Freedom of Expression in Islam: Challenging Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws

Introduction, Muhammad Khalid Masud, International Islamic University, Pakistan; Kari Vogt, University of Oslo, Norway; Lena Larsen, University of Oslo, Norway; & Christian Moe, Independent Scholar PART ONE: THE HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTION Blasphemy Laws in Islam: Towards a Rethinking?, Abdullah Saeed, The University of Melbourne, Australia Freedom of Religion in Qur'anic Exegesis, Omaima Abou-Bakr, Cairo University, Egypt al-Qadi 'Iyad's Defence of the Prophet and of Scholarly Tradition: al-Shifa', Nora S. Eggen, University of Oslo, Norway Hermeneutic 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 lawyer Guarding the Mainstream: Blasphemy and Apostasy in Egypt, Moataz El Fegiery, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK Plurality, Dissent and Hegemony: The Story Behind Pakistan's Blasphemy Law, Arafat Mazhar, Engage Pakistan, Pakistan; and Syed Zainuddin Moulvi, University of Virginia, USA Politics 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, Indonesia PART THREE: NEW DIRECTIONS Transgressing All Bounds? Gendering Authority and Engendering Orthodoxy, Kecia Ali, Boston University, USA Re-framing Reform: Lessons from the Apostasy Trials of Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari and Hashem Aghajari, Mahmoud Sadri, Texas Woman's University, USA Toward Removing the Punishment of Apostasy in Islam, Mohsen Kadivar, Duke University, USA