We Have the Power of Knowledge but Lack the Financial Means
Published in April 25, 2017
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Firstly:
1- The Egyptian journalist Selim Azzouz has a special satirist style we admire very much; he used to live in Egypt as a free writer who opposes both the Wahabi terrorist MB and the military tyranny, and he used to write in the Al-Ahrar party newspaper; we made his acquaintance as we used to write in Al-Ahrar newspaper along with our late friend Dr. Farag Fouda, and the editor-in-chief at the time was Waheed Ghazi. We had to quit writing in Al-Ahrar newspaper when its editor-in-chief was Mustapha Bakry and others after him, who were pro-Mubarak, but our friendship with Mr. Azzouz was so steady, as both of us are against Wahabism and military tyranny. Our writings in Al-Ahrar against Wahabi Salafists and MB caused their being bent on taking revenge against our person.
2- In the Cairo-based Ibn Khaldoun Center, we have submitted a project to reform education in Egypt, making it more tolerant toward Copts, and we offered alternative curricula for religious studies in formal, public education in schools and universities; yet, attacks and accusations were leveled against our person by journalists, the Parliament, cabinet of ministers, etc. Later on, Dr. Saad Eddine Ibrahim was incarcerated and Ibn Khaldoun Center closed down, and many of our fellow Quranists were incarcerated, and we expected our arrest, but we had a narrow escape as we fled to the USA in Oct. 2001.
3- Strangely and ironically, State-owned newspapers attacked us less severely; the virulent attacks came from independent newspapers and party-affiliated newspapers; this is because they are funded by the KSA. Within Al-Ahrar newspapers, MB and Salafist writers wrote articles to vent their ire and urge Mubarak regime to arrest and incarcerate us; this was character assassination. Our Azharite foes were interviewed to attack our person as a heretic infidel who deserved to be murdered; other petty, ignorant journalists wrote articles about Islam, about which they know nothing, in an attempt to refute Quranism and to vilify our person. Mr. Azzouz has written at the time a series of articles, titled "Little Foxes" to defend us and to ridicule those journalists and ignoramuses.
4- At the time, Al-Ahrar newspaper published 20 plus lengthy articles authored by someone named Abou Islam Ahmad Abdulla to attack and vilify our person to tarnish our reputation, and he ascribed many falsehoods to us; we sent to Al-Ahrar newspaper an article to refute him, and after it got published, this journalist wrote a series of articles attacking us titled "Refuting Ahmed Subhy Mansour"; this led to postponement of our intended arrest, and after we escaped as a political refugee to the USA, our link with Mr. Azzouz ended, but we heard that he has left Egypt and settled in a Gulf monarchy to write freely.
Secondly:
We received this article via email written by Mr. Azzouz published on the website arabi21.com, on 27th Jan. 2017, titled "The Marriage Registrar Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi!", and he has mentioned our name in the introduction of his article:
(... When one hears President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, we sense how ignorant he was as he followed oral culture without extensive readings; when he failed to impose on Al-Azhar that verbal divorce must not be accepted unless registered. He cannot impose religious reform and he is no thinker; he must use experts instead. In the paper Al-Sisi wrote when he studied in the USA, he quoted an exceptional expert, but he never made good use of him and discussions in Egyptian media about divorce have been ridiculous and laughable . This expert is Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour, whom we used to know 25 years ago, who was incarcerated many times for being a 'heretic' who denies Sunna and hadiths, who is now living in VA, USA, and was a former professor at Al-Azhar University, and he is a great Muslim thinker who has established the Quranist trend. Why Al-Sisi would not make use of such a great man?! Some ignoramuses in Egypt quote Dr. Mansour without mentioning his name and they cannot think themselves and appear as 'good' writers, such as Mr. Islam Al-Beheiry and Mrs. Fatima Naoot, and they cannot express the reformist views as clearly and eruditely as Dr. Mansour whom they quote partially and superficially to achieve fame and money and attract attention to themselves; they are parasites who attack the likes of Al-Bokhary without studying his book, unlike the knowledgeable scholar Dr. Mansour in his attacking al-Bokhary and his likes ...)
Thirdly:
We thank our old friend Mr. Azzouz for his description of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and the Egyptians' lack of bold writers and erudite scholars and reformers, but we beg to be allowed to describe the trend of Quranists of ours: we have the power of knowledge but lack the financial means. Let us give some details below.
1- The power of knowledge on our website is clearly shown in the number of our articles, books, fatwas, and comments, hated very much by imams and sheikhs of the earthly religions of the Muhammadans and the masses following them. Yet, we have no time to market our intellectual product or to form relations with powerful persons in the USA; besides, we cannot compromise anything for anyone, powerful or otherwise, as we seek only to please God not mortals: one cannot please both people and God at the same time, and our personal experience, past and present, makes us very sure of that. Consequently, we are still, and may remain, impecunious and lacking in the financial means and sponsorship; thus, Quranists have the power of knowledge but lack the financial means.
