Editing Nasr Abu Zayd (section)

====Reasoning of judgement====
Among other things the court declared that the verse authorizing the discriminatory [[jizya]] tax on non-Muslims "is not subject to discussion", and that owning slave women is allowed under certain conditions by " clear Qur'anic verses that we must follow"{{sfn|Murphy|2002|p=206}}<ref name=CHRLA1996:12>[[#CHRLA1996|CHRLA1996, '' Dossier 14-15'', 1996]]: p.12</ref><ref name="p.16 of the judicial opinion">Cairo Court of Appeals ruling of June 14, 1995, (ordering the divorce of Nasr Hamed Abu-Zeid (the Cairo University professor) from his wife, Dr. Ibthal Younis), p.16</ref> Abu Zayd was also accused on not believing in ''[[jinn]]'' (genies).<ref name=cook-2000-47>{{cite book|last1=Cook|first1=Michael|title=The Koran : A Very Short Introduction|date=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/koranveryshorti00cook |url-access=registration|quote=The Koran : A Very Short Introduction.|isbn=0192853449|page=[https://archive.org/details/koranveryshorti00cook/page/47 47]}}</ref>

The judgement stated that:

<blockquote>the defendant's proposition that the requirement of Christians and Jews to pay ''[[jizyah]]'' (poll tax) constitutes a reversal of humanity's efforts to establish a better world is contrary to the divine verses on the question of ''jizyah'', in a manner considered by some, inappropriate, even for temporal matters and judgments notwithstanding its inappropriateness when dealing with the Qur'an and [[Sunnah]], whose texts represent the pinnacle of humane and generous treatment of non-Muslim minorities. If non-Muslim countries were to grant their Muslim minorities even one-tenth of the rights accorded to non-Muslim minorities by Islam, instead of undertaking the mass murder of men, women, and children, this would be a step forward for humanity. The verse on ''jizyah'', verse 29 of Surat al-Tawbah, which the defendant opposes, is not subject to discussion.<ref name=CHRLA1996:12/><ref name="p.16 of the judicial opinion"/>
</blockquote>

The judgment stated that the questioning by Abu Zayd of the permissibility in Islam of the ownership of slave girls, is "contrary to all the divine texts which permit such provided that the required conditions are met", and that the legitimacy of owning slaves is considered "religiously proven without doubt".<ref name="p.16 of the judicial opinion"/><ref name=CHRLA1996:13>[[#CHRLA1996|CHRLA1996, '' Dossier 14-15'', 1996]]: p.13</ref>

Court of Appeals head Judge 'Abd al- 'Alim Musa and his fellow jurists declared Abu Zayd to be "a threat to national security, saying that by attacking Islam, he had attacked the state on which it is founded."{{sfn|Murphy|2002|p=207}}<ref>see also: excerpts from the appeals court ruling come from a translation in `People's Rights,` June 1995, pp.4-5</ref> The conservative religious interpretation of the court was evidenced a month after the ruling, when Judge Alim told an Egyptian magazine that Muslims are required to believe in spirits, devils, and the throne of God.{{sfn|Murphy|2002|p=320}}<ref>Reuters Cairo, July 13, 1995</ref>

In examining Abu Zayd's work and the charge against him of disbelieving in Jinn, scholar [[Michael Cook (historian)|Michael Cook]] notes that Abu Zayd did not explicitly deny the existence of ''[[jinn]]'', but explained their reason for being in the Qur'an as part of an appeal "to existing Arab conceptions of communication between genies and humans". Since jinn "were part of the culture of the Arabs at the time when the Quran was revealed" (and still are very much a part of Arab folk culture), without their inclusion "the notion of divine revelation" would have been difficult to accept.<ref name=cook-2000-47/>