Zakaria Botros

Zakaria Botros (Arabic: زكريا بطرس; born 24 October 1934, in Kafr El Dawwar) is a former Coptic Orthodox Christian priest. He worked as a priest in Australia in 1992. He has since been working in Evangelical Protestant communities. He is best known for his critiques of the Qur'an and other books of Islam. World Magazine gave Father Botros the Daniel of the Year award in 2008.[1] He has been named "Islam's public enemy No. 1" by Arabic newspaper al Insan al Jadeed.[2][3][4] Al-Qaeda has put a C$60 million bounty on his head.[2]

Television

Botros became widely known in 2003 after he appeared on talk shows on the Hayah Evangelical Channel. He went on to have his own show on the channel. His criticism of Islam led to many debates about him on talk shows.[5] He frequently appears on Al Hayat TV.[6]

Programme cancelled

In July 2010, the Joyce Meyer Evangelical Ministry – which was a partner for Hayah Channel – informed BBC Arabic that it would discontinue broadcasting Zakaria Botros's show. A quote from the letter reads:

Our ministry's representative in the middle east informed us that the Hayah Channel decided to stop broadcasting Zakaria Botros's talk show, and this is the last month of its broadcast.

The ministry did not comment on the cancellation.[7]

Al Fady Channel

Zakaria opened his own channel in April 2011, which he called "Alfady". It is broadcast in North America[8] and the Middle East since November 2011.

Vienna presentation

Botros was supposed to give a presentation in Vienna on 6 May 2012. The presentation would have been his first major appearance in Europe, but the event was cancelled due to "numerous threats of violence."[2][9] Wiener Akademikerbund published an apology in the press.[9]

Response from Muslims

Debates

His most well known respondents included Abo Islam Ahmad Abdullah, Dr. Ibrahim Awad, and Dr. Abdullah Badr. Other public figures suggested that he be ignored.[10]

Abo Islam Ahmad Abdullah said he invited the Coptic priest to a debate with a moderator on a TV show inside Egypt, but the offer was refused due to safety reasons, despite Muslim scholars promising to stay with him during the whole trip to guard him.[11][12][13]

Calls for stripping his citizenship

In 2009, Nabil El Wahsh asked the Egyptian government to strip Zakaria Botros's citizenship due to "the instability and disturbing the public security which he caused to Egypt".[14][15][16][17]

Calls to arrest him

An Egyptian lawyer, Mahmoud Riad, sued the Egyptian president, the Foreign Minister, the Interior Minister, and the Information Minister in a lawsuit to force the Egyptian government to request that Interpol arrest and extradite Zakaria Botros back to Egypt so that he might be held accountable for his denunciation of Islam. He stated that denouncing Islam is high treason, and that Egypt should withdraw the ambassador to the country where Botros broadcasts.[18][19][20] Earlier, four lawyers had asked for the same thing.[21]

References
  1. Belz, Mindy (13 December 2008). "Broadcast news". World Magazine. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  2. Chan, Cheryl (13 August 2010). "Anti-Islam cleric with C$ 60 m bounty in Langley". The Province. Vancouver, BC: Canada. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  3. "Interview with Father Zakaria Botros, 'Radical Islam's Bane'". Catholic Online. Jihad Watch. 6 September 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  4. Ibrahim, Raymond (25 March 2008). "Islam's 'Public Enemy #1′". National Review Online. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  5. قناة «أوربت» الفضائية: حلقة من برنامج "القاهرة اليوم" تتكلم عن ماهية تلك البرامج ومقدميها on YouTube - تاريخ البث: 7 نوفمبر 2007 م.
  6. Raymond Ibrahim (25 March 2008). "Islam's Public Enemy #1". National Review.
  7. موقع «BBC Arabic»: قناة "الحياة" وبرامج زكريا بطرص المثيرة للجدل؟ - تاريخ الوصول: 22 مايو 2010 م.
  8. "الموقع الرسمى للقمص زكريا بطرس". Islam-christianity.net. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  9. "Father Zakaria Botros: Threatened into Silence". Liberties Alliance. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  10. Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Nwf.com: Urbanization in Western Asia: Environmental: ßĘČ". Neelwafurat.com. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  12. "خالد الجنalدي:نعم تزوجت مسيحية وأبنائي يتعلمون في مدرسة قبطية". alarabiya.net. 21 May 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  13. "إسلامي مصري يتعهد باستقبال زكريا بطرس في مصر وتوصيله لبيته". Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  14. "الأقباط الاحرار - "الوحش" يطالب بإسقاط الجنسية عن القمص زكريا بطرس". www.freecopts.net. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  15. اليوم السابع | "الوحش" يطالب بإسقاط الجنسية عن زكريا بطرس (in Arabic). Youm7.com. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  16. ""الوحش" يطالب بإسقاط الجنسية عن القمص زكريا بطرس". coptreal. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  17. "جريدة الوسط اليومية | الوحش يطالب بإسقاط الجنسية عن زكريا بطرس". El-wasat.com. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  18. "محاكمة زكريا بطرس". Arab Times. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  19. "الأقباط متحدون | طلب القبض على "زكريا بطرس" من الإنتربول الدولي". Copts United. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  20. "The Leading AL Rajol Site on the Net". alrajol.net. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  21. "موقع لواء الشريعة :: الأخبار ::دعوى قضائية تطالب الإنتربول بالقبض على القس زكريا بطرس". Shareah.com. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
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