sunni
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
nor Shiite, was exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
d from Egypt, and lives in the United States as a political refugee.
Mansour was an advocate for democracy and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
in Egypt for many years, during which time he was isolated by Islamic extremist
Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism refers to two related and partially overlapping but also distinct aspects of extremist interpretations and pursuits of Islamic ideology:...
clerics and persecuted by the government. He was arrested and served time in prison for his liberal political, religious, and social views.
In May 1985, Mansour was discharged from his teaching and research position due to his liberal views, which were not acceptable to the religious authorities who controlled much of university policies and programs.
Mansour sought and was granted political asylum in the United States in 2002. He has served as a visiting fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, and at the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School.
Sheikh Mansour was fired from Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...
after expressing his hadith rejector views. One of Mansour's fellow Islamic scholars at Al Azhar University Sheik Jamal Tahir took up the same Quran alone stance.
Biography
Mansoor received his junior middle schoolMiddle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
education in 1964, and ranked second in the Republic on the national exam. He graduated from Al-Azhar
Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...
Secondary School
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
, in Sharkeya, Egypt, in 1969, and ranked fourth in country on the national university entrance examination
Entrance examination
An entrance examination is an examination that many educational institutions use to select students for admission. These exams may be administered at any level of education, from primary to higher education, although they are more common at higher levels....
. He then attended Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...
in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, a prestigious Sunni
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
religious university. There he studied Muslim History, earning his B.A with Highest Honors in 1973, his M.A. with Honors in 1975, and his Ph.D with Highest Honors in 1980.
He founded a small Egyptian sect the Quranists, who believe: the Quran is the sole source of Islam and its laws (they reject hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
, or reported traditions of Muhammad), is comprehensive and completely sufficient in itself, was revealed to Mohamed
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
to clarify all controversial and mysterious religious issues, was Mohamed’s only tradition and he was ordered to abide by it alone, and Islam is the religion of peace, mercy, justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. Its fundamental principles put it squarely at odds with mainstream Islam, which unanimously holds the example of its Prophet to be a part of the religion.
From 1973–80 he was an Assistant Teacher and Lecturer, from 1980–87 he was Assistant Professor, of Muslim History in the College of Arabic Language at Al Azhar University.
In May 1985, Mansour was discharged from his teaching and research position in Egypt due to his liberal views, which were not acceptable to the religious authorities who controlled much of university policies and programs. Because of his unconventional scholarship, Al-Azhar University accused him of being an enemy of Islam. He was tried in its canonical
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...
court, and expelled March 17, 1987. In 1987, beginning with his arrest on November 17, and in 1988 he was imprisoned by the Egyptian government for his views, including his advocacy of religious harmony and tolerance between Egyptian Muslims, Christian Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
s, and Jews.
In 1991–92, he worked with Farag Foda
Farag Foda
Farag Foda , also Faraj Fawda, was an important Egyptian thinker, human rights activist, writer, and columnist.Based in Cairo, he was noted for his critical articles and sharp satires about Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt. In many newspaper articles, he demonstrated weak points in Islamic ideology...
to establish a new political party in Egypt, Mostakbal ("The Future Party"), dedicated to a secular democratic state, and to defend the Christian Egyptians
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
. Foda was assassinated in June 1992.
From 1994–96, he was a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights , founded in April 1985 and with its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, is a non-profit NGO and one of the longest-standing bodies for the defense of human rights in Egypt. It investigates, monitors, and reports on human rights violations...
, which worked to protect Egyptians from human rights offenses. In 1996, Mansour established a weekly conference at the Ibn Khaldoun Center – headed by Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim – in order to discuss Islamist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
dogma, religion-based terror, and other issues. It functioned until June 2000, when the Center was closed down by the Egyptian government and Ibrahim was arrested.
Mansour sought and was granted political asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
in the United States in 2002.
From September 28, 2009 to September 27, 2010 Dr. Mansour served as a Fellow at The US Commission on International Religious Freedom. From September 7, 2010 to May ,2011, Dr. Mansour served as fellow at The Woodrow Wilson Center.
In the U.S.
He and his sons operate the Quranic Center in Northern VirginiaNorthern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
, which includes an Internet site in Arabic and English. On its website at www.ahl-alquran.com, the organization is republishing dozens of Mansour's books and hundreds of articles he has written over the years.
Since arriving in the United States in 2002, Mansour has held a number of academic posts. In 2002, he was a Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
-Fascell
Dante Fascell
Dante Bruno Fascell served as an American politician from the state of Florida.-Early life:Fascell, born in Bridgehampton, New York in 1917, moved to Florida in 1925. He graduated from the University of Miami law school in 1938. Fascell was a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity and the...
Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy
National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...
in Washington, where he wrote on the roots of democracy in Islam.
The next year, he received a visiting fellowship at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
's Human Rights Program.
In October 2004, he said that the leaders of the Muslim organization behind a new $22 million mosque in Roxbury tolerated "hateful views", and harbored extremists. In 2004 Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
lauded him for speaking out against Islamist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
s.
