Prominent Islamic cleric Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi has urged Egyptian Christians to remain united and help build a new Egypt.

Delivering the Friday sermon at Al Azhar University Mosque in Cairo yesterday, he called on all Egyptians, Muslims and non-Muslims, rival political factions, the ruling elite as well as the opposition, to unite in the interest of their nation and to realise the goals of the January 25 revolution.

Al Qaradawi, who heads the International Islamic Scholars' Association, said: "Our religion orders us to remain united and discourage disunity."

His call for unity comes in the wake of President Mohammed Mursi facing challenges over the constitutional referendum.

The cleric said opinions can differ and this would enrich the nation, but to break national unity was not acceptable.

"The January 25 revolution has taught us to sacrifice for each other and we are all Egyptian and we are not angels. All of us, including the government and Muslim Brotherhood and the opposition, can commit mistakes, but we should not continue making mistakes," said the cleric.

"I have met many liberals and secularists and they are not infidels. They all believe in God. We need to cooperate with them," said Qaradawi.

The Peninsula, 29 December 2012

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Amazon has been accused of making money selling offensive, racist and potentially dangerous ebooks on subjects ranging from bomb-making to drug growing.

The internet giant sells a vast number of ebooks, downloaded by readers from its website, some for as little as £1. It allows anyone to upload an ebook for sale, without safeguards against content that would be refused by traditional publishers.

One ebook, Prophet Muhammad: Monster of History, includes images of a Koran being burned and a woman being hanged. The author, Jake Neuman, says of its content on his own website: "The writings contained in this book are now illegal in most Western countries." But users of amazon.co.uk can access his work at the click of a mouse.

The Muslim Council of Britain has now called for Amazon to "take proper responsibility" for the content of the books on its site. They added: "Freedom of expression should not be unlimited, and publications that cause anti-Muslim hatred, anti-Jewish hatred or homophobic hatred should not be allowed."

Any potential self-publisher can use Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service to upload their ebook for sale, charging as little as 77p to potential readers. Amazon instructs self-publishers to adhere to "content guidelines", stating, for example, that "we don't accept pornography". But critics say the company does not go far enough.

Labour MP Paul Flynn said: "If Amazon is providing the platform for books that wouldn't be published otherwise, it is responsible. This is a cavalier attitude to inflammatory material."

Daily Mail, 25 June 2012

Via ENGAGE

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