Saudi Who Faces Execution For Tweets About Mohammed Arrested In Malaysia

23-year-old Saudi writer/journalist/columnist Hamza Kashgari (aka Mohammad Najeeb A Kashgari) who fled the Kingdom after his tweets about Prophet Mohammed caused a furor, including calls for a death sentence, was arrested in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Airport. I'm not sure what possessed him to fly to Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country that isn't as moderate as it claims to be, because even though the Saudis and Malaysians have no 'formal' extradition treaty, it looks like he will probably be extradited under other security agreements.

Malaysia's Home Minister, Hishammuddin Tun Hussain, said:

“The police have been in contact with authorities in Saudi Arabia to determine further action.”

It all started after Kashgari tweeted:

"I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you." [then added] "I will not pray for you."

Oops. Not something you want to say in country where apostasy is met with calls for death. Demands for his trial as an "apostate" have come from top clerics and others who want his head for having insulted their beloved prophet. Of course, that's exactly what Shariah law calls for, so no surprise there.  And even though the lad apologized, people were having none of his contrition, even though Shariah law clearly states that someone gets 3 days to repent before his/her head gets chopped off.

The usual suspects have already created a Facebook page: "The Saudi people demand Hamza Kashgari's execution". It apparently has almost 10,000 fans, and the administrators were calling for efforts to increase the number.

"Our page has almost 10,000 members... but we need you to work harder. The prophet deserves more respect," said one post.

Top Saudi clerics, calling him an "infidel" and "apostate" want him tried in a Shariah court (that's so they can execute him).  Their statement said,

"Muslim scholars everywhere have agreed that those who insult Allah and his prophet or the (Muslim holy book) Koran or anything in religion are infidels and apostates."

After a meeting of The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Religious Edicts (Ifta), the Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh also called for action, stating that mocking Mohammad was apostasy, sacrilegious and kufr (infidelity).

"Whoever dares make a mockery of Allah, the Prophet or the Holy Book undermines the religion and displays enmity toward it. It is the duty of the rulers to try such a criminal," the committee said, warning Muslims to stay away from such practices so as to avoid exasperating God.

Then the website, The Prophet's Sunnah and Sciences, piped in:

"This is a sacrilegious action necessitating harsh punitive measures to deter others who might think of doing the same thing," supervisor of the website Faleh Al-Saqeer said. He expressed confidence that the rulers of this Islamic country would not allow the culprit to get off scot-free.

Of 30,000 plus tweets in response to Kashgari's so-called transgression, only a lone voice here and there asked for forgiveness:

"Brothers, the man has repented. If the prophet himself was here he would have forgiven him and ended this," said tweeter Saleh al-Ghamdi.

It's rather telling that most Muslims are calling for his execution or, barring his head, at least some serious form of punishment.  So much for mercy in Islam.

Sources: GulfNews, Breitbart,  ArabNews,