Investigations were launched against Turkish YouTuber and critic of Islam, Yakup Deniz, for allegedly “insulting” Islam’s prophet Mohammed and “degrading a section of the public on grounds of religion” on YouTube and in his opinion pieces.
The pro-government newspaper Sabah announced on January 25 that “this person’s description of our prophet as someone who committed raids, robbery and murder drew major negative reactions. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced today that an official investigation has been launched to identify and punish the user.”
One of the investigations was launched against Deniz for discussing Qur’anic verse 53 of the Surah Al-Ahzab (surah 33), which is about how Islam Prophet’s Mohammed’s guests or companions had to act in his house in the presence of his wives. On his YouTube video, Deniz asks:
Why did this verse emerge? What happened in the house of Mohammed that he did not want to bring his friends over to his house or wanted them to leave immediately after they ate, or why he asked them to speak to his wives from behind a partition? We will understand these things by looking at the source.
Deniz then addresses Muslims:
Let Muslims not worry. We are not slandering or denigrating anyone. But you do not even listen to the video. You then speak based on presumptions without even listening. Because if you listen and look at the scripture, you will see what is written there and start questioning. But you don’t have that courage. Because you are very selfish and self-seeking. You want to get into heaven. And to get into a heaven which does not exist, you turn today into a dungeon for yourself and you also destroy the people living alongside you.
Then Deniz goes on to read the verse:
O you who have believed, do not enter the houses of the Prophet except when you are permitted for a meal, without awaiting its readiness. But when you are invited, then enter; and when you have eaten, disperse without seeking to remain for conversation. Indeed, that [behavior] was troubling the Prophet, and he is shy of [dismissing] you. But Allah is not shy of the truth. And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts. And it is not [conceivable or lawful] for you to harm the Messenger of Allah or to marry his wives after him, ever. Indeed, that would be in the sight of Allah an enormity.
Deniz then provides his own commentary:
The verse only addresses the Muslims who went to Mohammed’s house, so universal, right? You know they say the Qur’anic verses are universal. How universal?… They [Muslims] have no [intellectual] power to explain the Qur’an. They have no foundation to relate the Qur’anic verses to today and to say they are universal. The only thing they do is to attack, swear at, defame and lynch those who criticize those verses. And to brainwash people… But if you can, start with the Qur’an and defend and explain those verses.”
Deniz then goes on to explain that Talhah ibn Ubaydullah, one of Mohammed’s closest companions, said he would marry Aisha, Mohammed’s youngest and prettiest wife, when Mohammed died. “Then Mohammed got angry and came up with this verse,” Deniz says.
Deniz then refers to the Battle of the Camel, which was fought after the death of Mohammed in the seventh century between Ali ibn Abi Talib, Mohammed’s cousin and son-in-law and the fourth Caliph, and Aisha, Mohammed’s widow. Deniz notes that Talhah fought alongside Aisha in the Battle of the Camel and got beheaded by the soldiers of Ali.
Deniz also explains how this verse has affected women’s rights in Muslim societies over time.
There are also those who say that this verse addresses all women. So in Islam, women are not allowed to talk with men in person even if they wear a headscarf… Even a woman’s voice is haram [forbidden]. For a strange man to hear a woman’s voice and to know whose voice it belongs to is one of the causes of adultery, according to Islam.
Deniz calls on Muslims to either practice the teachings in the Qur’an consistently or “get rid of those primitive thoughts.”
You use the opportunities provided to you by the secular legal system and the civil law and become doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers, or judges and work alongside men and then say “I am a Muslim.” That is not possible.
Deniz then addresses Muslims who resort to violence in the name of religion:
You get so brutal and kill people because you think these verses are Allah’s word. You take human lives. First read these scriptures properly and think: Why should God deal with these issues? What is the message [these verses] convey to humanity? Think. You call those who explain these things as your “enemy” attacking Islam. Why should I attack Islam? Is it leading the world community? What is it in it that I should attack? Is it offering a remedy or a solution for humanity’s problems? Why should I defend it or be hostile to it? The only thing I try to do is [help] my nation get out of the swamp called Islam and be humane again.
In another video entitled “It is a crime to read Qur’anic verses out loud”, Deniz says:
Trials are being opened against me from every town and city [across Turkey]. Because I do not have a home address in Turkey, those files are being sent to my address here in Germany. And some prosecutors and judges here take my testimony and some don’t. Another indictment has been written against me by the Yalova Prosecutor’s Office for “publicly degrading a section of the public on grounds of social class, race, religion, sect, gender or regional differences.”
The indictment targets Deniz for his criticisms of Islam.
In an article Deniz penned, for instance, he criticized the treatment of women by Muslim men during wars, which is used as an accusation against him in the indictment. Deniz explains that according to the 24th verse of the Nisa surah (sura 4), women can be raped during Muslim wars. “The verse says: ‘And to marry all married women are forbidden to you except the female prisoners of war.'”
Deniz is also investigated for criticizing the wars and violence in Islam. He explains: “When Mohammed went to Medina, he engaged in 50 to 60 raids, wars, and ambushes in 10 years. If you read Islamic history or the Qur’an such as the 26-27 verses of Al-Ahzab surah, you can see these things.”
“When you read verses from the Qur’an, trials are launched against you for denigrating the public,” Deniz says. “When I say these things, do I insult this religion or tell the truths about it?”
In another YouTube video, Deniz says that almost all media outlets in Turkey have targeted him for “insulting the prophet” since prosecutors launched investigations against him.
