Kuwait Passes Law to Execute Those Who Slander Islam and the Prophet

On Thursday, TheBlaze brought you the story of Alber Saber, an Egyptian Christian sentenced to three years in prison for producing a video critical of organized religion. Since Hosni Mubarak's ouster and with the rise of the hard-line Muslim Brotherhood regime, Egypt has steadily increased its crackdown on those who slander Islam.

Following suit is Kuwait, where members of parliament just this week approved a law issuing the death penalty for Muslims who curse or slander God, the Quran, all of the prophets, and in particular the Prophet Mohammed and his many wives.

Non-Muslims who engage in these verboten acts may not meet the gallows, but they will be remitted to prison for no less than 10 years, according to the bill.

The National Secular Society (NSS) reports that defendants who repent in court are meant to be spared suffering capital punishment but will still serve five years in prison, incur a fine of $36,000, or both. Repeat offenders, according to the bill, will not be given any lenience but handed down the harshest sentence.

"We do not want to execute people with opinions or thought because Islam respects these people... But we need this legislation because incidents of cursing God have increased. We need to deter them," Kuwaiti MP Ali al-Deqbasi said.

According to NSS, in March authorities arrested a Shiite man for allegedly slandering the Prophet Mohammed among others in a message posted on Twitter. He is still be detained pending trial later this month.

Shiites in the country meanwhile, think the bill doesn't go far enough and insisted that capital punishment be extended to those who also condemn 12 highly regarded Shiite imams. The only marginally less hardline Sunnis, however, dominate parliament and rejected the opposing sect's demands.

Interestingly, one Shiite MP, Abdulhameed Dashti, opposes the bill on the grounds said the bill, claiming its provisions go against the teachings of Islam.

"Why are we trying to show Islam as a religion of death and blood when it is actually the opposite of that," he asked.

NSS reports that the bill is expected to go into effect in one month's time, after it goes through an official approval process.

None of the above, however, should come as a shock. Immediately following the anniversary of September 11, American embassies and diplomatic outposts in Egypt and Libya came under vicious attack. The alleged catalyst was a low-budget YouTube video critical of Islam.

While the amateur movie was of course not the real motivation, Islamists have used it to drive home a point: When one slanders Islam, particularly the Prophet Mohammed, there will be a steep price to pay. What's more, those same Islamists called for the maker of the YouTube video to be prosecuted for inciting violence with his production.

Nothing is a coincidence. Upon investigating the real catalyst for the embassy-sieges, TheBlaze learned that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) -- a 56 (57 if one counts the Palestinians) Islamic member-country organization that sets the standard for the Muslim world -- has enacted a ten year plan to ensure that Islamic slander laws are enforced on an international level. While this might sound far-fetched, and indeed it may never come to fruition, Islamists' goals are very much out in the open.