* * * * Raif Badawi is 33 today. Vigils marking the date were held on his behalf today in many nations outside Saudi Arabia’s embassies. There is no new news to report regarding the young writer’s condition. The absence of news is a heavy, ever-present reminder that Raif Badawi is always in imminent danger […]
By Dr Usama Hasan With the Name of God, All-Merciful, Most Merciful Reflections by Imam Usama Hasan, Head of Islamic Studies at Quilliam Foundation, in preparation for the Inspire Dialogue Foundation conference in Cambridge, Saturday 17th September 2016 There are many universal human rights: arguably, freedom is one of the basic ones, intertwined with life […]
By Mark Aldrich - Who is Raif Badawi? Badawi is a writer from Saudi Arabia who started a blog entitled “Saudi Arabian Liberals,” then was arrested in 2012 and charged with “insulting Islam” and with apostasy for his writings. In Saudi Arabia and many countries, apostasy, the abandonment of a belief—in this case, belief in […]
By. CILuna27 - I want to share in this post some thoughts about two books which were published last year: Ensaf Haidar’s book: “Freiheit für Raif Badawi, die Liebe meines Lebens” (“Freedom for Raif Badawi, the love of my life”) and a collection of Raif Badawi’s blog posts “1000 Lashes because I say what I […]
by Mark Aldrich One year ago today, a young writer was publicly whipped by his government for his writings. His words “insulted” his nation’s official religion, his government decreed. The worst part, of course, was that he published his words and that others in his nation read those words and even shared his opinions. Today […]
Blog by Marc Aldrich “Raif is not a criminal. He is a writer and a free thinker: that is all. Raif Badawi’s crime is being a free voice in a country which does not accept anything other than a single opinion and a single thought.”—Ensaf Haidar Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, […]
By Nina Scholz, Heiko Heinisch The terror attack on the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo was the tragic peak of several attacks against the freedom of speech, carried out in the name of God or the prophet Mohammed, a practice that took its beginning a quarter century ago with the fatwa against Salman Rushdie and […]
by Mark Aldrich His wife left the country with their three children in 2012 and human rights advocates helped her find a home in Quebec, Canada. She and the children have been building a life there, learning English and French, while Ensaf has traveled the world making people aware of her husband’s story, his words, […]
JUNE 27, 2024 - CILUNA The following article was published the first time on the Raif Badawi website on 24 March 2015. Here is a link to the article on this website. There is also a German version on that website, in case you are interested. Please look also at this website for petitions and […]
It is with great emotion that I learned the news: the 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was awarded to my husband as a result of the decision of the European Parliament President, Martin Schulz, as well as the leaders of different political groups. It is an honor for us and especially for Raif […]