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"Raif Badawi's is an important voice for all of us to hear" Salman Rushdie
Raif Badawi, a Saudi Arabian blogger, shared his thoughts on politics, religion, and liberalism online. He was sentenced to 1,000 lashes, ten years in prison, and a fine of 1 million Saudi Riyal, over a quarter of a million U.S. dollars. This politically topical polemic gathers together Badawi's pivotal texts. He expresses his opinions on life in an autocratic-Islamic state under the Sharia and his perception of freedom of expression, human and civil rights, tolerance and the necessary separation of state and religion.
About the author
Raif Muhammad Badawi, geboren 1984, ist ein saudischer Intellektueller und Internet-Aktivist. Er gründete 2008 das Online-Forum "Die Saudischen Liberalen", eine Website über Politik und Religion in Saudi-Arabien, die vom Staat abgeschaltet wurde. Seit 2012 in Haft, wurde er am 9. Januar 2015 auf dem Vorplatz der Al-Dschafali-Moschee in Moschee öffentlich ausgepeitscht. Raif Muhammad Badawi erhielt 2015 den Sacharow-Preis und 2016 zusammen mit seiner Frau Ensaf Haidar den "Deschner-Preis" für Religions- und Ideologiekritik der Giordano-Bruno-Stiftung.
Constantin Schreiber ist Jurist und Journalist und war von 2006 bis Anfang 2009 Korrespondent der Deutschen Welle in Dubai. Seit Anfang 2009 ist er im Auswärtigen Amt in Berlin für Medienprojekte Deutschlands in der arabischen Welt tätig.
Summary
"Raif Badawi's is an important voice for all of us to hear" - Salman Rushdie
Report
“Raif Badawi's is an important voice for all of us to hear, mild, nuanced, but clear. His examination of his culture is perceptive and rigorous. Of course he must be saved from the dreadful sentence against him and the appalling conditions of his imprisonment. But he must also be read, so that we understand the struggle within Islam between suffocating orthodoxy and free expression, and make sure we find ourselves on the right side of that struggle." Salman Rushdie
“Badawi writes for his generation, and for all those interested in changing the Arab and Islamic world for the better." Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of Heretic and Infidel
"Badawi's writings are refreshing ...This slim but fascinating and informative volume clearly brings home the consequences of our benign neglect of the Saudi totalitarian situation." Library Journal
