London, Asharq Al-Awsat – Egyptian Islamic Dr. Khalid Fikri, Secretary-General of the Committee Defending the Prophet’s Honor in Britain issued a statement revealing that his organization have begun legal proceedings against Kuwaiti Shiite activist Yasser al-Habeeb, who insulted the Prophet’s wife Sayyida Aisha, who is also known in Arabic as the mother of the faithful. In the statement issued by the Committee Defending the Prophet’s Honor, which Asharq Al-Awsat obtain a copy of via Director of the al-Maqreze Center for Historical Studies, Dr. Hani al-Sibai, Dr. Fikri said that “I personally, accompanied by a number of lawyers, issued a complaint against Yasser al-Habeeb to a police station in north London the day before yesterday.”
The statement issued by the Committee Defending the Prophet’s Honor added that this organization “is made up of a number of scholars, sheikhs, preachers, and Islamic Shariaa law students, as well as a number of lawyers, politicians, and academics.”
In this statement, Dr. Fikri added that “in the complaint issued at the police station, I informed them that al-Habeeb has incited sectarian unrest between the Sunnis and Shiites, and has angered the Sunni Muslims in Britain, causing them to reach a state of boiling point.”
Dr. Fikri said that “In my lectures and my Friday sermon, I clarified that we will resort to the legal channels in order to stop this crime and prevent it from being repeated. I have called on the authorities, in my capacity as the Imam of the Sahaba mosque in north London, to take strict action against the figure who insulted Sayidda Aisha, and to arrest him and put him on trail for insulting the Islamic religion, the Prophet’s honor, and the honor of the Prophet’s wife, as well as for inciting hatred and violence…and causing sectarian unrest between the Sunnis and Shiites, and threatening the social peace in Britain.”
Dr. Fikri graduated from the University of Cairo’s Faculty of Medicine in 1980; serving as the Faculty of Medicine Student President from 1977 to 1978. He was arrested in Egypt in 1981 as part of the security crackdown on religious extremists ordered by President Anwar Sadat, although he was later acquitted by court in 1984. Following this, Dr. Fikri travelled to Kuwait where he worked as a private physician from 1985 to 1997. Dr. Fikri was granted political asylum in Britain in 2005.
The Egyptian Islamist also said that preparations were underway to hold a general conference to discuss this issue on Sunday following midday prayers at London’s Hyde Park.
For his part, Director of the al-Maqreze Center for Historical Studies, Dr. Hani al-Sibai, told Asharq Al-Awsat that “there is turmoil in the hearts of Muslims in the UK following the crime that was carried out by the Kuwaiti Shiite Yasser al-Habeeb.” He added that “during the holy month of Ramadan, whilst Muslims were worshipping and preparing to celebrate the historic anniversary of the Battle of Badr which took place on 17 Ramadan…Yasser al-Habeeb – during a [Shiite] celebration held on the same day to mark the anniversary of the death of Sayyida Aisha – made insulting remarks about her…inciting the feelings of more than a billion Muslims.” Dr. al-Sibai added that “the Shiite al-Habeeb insulted the mother of the faithful, Aisha bint Abu Bark al-Siddiq, whose purity and innocence are known throughout the seven heavens.”
The statements issued by Yasser al-Habeeb, aged 31, on 23 August 2010, have resulted in sectarian unrest throughout the Muslim world, especially in Kuwait. These statements also resulted in Kuwaiti authorities withdrawing al-Habeeb’s Kuwaiti citizenship, accusing him of abusing religious symbols and attempting to trigger sectarian tensions.