Younus Shaikh

Mohammad Younus Shaikh (or Younis Sheik or Younis Sheikh) (born 1965) is a hotel manager and writer in Kharadar, Pakistan. In 2005, he wrote a book: "Shaitan Maulvi" (Satanic Cleric). On account of that book, the police charged Shaikh with offences under the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-terrorism Act. An anti-terrorism court found Shaikh guilty of those offences, and sentenced him to a fine and life imprisonment. Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate release.

Personal details Shaikh is a matriculate but he has not had any religious education. The judge imposed upon Shaikh a fine of 100,000 rupees, and sentenced him to spend his life in jail.

At least one observer, legal historian Sadakat Kadri, has noted the case as an example of the "mean spirit" of some anti-blaspheme campaigners, as, in fact Shaikh is correct that nowhere in the Quran is stoning to death (rajm) called for to punish the sin of adultery or fornication (zina). )