2- Some people who attack Wahabi and Sunnite notions as well as Azharite curricula compromise a lot to get published, but we never do so; we must say wholly, not partially, what we deem as true. This has been our stance in Egypt to be very frank, outspoken, and vociferous without compromises or indirectness. Other timid people say what they have to say gradually and indirectly; we've adamantly refused such a method since we were working at Al-Azhar University. Within our inquisition-like interrogation at Al-Azhar University that went on for two years (1985 : 1987), they urged us all the time to sign under two lines confessing we were in the wrong; we refused of course and demanded to be proven wrong first if they could. Azharite ignoramuses could never refute us, and hey reminded us of their attacking us for undermining Sufism in our PhD thesis and then their accepting our views against Sufism 10 years later, and how our attacking Sunna and hadiths is hardly pardonable. We retorted that with the passage of time, they will know that we are right in attacking and undermining Al-Bokhary and his Sunna and all hadiths written and authored by his likes.
3- The worst compromise by all ignoramuses, that seems to them something light and to us a grave crime, is their adopting Wahabi Salafist Sunnite erroneous terms that tarnish the name of Islam in their writings, such as: 'Islamist' movements, 'Islamic' fanaticism, 'Muslim' brothers, 'Islamism', 'Islamist ' groups, etc. This crime of false terminology used in writings helps terrorist Wahabis to claim they act and speak in the name of Islam as its representatives; they are indeed the arch-enemies of Islam and they embody Wahabism that opposes the Quran. As per the Quran itself, no mortals or humans (including Prophet Muhammad) represent Islam. We refer readers to our article titled "Muhammad Does not Embody Islam, Let Alone Muslims", (in English) found on this link:
http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=16369
Islam is represented only by the Quran, with its commands, prohibitions, and teachings. Muhammad was a mortal human being who sometimes made errors and mistakes and used to repent, and he will be judged on the Last Day like all human beings. Thus, no mortal embodies Islam; otherwise, he/she will not be judged on the Last Day. The veritable danger of attributing Wahabis and their likes to Islam is making religion responsible for their crimes; besides, their attackers will be intimidated by being cast as enemies/attackers of Wahabism and therefore 'Islam'. This makes Wahabis more popular among the masses in many countries. Thus Wahabis and their likes must never be described in media as 'Islamists', but described as what they really are: Wahabis. Sadly, people ascribe Wahabi crimes and terrorism to Islam, whereas the term "Wahabism" became sacrosanct and hallowed and most people fear to attack and criticize it.
4- Strangely, some of those 'reformers' and 'reformist' thinkers who attack and criticize Azharite curricula describe Azharite books, notions, and traditions as 'Islamic'; this is very wrong, as the adjective ''Islamic'' must refer exclusively to God's Word, the Quran, not to any writings authored by mortals. By describing such Azharite books, notions, and traditions as 'Islamic', those criticizing them are considered as heretics and apostates who attack Islam. The masses forget that such writings authored in the Abbasid, Mameluke, and Ottoman eras are man-made and never sacred. It is OK to criticize and attack the book of Al-Bokhary and its author; he lived during the Abbasid Era, 200 years after Muhammad's death. It is OK to criticize, undermine, and attack Azharite fiqh curricula written in the Ottoman Era; this criticism is the scientific methodology that begins with ascribing writings to their authors and to discuss and analyze these writings, to laud or attack them, away from the great religion of Islam, whose complete message is the Quran, and divine revelation ended when Muhammad died. If one lives Muhammad, Islam, and God indeed, one must clear their names of falsehoods, myths, and lies named ''fiqh and hadiths'' written by Al-Bokhary and his likes, as such books never represent God's Quranic sharia.
5- Making compromises makes ignoramuses and those seeking fame and money climb the social ladder, and media doors are open wide for them. Those corrupt ones have no qualms to describe terrorist Wahabis as 'Islamists' and deny hadiths partially not wholly so as not to be accused of denying Sunna; yet, Al-Azhar never had mercy for these compromising hypocrites, and many were intimidated and/or incarcerated when accused of showing contempt to 'Islam'.
6- Thus, many parasites quote us partially and superficially without mentioning our name. Yet, saying truth partially, and not wholly, is tantamount to spreading falsehoods, and yet, these ignorant parasites are happy to see media outlets welcome them, and when imprisoned at certain point, they get more fame and sympathy, and the masses call them 'thinkers', though they are indeed ignoramuses!
Lastly:
1- We have authored merely one article, published in Al-Ahrar newspaper, to defend ourselves at the time when so much attacks and harsh, false accusations were leveled at our person, and this article is titled "We Are Content with Our Lot in Life", and after 25 years now, we still repeat that we are still happy and content with our lot in life.
2- It is enough for us we have the power of knowledge; it is OK to remain impecunious and lacking financial means so as to keep our integrity and never to compromise.