The London-based science and technology organization SciDev.net has warned today that Egypt’s draft constitution “disappoints scientists.”
Article 12 of the draft states:
The state shall safeguard the cultural and linguistic constituents of society, and foster the Arabisation of education, science and knowledge.
Dedicated to providing reliable and authoritative information about science and technology for the developing world, SciDev cites:
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Some scientists are concerned that its push for the ‘Arabisation’ of science could isolate it from the global community.
Ehab Abdul Rahman, the director of the Yousef Jameel Science and Technology Research Center at the American University in Cairo, declared:
The Arabisation of education, science and knowledge would isolate Egypt from global scientific progress.
21st Century Fatwas Issued…
It’s unclear what the Shari’a-friendly Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Egyptian government defines as “Arabisation.”
Examples of recent rulings (fatwas) issued by some of the Muslim world’s most respected teachers and leaders:
- Fatwa concerning drinking Mohammed’s urine – Egypt’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Ali Gomaa declared that drinking the urine of Muhammad is a great blessing. Gomaa is one of the internationally most respected Islamic jurists according to U.S. News & World Report and The National as well as being considered “a highly promoted champion of moderate Islam.”
- Fatwa concerning breast-feeding adult males – Dr. Izzat Atiya, Department Head at Al Azhar University in Cairo, lifted the Islamic restriction on unmarried men and women being together. But only if the woman breast-fed her male colleagues five times a day.
- Fatwa concerning polio vaccinations – Claiming that polio vaccinations are actually an American plot to make Muslim children sterile, Pakistani Cleric Mufti Khalid Shah declared a fatwa against polio vaccinations. Polio is still in epidemic proportions in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as the Muslim-dominated areas of Nigeria and India, due in no small degree to the fatwa issued.
- Fatwa concerning a flat earth – Abdel-Aziz bin Baz, the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa insisting that the world was flat. The now deceased Grand Mufti stated that images provided by satellite to the contrary were nothing but a Western conspiracy against the Islamic world.
- Fatwa concerning death to Mickey Mouse – Sheikh Muhammad Munajid, former diplomat with the Saudi Embassy in the United States declared a fatwa against Mickey Mouse, calling the lovable rodent “one of Satan’s soldiers.”
The learned Sheikh went on to declare:
According to Islamic law, Mickey Mouse should be killed in all cases.
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