THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XII, Issue # 128, July 19, 2010
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE STRANGE & TRAGIC CASE OF NAGLA IMAM
By Raymond Ibrahim
THE LACK OF HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTIONS IN EGYPT: ABSENCE OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY & FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
-- GOVERNMENT SUPPORT OF & PARTICIPATION IN HARASSMENT, IMPRISONMENT, TORTURE, & EXECUTION OF PERSONS
WHO CONVERT FROM ISLAM TO CHRISTIANITY OR WHO FACILITATE THE WAY FOR MUSLIMS TO CONVERT TO
CHRISTIANITY -- USE BY THE POLICE OF BEATINGS & THREATS IN ORDER TO DISPERSE PUBLIC DEMONSTRATORS
PEACEFULLY PROTESTING DEPRIVATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS -- DENIAL OF MEDICAL TREATMENT TO PERSONS INJURED
WHILE PARTICIPATING IN PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS
FULL STORY:
Uncovering the truth is always a convoluted affair when it comes to the Middle East. Consider the case of the Egyptian
Nagla Imam. Is she a Muslim woman who advocates the sexual harassment of Jewish women, or a Christian woman,
who advocates human rights — especially for fellow women of all faiths?
The story begins last June 24, when I was a guest on "I Was a Prisoner," which airs weekly on the Arabic satellite
station Tarek TV (Way TV). Named after its host, Nabil Bissada, who was imprisoned and tortured in
Egypt for facilitating the way for Muslims to convert to Christianity, "I Was a Prisoner" explores the lack of human
rights in Muslim countries.
Prior to the show, I was told a well-known Egyptian lawyer was scheduled to call in and discuss how the Egyptian
government was harassing her for converting. Nagla called in and expressed her situation as follows:
After being a prominent lawyer for years, she was fired for converting to Christianity; nor would the government, as
usual, allow her formally to change her religion from Muslim to Christian on her I.D. card. As a result, she tried to
organize a public demonstration against the government, with other Muslim converts to Christianity. The
demonstration was quickly dispersed by the police, the demonstrators beaten and threatened; and the Muslim mob got
in on the action. The young daughter of one Christian convert who broke her arm was denied medical attention.
After the show, I decided to google Nagla Imam's name, and it was then that I discovered the strange remarks
attributed to her. The contradiction was stunning: I contacted Nabil, who said he would investigate the matter.
Last week, July 7, Nabil contacted me by phone on the Nagla case. According to him, here are where things stand:
He called and asked Nagla about the sexual harassment remark; she became livid and frustrated, saying she never said
such a thing, and that that video was intentionally doctored by her Islamist opponents who run the Saudi-sponsored
station Al Arabiya to slander her name. (Nabil added that, due to her human rights work — years back, she
tried to pass a law banning polygamy in Egypt to the point that Al Azhar University proclaimed her an infidel —
Islamists have been trying to undermine her for years.)
As for her personal situation, approximately two weeks ago, State Security arrested and took Nagla to a government
building in Cairo. There, a top official twisted the crucifix she was wearing, tightening the chain around her neck, while
saying "the cross will be the death of you." The official then proceeded to beat her — giving her a black eye, a
bruised body, and broken teeth. Before releasing her, he said, "Stay in your house, till you are carried out to your
grave," adding that, if she does not return to Islam, "people" will be dispatched to "take care of her."
Nabil concluded by saying that Nagla and her two young children are trapped indoors — their entire Muslim family
having turned their backs on them — and besieged by the mob, which bangs on the doors and windows and has cut
off (no doubt, thanks to the government) all electricity to the house, leaving Nagla and her children in the dark.
Finally, a top Muslim cleric, Salim Abdul Galil, appeared on an Al Azhar-affiliated station proclaiming Nagla an
"infidel," adding she must either return to Islam or spend the remainder of her life indoors.
It should be observed that such a verdict accords perfectly not only with Islamic law in general, which is Egypt's
"primal source of legislation," but the Hanafi school in particular, which is dominant in Egypt: rather than kill apostate
women outright, the "lenient" Hanafis recommend that women be beaten (the government official took care of that)
and then imprisoned in their homes (the Muslim cleric has seen to that) till they see the "error of their ways," and
return to Islam.
Postscript: Last we heard, Nagla and her children have completely disappeared, bringing back the government
official's threat to mind — that "people" could be sent to "take care of her." To learn more about the Nagla Imam
story, contact Way TV: (661) 233-8787.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Egypt, Arabs, & the Middle East
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
North Africa -- The Arab States of Islamic North Africa
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Raymond Ibrahim is Associate Director of the Middle East Forum, author of The Al Qa'ida Reader, and Guest
Lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College.
The foregoing article by Raymond Ibrahim was originally published in Pajamas Media, July 15, 2010, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(URL: http://www.meforum.org/2688/nagla-imam)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
July 19, 2010
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