Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

Egypt’s Islamic hate speech laws have claimed yet another victim.

Christian author and apologist Dr Augustine Samaan was detained in early October. His only crime? Criticising Islam.

Samaan’s social media presence is unashamedly Christian. Much of his content contains a defence of Christianity and discussions about Christians who’ve left Islam.

According to Samaan’s social media accounts, he is a well-schooled theologian.

While personal information about him is scarce, Samaan’s YouTube page states he is dedicated to preaching the reliability of the Gospel.

He describes himself as an ecumenical clerical deacon (reader and teacher), who is enthusiastic about engaging in “defensive and offensive theology in both Arabic and English.”

On a more personal note, Samaan’s “theology channel” is also dedicated to his mother, who, Samaan said, “planted in him the love of Jesus Christ.”

This was, he added, “despite all the internal and external wars and persecutions.”

The self-titled channel has over 1 million views, hosts 7,400 videos, and enjoys over 106,000 subscribers.

Speaking Sense

Reasons for his dubious “defaming Islam” arrest could be directly related to content shared two weeks ago.

In one video he describes as funny, he shared audio of “a Muslim teaching an attempt to raise doubts about the Bible.”

The second video appears to be excerpts from a much longer StreamYard debate about Islam from last year.

Samaan’s last post featured a short from that debate in which he calls Islam’s tolerance for child marriage criminal.

Particularly, Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha.

To recount, Aisha was six years old at the time, and Muhammad consummated that marriage when she was nine.

In the debate excerpt (posted twice, once in English and Arabic), Samaan argued that Muhammad’s child bride contradicted Egyptian and International law.

Under those laws, Samaan declared, Muhammad had committed a crime.

“If this incident had happened in Egypt today, they would have been arrested,” Samaan explained.

It’s reasonable to argue, he implied, that the “Messenger of Islam was a criminal.”

“It’s not natural for someone who’s 40 or 50 years old to marry a six-year-old,” Samaan concluded.

His TikTok account with over 41,000 followers is bolder, and his Instagram and Facebook accounts, while smaller, are as peaceful and prolific.

Arrested

Samaan’s arrest was first announced on X.

Coptic Solidarity co-founder Magdi Khalil called on the Egyptian government to release the theologian.

“Augustinus Samaan is an Egyptian researcher in the field of apologetics and comparative religions,” wrote Khalil.

Samaan utilises social media to “respond to the attacks on Christianity prevalent in Egypt.”

For this, “he was accused of insulting Islam and detained for 15 days pending investigation.”

“Pakistan and Egypt are the highest countries in the world in cases of insulting Islam,” Khalil recalled.

These laws “protect Islam by terrorising Christians and specialists in religious criticism.”

“They attack Christianity day and night in Egypt, and if a Copt responds and refutes this attack, they accuse him of insulting Islam and imprison him.”

Those attacks “confirm the involvement of the Egyptian state in the persecution and terrorisation of Christians in Egypt.”

Khalil then committed Coptic Solidarity’s resources in the United States to put a case forward for Samaan.

Discussing his case on Instagram, Coptic Solidarity (CS) told The Daily Declaration that Samaan’s official charge is “defaming Islam.”

Additionally, they told us that his incarceration was just extended for another 15 days.

Unsurprised, CS said, the indefinite incarceration of Christians has become business as usual for Egypt’s Islamist regime.

For context, that practice violates the Egyptian constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom for the so-called three “Abrahamic religions.”

Samaan’s persecution coincides with that Islamic regime’s continuing attacks on Said Mansour Abdelrazek and, before him, Ramy Kamel. (see here and here.)