Cancelled conference files lawsuit after ‘lots of threat messages’

AMMAN — The organisers of a conference on contemporary religious narratives, which was recently cancelled by the Interior Ministry, filed a lawsuit against dozens of people who sent them threatening messages via social media.

On Friday, Mominoun (Believers) Without Borders (MWB) Secretary General Younis Qandil was abducted and tortured in the Tareq area by three unidentified men who are still at large.

Muath Bani Amer, who was scheduled to present a paper titled, “The History of God”, which the organisers said was the reason behind the cancellation of the event, said he received numerous threats following news of the cancellation and the title of his paper.

“I received dozens of threatening messages and hate mail by people. I do not know when they learnt the topic of my paper,” Bani Amer told The Jordan Times.

Both Qandil and Bani Amer said the abusers and individuals who sent the mail accused them of being “apostates and infidels”.

Qandil was one of the organisers of the conference, which was cancelled after the Interior Ministry received a complaint from Amman Third District Islamist MP Dima Tahboub, who said one of the papers was offensive to God and the Islamic religion.

MP Khalil Attyyeh also sent the interior minister a letter objecting to the conference, Bani Amer said.

The Masarat Centre Conference for Ideological Enlightenment, was scheduled to be held in early November after securing the necessary official approvals, with the participation of 50 religious scholars and researchers from Jordan and abroad.

The conference, organised in cooperation with MWB, sought to discuss several topics, including contemporary religious narratives, modernised ideological models and religious media discourse, according to Masarat’s Facebook page.

The lectures listed on the organisers’ website caused controversy on social media, with activists and influencers urging a ban on the event, arguing that some of its content could include blasphemy and contradict with the religious values of Jordanian society.

During a press conference held in front of the Writer’s Association’s headquarters in Jabal Luweibdeh, Qandil stressed that the content of the conference was “in accordance with our religious fundamentals and values while maintaining the right for the participants to express their opinions and thoughts in a scientific manner”, adding that it aimed “to allow thinkers and researchers to express their ideas and explore the religion in a manner that ensures the safety and security of all”.

Qandil charged then that the cancellation amounted to “politicising the Islamic religion in Jordan in order to control our lives although the Islamic religion is supposed to encourage discussions and allow us to express our opinions freely”.

The Ifta Department had also issued a statement last week warning against organising conferences and events that could instigate sectarianism by holding religious events that could be misinterpreted as harming the religious fabric of the society.

The Ifta Department stressed that “it rejects any events that would tarnish all religions and would shake the security of the society, and in no way reflects accepted free speech but rather falls under the idea of attacking others and their values”.
Bani Amer told The Jordan Times that “he documented all the threats and plans to use them as evidence in court”.

“What is happening is really dangerous because people are reacting based on hearsay and based on the deputies’ actions. We are hopeful that the court will accept our case against MPS Tahboub and Atyyieh since they have immunity,” Bani Amer said.

He said he thought that the actions by the deputy “were the main reason they received death threats”.

Bani Amer said he also visited the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) to file a complaint but felt that “they were not cooperating because of the topic of his paper”.

“They told me that they have to refer the paper that I wrote for the conference to religious figures to be studied before they take any further steps,” Bani Amer stated.

 However, NCHR acting commissioner for protection Atef Majali said the organisation did not provide the necessary documents and could not say who was threatening them. 

“We received thousands of complaints but he should sign the documents and provide the necessary documents and he said he will come back and did not come back,” 

“The minute he provides the necessary documents I will surely follow up on it,” Majali told The Jordan Times.

MP Tahboub told The Jordan Times that she “cannot comment on the matter because “It will be addressed in court soon”.

She refused to elaborate.

Culture and Youth Minister Mohammad Abu Rumman said in a Tweet on November 10 that he had visited Qandil in the hospital based on directives by Prime Minister Omar Razzaz.

“I stressed during my visit to Qandil that the government refuses any form of violence or hate speech and that the government is waiting for more details to emerge from the investigations,” Abu Rumman said in his Tweet.

The minister could not be reached for further comments despite repeated attempts by The Jordan Times.