CAIRO: Religious, social and political groups launched an aggressive campaign against secular writer and thinker Sayed Al-Qimni, demanding that he be stripped of the State Merit Award in Social Sciences which he received earlier this year.
Al-Qimni was awarded the title, along with LE 200,000, by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni earlier this month.
“I deserve this prize, Al-Qimni told Daily News Egypt. “It was granted to me by a respected committee comprised of more than 30 of Egypt’s intellectual elite.
He added that he is not threatened by the campaign launched against him. “It reflects their argument’s weakness and their inability to cope with secular thought and hold a scientific and civilized dialogue.
Dubbed “an infidel by some, 62-year-old Al-Qimni is known for his controversial writings that challenge traditional religious beliefs. Most of his academic work focused on three areas: the comparative studies of religions, studies of Islamic history and studies of contemporary and modern sciences.
He authored books such as “The Prophet’s Wars and Lord of this time, that were commandeered by Al-Azhar.
His award-winning book The Hashemi Party caused the Egyptian Islamic Legislation Authority to declare that his ideas verge on apostasy, thus declaring him an infidel.
In this book, Al-Qimni claimed that Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) married the wealthy widow Khadija to secure himself financially after deceiving her father.
Apart from the fact that such a claim is seen as insulting and disrespectful of the Prophet, it also goes against the traditional version of the story that it was Khadija who had proposed marriage to the Prophet, whom she trusted as the manager of her trade caravan.
“Sheikh El-Howayny declared me an infidel based on fabrications and lies by the preacher Khalid Abdullah, when he misquoted me and took my words out of context on a television show, Al-Qimni said.
The provocative tone of Al-Qimni’s articles also put his life at risk. After he received a death threat from Al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2005, he submitted his resignation from Rose El-Youssef magazine to protect his own life and that of his family.
He also received another death threat from the Egyptian Jihad Organization, asking him to tone down his ideas down or he will “meet the fate of Farag Fouda, who was assassinated in 1992.
Isis, Al-Qimni’s daughter, called on President Hosni Mubarak to intervene and protect them from the “threats of radical Islamic movements.
Al-Qimni comes from a long line of controversial Islamic scholars and writers such as Taha Hussein – a recipient of the same award – Ahmed Amin, Ebkar El-Saqqaf, Khalil Abdul-Karim, Farag Fouda.
However, Al-Qimni still maintains that his war against fundamentalism was a fruitful one. “It’s worth all the effort we exerted, because now there are thousands of secularists in Egypt that are carrying the torch of enlightenment and the trend has grown, he said.
Al-Qimni explained that he has a following of young avid readers who engage in dialogue with him through various online forums.
“Secularist approaches before me and my colleagues did not exist in Egypt and I am proud to establish a completely new school of enlightening thought that gained many devotees, he said.
“I receive moral support from my friends in Egypt and the Arab world, as well as human rights organizations, he said.
