CAIRO: Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Human Rights Union, denied reports in Al-Gomhuria state-owned newspaper Sunday claiming that he has published his book “Contempt for Religions despite an Al-Azhar ban.
“What was published in Al-Gomhuria yesterday has no basis in truth, it’s all a lie, Gabriel told Daily News Egypt.
The book allegedly fuels sectarian sedition and encourages contempt for Muslim scholars. It also attacks historical Muslim thinkers like Ibn Taymiyah, Al-Tabari, Sheikh Abdel Aziz Bin Baz and Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, accusing them of contempt for both Christians and Bahais.
“I insist that the book doesn’t contain any offensive remarks against Muslim scholars as they claim, Gabriel said.
“It documents violations against Christianity. It’s not supposed to be published or distributed. We are also planning to issue another documentation of violations made against Islam like what happened in Denmark. This is one of our organization’s activities, he said, adding that he is a member of the International Association for Islamic Jurisprudence.
On his part Mohamed Zein El Din, the Al-Gomhuria journalist who wrote the article, told Daily News Egypt that he received a copy of the book that was branded with the organization’s logo.
“I wasn’t the only one to get a copy of the book. All the newspapers received a copy as well, he said.
Last month, Gabriel participated in “A World Conference for Dialogue, a Saudi-sponsored inter-religious conference in Madrid, in which he supported calls for an international law criminalizing contempt for religion to confront a repeat of the Danish cartoon crisis.
