Freedom of Expression in Islam

Lena Larsen is the project director of the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief at the University of Oslo, Norway.Muhammad Khalid Masud is the Director General of the Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.Christian Moe is an independent writer and researcher based in Slovenia. He has written on Islam, human rights, and religious affairs in the Balkans.Kari Vogt is Associate Professor (Emerita) at the Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages at the University of Oslo, Norway.

• Introduction, Muhammad Khalid Masud, International Islamic University, Pakistan; Kari Vogt, University of Oslo, Norway; Lena Larsen, University of Oslo, Norway; & Christian Moe, Independent ScholarPART ONE: THE HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTION Blasphemy Laws in Islam: Towards a Rethinking?, Abdullah Saeed, The University of Melbourne, AustraliaFreedom of Religion in Qur'anic Exegesis, Omaima Abou-Bakr, Cairo University, Egyptal-Qadi ’Iyad’s Defence of the Prophet and of Scholarly Tradition: al-Shifa’, Nora S. Eggen, University of Oslo, NorwayHermeneutic shifts in the definition of blasphemy: Reading Ibn Taymiyya’s al-Sarim al-Maslul ’aala, Shatim al-Rasul, Muhammad Khalid Masud, International Islamic University, Pakistan PART TWO: PRESENT PRACTICES The Crimes of Blasphemy and Apostasy in Iran, Mohammad Mostafaei, Iranian human rights lawyerGuarding the Mainstream: Blasphemy and Apostasy in Egypt, Moataz El Fegiery, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UKPlurality, Dissent and Hegemony: The Story Behind Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law, Arafat Mazhar, Engage Pakistan, Pakistan; and Syed Zainuddin Moulvi, University of Virginia, USAPolitics of Fatwa, ‘Deviant Groups’ and Takfir in the Context of Indonesian pluralism: A Study of the Council of Indonesian Ulama, Syafiq Hasyim, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, IndonesiaPART THREE: NEW DIRECTIONS Transgressing All Bounds? Gendering Authority and Engendering Orthodoxy, Kecia Ali, Boston University, USARe-framing Reform: Lessons from the Apostasy Trials of Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari and Hashem Aghajari, Mahmoud Sadri, Texas Woman's University, USAToward Removing the Punishment of Apostasy in Islam, Mohsen Kadivar, Duke University, USA

This book provides an uncompromisingly honest and exhaustive treatment of the laws of blasphemy and apostasy in Islam. This well-written and highly accessible collection of essays will be an indispensable resource for anyone interested in freedom expression and belief in the classical Islamic tradition and the modern Muslim world.