In 2007, The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
reported that his teachings have earned him dozens of death "fatwās" from fellow Muslim clerics, the punishment of Apostasy
Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined in Islam as the rejection in word or deed of one's former religion by a person who was previously a follower of Islam...
in traditional Islam.
In 2008, he said of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is America's largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization that deals with civil advocacy and promotes human rights...
(CAIR), "The culture of CAIR is the same as Usama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, but they have two faces. Who are the moderates? You probably never heard of them, and that, they say, is part of the problem. The message of peace does not make the news."
International Quranic Center
Mansour founded and is a board member of the International Quranic Center (IQC) to further his vision of moderate Islam. His interpretation of the letter and spirit of the Quran focuses on the values of democracy and religious tolerance. The IQC sponsors research, convenes conferences, and disseminates the ideas of Mansour and like-minded advocates in the U.S. and abroad through scholarly and educational publications, Arabic and English-language websites, movies, and TV productions. Its Board of Directors includes Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
They do not identify themselves as Sunnis' or Shiites' sects but simply call themselves Muslims because they believe that the Qu'ran
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
represents the single authentic scripture of Islam. The basic differences with the rest of the Orthodox Muslims is that they reject the Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
and Sunna
Sunnah
The word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
, purported sayings and traditions of the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. Dr. Mansour claims about 10,000 followers in Egypt.
Americans for Peace and Tolerance
He is a co-founder and board member of Americans for Peace and Tolerance
Americans for Peace and Tolerance
Americans for Peace and Tolerance is a Boston, Massachusetts, 501 non-profit organization. It was founded by Boston political activist Charles Jacobs , Boston College political science professor Dr. Dennis Hale , and Islamic scholar Sheikh Dr...
, along with political activist Charles Jacobs
Charles Jacobs (political activist)
Charles Jacobs is the co-founder of the American Anti-Slavery Group , which campaigns against slavery worldwide, and a co-chairman of The Sudan Campaign , a coalition calling for an end to slavery in Sudan...
and Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
political science professor Dr. Dennis Hale
Dennis Hale
Dennis Hale is Associate Professor of Political Science at Boston College.-Education and teaching:Hale has a B.A. from Oberlin College , an M.A. from Brooklyn College , and a Ph.D...
(an Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
layman). Its purpose is to "promote peaceful coexistence in an ethnically diverse America by educating the American public about the need for a moderate political leadership that supports tolerance and core American values in communities across the nation." The group is a primary critic of the $15.6 million mosque in Roxbury Crossings, which the group asserts is led by extremist leaders and contributors. Mansour said: "I visited this mosque one time with my wife. I found their Arabic materials full of hatred against America. I recognized they were Wahhabis." The Islamic Society of Boston sued him over his attacks on anti-American and anti-Semitic statements he said he read and heard inside the society's mosque. He is also a founder and board member (since October 2004) of Citizens for Peace and Tolerance.
Free Muslims Coalition
Mansour is also a board member (since September 2004) of the Free Muslims Coalition, a nonprofit organization of American Muslim
Islam in the United States
From the 1880s to 1914, several thousand Muslims immigrated to the United States from the Ottoman Empire, and from parts of South Asia; they did not form distinctive settlements, and probably most assimilated into the wider society....
s and Arabs who feel that religious violence
Religious violence
Religious violence is a term that covers all phenomena where religion, in any of its forms, is either the subject or object of violent behaviour. Religious violence is, specifically, violence that is motivated by or in reaction to religious precepts, texts or doctrines...
and terrorism have not been fully rejected by the Muslim community. The Coalition seeks to eliminate broad base support for Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism refers to two related and partially overlapping but also distinct aspects of extremist interpretations and pursuits of Islamic ideology:...
and terrorism, to strengthen secular democratic institutions in the Muslim world by supporting Islamic reformation efforts, and to promote a modern secular interpretation of Islam which is peace-loving, democracy-loving, and compatible with other faiths and beliefs.
Center for Islamic Pluralism
Mansour is the founder and the Interim President of Center for Islamic Pluralism.
Quranists' arrests in Egypt
In May and June 2007, Egyptian authorities arrested five leaders of the movement, including Mansour's brother, on charges of "insulting Islam", and began investigations of 15 others. Following the arrests, Mansour's homes in Cairo and Sharqia were searched by the State Security.Paul Marshall analyzed the arrests in the Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...
as follows:
"These arrests are part of the Egyptian government's double game in which it imprisons members of the Muslim BrotherhoodMuslim BrotherhoodThe Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
when the latter appear to become too powerful, while simultaneously trying to appear Islamic itself and blunt the Brotherhood's appeal by cracking down on religious reformers, who are very often also democracy activists."
Mansour lamented:
"Killing people just because they are not Muslims, they have a Hadith for this. To kill a Muslim like me after accusing him to be an 'apostateApostasyApostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
," they have a Hadith for this. To persecute the Jews, they have a Hadith for this. All this is garbage. It has nothing to do with Islam. It contradicts more than one-fourth of the Koranic verses. We find Islam has the same values as the West: freedom, unlimited freedom of speech, justice, equality, loving, humanity, tolerance, mercy, everything. This is our version of Islam, and we argue that this is the core of Islam according to the Koran."