Deniz has produced many videos on YouTube in which he discusses Islamic scriptures and teachings concerning issues such as child brides and lack of women’s rights in Islam, as well as Turkish politics, the history of Islam, and how Turks were forcibly Islamized through massacres.
Deniz is no stranger to investigations and trials. Many investigations and arrest warrants have been launched against him for years for criticizing Islam and the Turkish government. He has been accused of “insulting the president,” “denigrating the Turkish republic,” public incitement to hatred or hostility” and “degrading sections of the public,” among other alleged offenses.
A long-time political activist, Deniz says he was tried for 370 years in prison during the 1980 coup d’état period in Turkey. Although he is now based in Germany, he is still exposed to legal pressures by Turkey.
“They accuse us of inciting people to hatred and hostility,” he says in a YouTube video. “But we want to unite people. We call on people to unite in humanity – without any discrimination based on religion or sect…
“What we discuss is the verses right in the Qur’an. It is the Qur’an that incites hatred and hostility. It is the Qur’an that divides people into believers and unbelievers. It is the Qur’an that divides people based on whether they are Jews, Christians or Muslims. We want to remove these things [divisions and hostilities].
“Our [YouTube] videos get banned and receive complaints from all cities across Turkey. They don’t want people to wake up. Think about it. If I lived in Turkey now, I would receive hundreds of years of prison sentence. 500 or 700 years… The freedom of thought and speech has been completely eradicated in Turkey.”
It really has. However, free speech is also under attack in many Western countries. Apparently, the West’s current greatest challenge is whether Western peoples have the awareness and courage to preserve what is left of free speech in their countries. Or will they submit and enable their grandchildren to live a life similar to Deniz’s and Islam’s other critics’ for thinking differently? It is a way of life away from their places of birth, in self-exile, exposed to threats, verbal and even physical attacks and still being targeted by the media and courts of their home countries.
Despite the everlasting challenges of being a critic of Islam, Deniz and many other ex-Muslims are blessed to have escaped their unfree countries and found liberty in the West. But if freedom of speech dies in the West, where will Westerners find refuge?
Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist and political analyst formerly based in Ankara.
Michael Copeland says
““publicly degrading a section of the public on grounds of …. religion” is a charge against Deniz.
Islam’s imams frequently degrade Jews publicly in the mosques as “apes and pigs”.
“They accuse us of inciting people to hatred and hostility,” he says.
Yet this is what Islam does in Koran 60:4,
“between us and you enmity and hatred forever…..”
Those are the words of Allah, and they cannot be changed. Denying them is a capital offence.
Does Deniz have a reinforced “safe room” in his house, like Kurt Westergaard?
Is he being protected by German police?
Or will his severed head soon be found on the road?
Siddi Nasrani says
Is he being protected by German police?
Or will his severed head soon be found on the road?
But,…but all the media & Imams keep on telling us that Islam is a Religion of
Peace !!!!
gravenimage says
I *hope* he stays safe.
Peter Buckley says
Well, I’ve been saying for many years that apostasy from Islam is probably the world’s biggest growth industry. Check out the number of channels now being run by ex-muslims. It’s like a few new ones
every week
Even the imams are leaving the sinking ship of Islam now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPz65wG5nSs&t=2165s
Yet we still hear from some clowns that Islam is going to win….
LOL.
gravenimage says
I hope you are right.
jca reid. says
In Muslim Lands the Imams keep the men in line with the promise of Sex slaves & loot. The women don’t matter. Trouble is though, as the non-Muslim numbers dwindle, there are less & less targets. So, we have this “fake migration” into non-Muslim lands where the targets of opportunity are far, far greater. In Islamic Law, it is NO crime to rape & murder non-Muslims. Even if in a Muslim country a Muslim man sexually assaults a Muslim woman/girl , he can get off by simply saying, “It was her fault. She inflamed my desires.” Even if she’s wearing the FULL Burka! This actually happened in Saudi Arabia, Summer, 2020! People, all over the World, are seeing what a perverted pile of BS Islam is. I feel sorry for Mr. Deniz as the consequences of simply exercising basic Common Sense, intelligence & analysis could lead to severe punishment. What happened to me was simply being kicked off YOUTUBE by the Google people, right out of the blue!!
Justice for Mr. Deniz!!
DavidR says
It is not an exaggeration, quoting the Quran and Hadith are considered by some Muslims to be blasphemy.
And those same Muslims also believe Muhammad is alive and feeling dejected by hurtful words.
gravenimage says
Turkish YouTuber Investigated for Criticizing the Qur’an
……………..
If Yakup Deniz had described the “Prophet” as a violent warlord and abuser of women, but had done so *favorably*, then he would not be in trouble. Muslims don’t want anyone criticizing this savagery.
Misterpaul5a says
The world should celebrate this common-sense exposure by initiating a “DENIZ DAY” in celebration of this brave man.
Bending a knee for him would be more appropriate than bending a knee for a drug – consuming and drug- pushing criminal such as the abominable ‘Fake Floyd Fans’ do, in a blind madness and cowardice….more especially by the footballing dolts who are spineless cowardly fools.
DENIZ is indeed an heroical character and should be universally applauded.
I send my sincerest best wishes to him and wish him a long life of freedom to speak the truth.
Paulus151136 UK
usmade100 says
I with you on DENIZ DAY and I’m praying for him to have a good and prosperous life!