Twitter Controvesy
We’ve done a number of articles on the power of Twitter to fuel revolutions and the most recent Twitter controversy igniting a recent web fire of angry critics happened in Malaysia where a Saudi man by the name of Hamza Kashgari was detained for some questionable posts on the prophet Muhammed. So far Malaysian authorities have reported that they will repatriate the Saudi Arabian writer back to his native country for this Twitter controversy. Just what did he say? Lets dive deeper into the recent social media blunder.
Twitter Controversy | Detained for Blasphemy
The writer a mere 23 years in age was detained by authorities in Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and many activists and human rights advocates are quite concerned about the man’s safety as reported by the New York Times in their recent report on the Twitter controversy.
Rights groups have expressed concern about Mr. Kashgari’s safety after religious conservatives in Saudi Arabia called for him to be arrested and executed after he directly addressed the Prophet Muhammad in a series of posts on Twitter. Amnesty International called for Malaysia not to deport Mr. Kashgari, to immediately disclose where he is being held and to grant him access to a lawyer.
“We are calling on the Malaysian government to stop any deportation proceedings they may have started,” said Cilina Nasser, a London-based researcher with Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the death threats made against Mr. Kashgari, who issued an apology before fleeing his home country.
Why the young man felt the need to express his thoughts on the Prophet Muhammed in a country that is strictly ruled by Islam law is unknown. However he quickly retracted his comments and its no surprise, because the consequences for such a Twitter controversy are no laughing matter.
Twitter Controversy | Just What Was Said?
So obviously the thoughts expressed in this Twitter post were vile enough to infuriate many Muslims or were they? Well maybe not by America’s standards, but we can all get a good perspective of just how easy it is to anger those under strict Islamic law by the case of Salman Rushdie. Here is what The Daily Beast had to say about the Twitter controversy and Hamza Kashgari’s thoughts on the Prophet Muhammed.
The uproar over Kashgari began after the 23-year-old Jeddah resident posted a series of tweets on the occasion of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. In the reflections, he told the Prophet, “I have loved the rebel in you” but “I do not like the halos of divinity around you. I shall not pray for you”. He also wrote, “I shall shake [your hand] as equals do…I shall speak to you as a friend, no more.”
After the Twitter controversy, the social media network went wild with replies to Kashgari’s posts. Most of these replies were angry users accusing the young man of blasphemy. What do you think about his comments and the Twitter controversy?
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