Inciting criminal action
Reader comment on item: Convicting [Ali al-Timimi,] the "Paintball Sheikh"

Submitted by Chris Chrisman (United States), May 2, 2005 at 11:24

You might be interested in investigating another court case that played out in India about 20 years ago. It is well-known as the Calcutta Quran Petition. In this case the court was asked to confiscate and destroy all copies of the Quran in India because the Quran contained dozens of passages which "incite violence, disturb public tranquility, promote, on ground of religion, feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between different religious commuities and insult other religions or religious beliefs of other communities in India" in direct violation of Section 95 of the Criminal Procedure Code and Sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code. While the petition was ultimately denied, the proceedings of the trial became a best-seller in India. (See http://forum.faithfreedom.org/viewtopic.php?t=1620 and http://islamexposed.com/Library/The%20Calcutta%20Quran%20Petition

In reality, all religious texts (including the Bible) contain passages that are prejudicial against other religions and sometimes incite readers to violent acts. However, if those passages become the core message of the religious group, then that group should be reigned in. The Quran contains many appeals to Moslems to live at peace with non-believers, to do good works, and to turn away from violence. (Read, for example, Surah 25:62-76.) Why is it that these passages are rarely quoted by the Moslem fundmentalists?

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.