More info, about the arrest and the trail of the Quranists in Sudan

Sherif Mansour

في الإثنين ١٤ - ديسمبر - ٢٠١٥ ١٢:٠٠ صباحاً

For more news reports about the Sudanese Quranists , their arrest and trial :

http://www.mobtada.com/details.php?ID=416981

http://www.hurriyatsudan.com/?p=193418

http://arabnyheter.info/ar/archives/75519

The Quranists (aka Koranists) believes in a moderate and peaceful interpretation of Islam and as enshrined to the only central religious text of Islam, Quran, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. These ideas, while basic and universal, have very progressive agenda, including on issues like human rights, tolerance, and minority rights. So, they were always put in clash with other conservative clerics, including from Al-Azhar religious institution and other fanatic supporters of Wahhabism and Sunni traditions who accused them of “Insulting Religion” because they “deny the profit Mohamed’s sayings ‘hadith’ ” and with it many of the “established facts” of Islam.

For example, Dr. Mohamed Sayed Tantawy, the former Sheikh of AL-Azhar, said in 2007 that Quranists Are Apostates, which means they are supposed to be given three days to repent, then if not, they should be killed (this is also one of the points Quranists disagree with Al-Azhar and Sunni tradition.) Since the fatwa, several criminal cases were brought against some of them, including my own family members and friends, resulting in periodical imprisonment of several of them. My father, and his center, the International Quranic Center, actively work to defend and free them, especially those who used to write at the center’s website, www.ahl-Alquran.com

Some of them were eventually able to successfully flee and seek asylum in the U.S. from 2000 to 2015. But the rest continue to be harassed. As recent as July 2015, the police arrested four of our family in Sharkia Egypt in what the police said was a “precautionary measure,” that he decided to leave with his family to the US and never to return. (See more about the most recent arrest here:http://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/767974)

Also, for more background, you can see these reports on arrests of Egypt’s ‘Quranists”: