Dr. Ibrahim Negm – the Senior Advisor to the Grand Mufti of Egypt-strongly denounced the American satirist Bill Maher’s critique of Islam in his weekly show in which he described Islam as “the mother lode of bad ideas”.

Dr. Negm emphasized that the baseless and rootless claims of the American television host who claims that the majority of Muslims support the ideas of “Qa’ida separatists” and that Islam undermines women rights and confiscates the freedom of expression are nothing short of an abhorrent disgrace not only in the face of Islam but in the face of religion in general.

He elaborated further that Dar al-Iftaa has stressed frequently its refusal to such extremist practices and these ideas that are completely irrelevant to Islam. Moreover, Islam has always guaranteed freedom of religion and respect for women rights.

Dr. Negm stressed that such vicious campaigns appear from time to time give the impression that western media hates Islam and Muslims. This matter leads to the spread of hatred and demolishes bridges of communication between different nations.

Finally, Dr. Negm highlighted the necessity of establishing an observatory for tracking the repeated insults against Islam and Muslims and refuting all misconceptions and false claims against Islam.