Okay, Journalism 101: who, what, when, where, why? An Arab News story with a headline that does what it should, grabbing the reader: "Saudi Writer Charged with Blasphemy." Read the link first, then consider: a "Saudi writer" (unnamed) is facing a possible charge of blasphemy because "a number of people" (unnamed) have alleged that he "allegedly insult[ed] the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)" because he "allegedly described a Hadith of the Prophet [unspecified] as barbaric," on Al-Hurra, the US-backed Arabic channel.
I suppose if I search Al-Hurra long enough I might figure out who he is, what he said, and what hadith is involved, but so far all I can Google up is the Arab News story. But would a Saudi writer really say something negative about the Prophet on an American channel? Was he critiquing a strong hadith or a weak hadith? Is he a "writer" with religious qualifications?
Beats me. Recently we've seen other evidence that some Saudi citizens seem to forget where they're living, but a Saudi writer really ought to know the ground rules. If we ever hear more of this, which is far from guaranteed, it will be interesting to learn what the details are, because right now they aren't obvious.
Friday, March 19, 2010
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