Younus Shaikh is a Pakistani medical doctor, human rights activist, rationalist and free-thinker. In August 2001 he was imprisoned in Pakistan under sentence of death for blasphemy but was later acquitted and freed after an appeal and retrial. He was accused of defying the Prophet Muhammad by stating that the Prophet did not become a Muslim until the age of 40 (i.e., until he received the first message from God) and that the Prophet’s parents were non-Muslims because they died before Islam existed. He was also accused of saying that the Prophet was unlikely to have shaved under his armpits since the custom was probably unknown to his tribe at the time. Rationalists and humanists campaigned successfully for his release, and he now lives in Switzerland. Dr. Younus Shaikh is an Honorary Associate of Rationalist International and Honorary member of Mukto-mona.
External links
- Younus Shaikh: My Journey through Hell in Mukto-Mona site
- Short Biography in Rationalist International site
- Islam and the Women (English) by Dr Younus Shaikh
- Islam and the Women (German) by Dr Younus Shaikh
- Islam and the Women (French) by Dr Younus Shaikh
- Islam and the Women (Spanish) by Dr Younus Shaikh
- islam and the women (Finnish) by Dr Younus Shaikh
- Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan
- The Enlightenment