Authorities in the Persian Gulf oil kingdom of Kuwait have charged a prominent female academic with blasphemy for stating her belief that the Kuwaiti constitution should be above the Quran and Islamic law.

Dr. Sheikha al-Jassem is a professor of philosophy at Kuwait University, and made her comments on 8 March during a TV program on the Kuwaiti Al-Shahed TV channel about the rise of Islamic extremism.  The interviewer brought up extremists who say their interpretation of Islam should Trump the rule of law.

"Anyone who believes that the Quran, or the sharia, or the interpretations of these religious texts are above the constitution is betraying the state of Kuwait," al-Jassem replied, making the case to keep religion separate from politics.  She added that "every religion gets hijacked at some point by the politicians," and she stressed that the source of authority should be the constitution and said that placing the Quran above the constitution was "the undoing of our democratic regime".

 

Her remarks provoked a storm of attacks against her, spearheaded by Islamist members of Kuwait's parliament.

 

"They were terrifying me - everywhere, not just from Kuwait, even from Saudi Arabia," al-Jassem told the BBC.  "They were talking against me, they were saying bad things, they were ridiculing me.  But I'm used to it now."

But al-Jassem says she also got an outpouring from support from people who believe in Democracy.  The public prosecutor has yet to decide whether to take the case to court.  If she's convicted, Professor Sheikha al-Jassem faces up to a year in prison.