Saudi Teacher Sentenced to Public Flogging and Prison

(Saudi Arabia) A high school chemistry teacher in Qassim Province, Muhammad al-Harbi (aka Mohammed Salamah Al Harbi), faced blasphemy charges after his students and fellow teachers filed legal complaints against him for questioning and ridiculing Islam, discussing the Bible and defending Jews.

In Bukairia, north of Riyadh, al-Harbi was convicted in court before Judge Abdullah Dakhil who sentenced him to 40 months in prison and public flogging of 750 lashes. Al-Harbi was also banned from teaching.

From ArabicNews.com:

In response to the bomb attacks on foreign and Saudi civilians in Riyadh in May 2003, al-Harbi reportedly discussed Christianity, Judaism and the dangers of terrorism with students, and posted signs against terrorism around his school. Al-Harbi also encouraged his students to engage in critical thinking to resolve apparent differences of meaning between the text of the Quran and the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad (sunna).

For his classroom work, al-Harbi was labeled as an "apostate" who tried to "sow doubt in a student's creed."

From SFGate.com:

Al-Harbi was in prison Thursday, but the Saudi newspaper Al-Madinah reported him as saying he would appeal the verdict.

"There are charges that the judge read which are unknown to me, such as defending Jews and the Bible, ridiculing Islam and witchcraft. It's strange that the judge ruled so quickly and wanted to end the case so fast," al-Harbi was quoted as saying.

In summary, it appears that a reasonable teacher is being suppressed because he "encouraged his students to engage in critical thinking" about the world around them. And, as a result, he'll spend over three years in prison and be subjected to 750 lashes. This is, of course, barbaric punishment. Prison time is bad enough, but those 750 lashes will forever change al-Harbi as a thinking human being, if he lives through it.

Strangely, teachers in 21st Century American academia are also being suppressed for encouraging students to think critically. Fortunately, they aren't receiving lashes or prison time, but they are being denied tenure and fired. Therefore, as a reminder to all teachers, don't buck the system if you want to keep your jobs. In Saudi Arabia, the system is Wahabism. In the U.S., the system is the liberal academic establishment.