Shafaq News – Baghdad
Iraqi security forces arrested poet Ali Naim on Monday after a poem attributed to him reportedly offended the Companions of the Prophet Mohamed – the Ṣaḥaba, followers who met the Prophet and are revered in Islamic tradition.
A security source told Shafaq News that the Interior Ministry’s “Offensive Content Committee,” a body responsible for monitoring online material, initiated legal procedures against the poet over what it described as explicit insults directed at religious symbols in widely shared social media content, classifying the poem as “a clear violation of Iraq’s applicable laws and prevailing social values.”
The poem has prompted criticism from social media users after it was seen as including calls to insult the Caliphs – the early successors to the Prophet Mohamed who led the Muslim community after his death.
Earlier, Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC) called on all media outlets to refrain from broadcasting or publishing content that insults religious sanctities, stressing that such material is prohibited under Iraqi law.
In its directive, the commission cited Article 372 of the Penal Code No. 111 of 1969, which criminalizes offenses against religions and religious beliefs, as well as Federal Supreme Court Decision No. 352, which prohibits any infringement on the divine entity. It also referenced Article 6 of the Broadcasting Code of Conduct, which regulates religious programming.