He added: "Few Americans understand that the battle against terrorism is a war of ideas. It is a war that is very different from the military in its tactics, its strategy and its weapons."
Works
Mansour has authored 24 books and 500 articles (in various newspapers and magazines, including Al Akhbar, Al-AhramAl-Ahram
Al-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
, Al Khaleej, and Al Watan
Al-Watan (Kuwait)
The Al-Watan is a Kuwaiti Arabic language daily published by the Al-Watan publishing house. The editor in chief was Muhammad 'Abed al-Qader al-Jasem until 2005, when Sheikh Khalifa Ali al Khalifa al Sabah, a member of the Kuwaiti ruling family, took over....
) in Arabic, dealing with many aspects of Islamic history, culture, and religion. They include a history of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
; a critique of the concepts of jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
, bigotry, and dictatorship in Muslim thought; women’s rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
in the Muslim world; the reform of Egyptian education; and various pieces of prose fiction and screen plays.
Books
Books in Arabic- Al Sayed Al Badway: Fact versus Superstition. Cairo, 1982.
- Using Religious Texts to Inform Muslim History. Cairo, 1984.
- The Personality of Egypt after the Muslim Invasion. Cairo, 1984.
- The History of the Historic Sources of Arabic and Muslim Fields. Cairo, 1984. .
- The Fundamental Rules of Historical Research. Cairo, 1984.
- The Invasions of the Moguls and the Crusaders in Muslim History. Cairo, 1985.
- A History of the Cultural Development of Muslims. Cairo, 1985.
- The Muslim World between the Early Stage and the Abbasy CaliphateCaliphateThe term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
. Cairo, 1985. - The Prophets in the Holy Quran. Cairo, 1985.
- The Sinner Muslim: Common Mythology Regarding the Sinner Muslim. Cairo, 1987.
- Egypt in the Holy Quran. Al Akhbar newspaper, Cairo, 1990.
- 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.
- Death in the Quran. Dar Al Shark Al Awsat, Cairo, 1990.
- 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.
- Freedom of Speech: Islam and Muslims. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Cairo, 1994.
- The Al Hisbah between the Quran and Muslims. Al Mahrousah, Cairo, 1995; Al Kahera magazine, Cairo, 1996.
- The Torture of the Grave. Tibia, Cairo, 1996; Al Mothakkafoun Al Arab, Cairo, 2000.
- NaskhNaskh (exegesis)Naskh is an Arabic language word usually translated as "abrogation"; it shares the same root as the words appearing in the phrase al-nāsikh wal-mansūkh...
in the Quran Means Writing Not Abrogating. Al Tanweer magazine, Cairo?? 1997; Al Mahrousah, Cairo, 1998; Al Mothakkafoun Al Arab, Cairo, 2000. - The Introduction (mokademat) of Ibn Khaldoun: A Fundamental Historical and Analytical Study. The Ibn Khaldoun Center, Cairo, 1999.
- Suggestions to Revise Muslim Religion Courses in Egyptian Education to Make Egyptians More Tolerant. Ibn Khaldoun Center, Cairo, 1999.
- Religious Thought in Egypt in the MamlukMamlukA Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
e Era: Islam versus Muslim SufismSufismSufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
. Ministry of Culture, Cairo, 2000. - Al-Aqaid Al-Diniyah Fi Misr Al-Mamlukiyah Bayna Al-Islam Wa-Al-Tasawwuf, by Ahmad Subhi Mansur, ISBN 9770169919, al-Hayah al-Misriyah al-Ammah lil-Kitab
- Al-Tasawwuf Wa-Al-hayah Al-Diniyah Fi Misr Al-Mamlukiyah, by Ahmad Subhi Mansur, ISBN 9773130576, Markaz al-Mahrusah lil-Buhuth wa-al-Tadrib wa-Nashr
- Misr Fi Al-Quran Al-Karim, by Ahmad Subhi Mansur, ISBN 9771243551, Muassasat Akhbar al-Yawm
Select articles
- "Mediaeval theocracies in a modern age", by Ahmed Sobhi Mansour, Al-AhramAl-AhramAl-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
, October 15–21, 1998 - "The Roots of Democracy in Islam", National Endowment for DemocracyNational Endowment for DemocracyThe National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...
, December 16, 2002 - "The False Alarm of Evangelism", April 28, 2005
- "The Suicide Bomber", FrontPage Magazine, August 3, 2—5
- "They ask you about the veil", November 21, 2006
- "A Shackled Reformation; Egypt persecutes Muslim moderates", The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, February 3, 2009
Select testimony
- Testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington, D.C., October 25, 2005
External links
- Free-Minds bio
- International Quranic Center website
- Washington Times Article
- Conflict & cooperation: Christian-Muslim relations in contemporary Egypt, Peter E. Makari, Syracuse University PressSyracuse University PressSyracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. The areas of focus for the Press include Middle East Studies, Native American Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution, Irish Studies and Jewish Studies, among others. The Press has an international...
, 2007, ISBN 0815631448]