Reuters reports that the Kuwaiti National Assembly proposed draft legislation to institute criminal penalties for insults against God, the Qurʾān, the Prophet Muhammad, and his wives. The bill would provide for a penalty of death for Muslim offenders who refused to repent, and for up to 10 years’ imprisonment for non-Muslim offenders, also who refused to repent after being apprehended. That same day, the Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqāf and Islamic Affairs Jamal Ahmad al-Shihab indicated that the Kuwaiti Government – headed by the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah – would not reject the bill. The Minister of Justice also noted that the bill is—in his reading—consistent with international conventions on free speech and freedom of religion, as well as fatwas from Muslim scholars (though without identifying the scholars or fatwas).
The spark seems to have been from insults directed at the Prophet’s wife Aisha, by an exiled Kuwaiti national on Twitter posted April 27, 2012 (see Gulf News for more on this). A trial date has been set for Hamad Naqi, who denies the charges—saying that his Twitter account has been hacked—for May 21, 2012, also covered by Gulf News.
In The Huffington Post, Georgetown professor John Esposito called the proposed legislation an “unfortunate [reminder] about the hurdles and pitfalls in the implementation of religious reform.” David Keyes at The Daily Beast writes about how the US government might choose to respond, concluding:
President Obama should place a simple choice before the Kuwait ruler: veto this outrageous and anti-democratic law or start looking elsewhere for arms. Some will paint this as naive idealism, but the only true long-term guarantor of peace and stability is freedom.
In related news, The Chicago Tribune reports that Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the current ruler of Kuwait, has blocked a parliamentary proposal “to amend the constitution to make all legislation in the Gulf Arab state comply with Islamic law.”
Islamist MPs have proposed amending the constitution in this way several times in the past. This time, they asked to change article 79 to make sharia “the only source” of legislation rather than a major or main source as it is now.
His decision was also mentioned in The New York Times.
