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

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, se ...

of the mosque of The Islamic Society in Denmark in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 2 ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

. 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 ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

with the Akkari-Laban dossier during the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy The ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, da, Muhammedkrisen) began after the Danish newspaper '' Jyllands-Posten'' published 12 editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005, most of which depicted Muhamm ...

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

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

3–11 December 2005. Al-Khaled worked as prison imam at the

State Prison in Nyborg The State Prison in Nyborg is a closed state prison, which was built in 1913 at the town of Nyborg in Denmark. In the beginning it was used to place young inmates, who needed a special educational effort. From 1933 to 1973 the prison had a spec ...

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 ( da, Folketinget, ; ), 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 an ...

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 The Vollsmose terrorists were three men convicted of attempted terrorism in Denmark in 2007–2008. Nine men were initially arrested by Danish police in the Vollsmose neighbourhood of Odense on 5 September 2006, but most were later released without ...

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

. According to the Danish newspaper ''

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

'', 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 central station in Cologne, the bombs were timed to go off near Hamm or Dortmund and near Koblenz, and according to German i ...

, 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 ( da, Islamisk Trossamfund) is a Muslim religious organisation in Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , ma ...

-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