Abu Bashar (born Mohamad Al-Khaled Samha in 1958) is a

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n-born

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

of the mosque of

The Islamic Society in Denmark The Islamic Society in Denmark () is a Muslim religious organisation in Denmark. It was founded by Ahmad Abu Laban. The organisation played a significant role in bringing international Muslim attention to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons cont ...

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He was involved in protests against the ''Jyllands-Posten'' cartoons of Muhammad and in the Vollsmose terrorist arrests. Al-Khaled worked together with Christian priests to put up a display on religions in the municipality building, and participated in a groundbreaking conference between Christian and Muslim leaders in Denmark. Al-Khaled was one of the imams who travelled to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

with the

Akkari-Laban dossier The Akkari-Laban dossier () is a 43-page document which was created by a group of Danish Muslim clerics from multiple organizations set out to present their case and ask for support from Islamic leadership in Egypt, Lebanon and elsewhere, in th ...

during the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy The Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, ) began after the Danish newspaper published twelve editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005 depicting Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in what it said was a response to the deb ...

. He was part of the first delegation of imams that went to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

3–11 December 2005. Al-Khaled worked as prison imam at the State Prison in Nyborg until he was fired in July 2006. According to sources at the prison, he was fired after complaints from inmates at Nyborg State Prison that he was inciting hatred of Denmark. Answering to the story in the

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Lene Espersen Lene Espersen (born 26 September 1965) is a former Danish politician, a former leader of Conservative People's Party and a former Minister of Justice. She is the current CEO at the Danish Association of Architectural Firms. From 1 July 2016 to ...

said he was fired due to cutbacks at the prison. Al-Khaled knew the Vollsmose terrorists, who lived in his area, though he mentioned in interviews he knew them only as neighbors After their arrest, he confirmed for news reporters that the suspects were

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. According to the Danish newspaper ''

Ekstra Bladet is a Danish tabloid newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen.About
(in Danish) . Retrieved 22 Se ...

'', Youssef Mohamad El Hajdib, one of the suspects arrested for the

2006 German train bombing On 31 July 2006, two men placed two suitcases filled with bombs on regional commuter trains in Germany. Departing from the Köln Hauptbahnhof, central station in Cologne, the bombs were timed to go off near Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamm or Dor ...

, had Al-Khaled's phone number saved on his phone. That information gained in importance, when it emerged, that El Hadib was arrested on his way by train to Odense, the city al-Khaled lives in. Al-Khaled denied knowing El Hajdib, and was never charged or asked about this matter by the Danish or the German police, and it was never confirmed that El Hajdib had his number. In September 2014, Al-Khaled gave a lecture at an

Islamic Society in Denmark The Islamic Society in Denmark () is a Muslim religious organisation in Denmark. It was founded by Ahmad Abu Laban. The organisation played a significant role in bringing international Muslim attention to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons cont ...

-run mosque and said " ews are theoffspring of apes and pigs". This resulted in a two-week suspended prison sentence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samha, Mohamad Al-Khaled Living people 1958 births Danish Islamists Danish imams