Shahindha Ismail, an activist, tweeted asking whether other religions would exist if Allah had not willed as much. Deemed blasphemy, her tweet triggered police investigation, news articles calling for her execution, and death threats.
Shahindha Ismail, a Maldivian human rights activist and executive director of the Maldivian Democracy Network, faced blasphemy accusations in December 2017. She tweeted a response to a speech given by the Maldivian president in which he pledged to fight the spread of religions other than Islam in the Maldives, and it sparked outrage.
“Religions other than Islam exist in this world because Allah allowed for it. No other religion would exist otherwise, is it not?” - Shahindha’s tweet
Shahindha received death threats from individuals who felt this tweet was blasphemous. Police also opened an investigation into whether she had violated the Religious Unity Law, which ostensibly forbids speech that may inflame religious tensions in the Maldives.
Shahindha temporarily left the Maldives in the wake of this incident due to the active danger to her safety. She returned, but, subject to continued persecution for her human rights activism, she has since relocated to Germany.
Death threats and harassment against Ms. Shahindha Ismail - World Organisation Against Torture
End the targeted harassment and intimidation of human rights defender Shahindha Ismail - World Organisation Against Torture
The Maldives: Civic space is practically nonexistent now - Civicus
Local scholars furious after Shahinda’s participation in Parliamentary meeting - The Times of Addu
In the Maldives, there is no freedom of religion, as all citizens must be Muslim. Blasphemers and apostates can be tried in courts of religious law and sentenced to death. Rising religious extremism has become an issue, and extrajudicial attacks and murders on secular activists—or activists accused of secular sympathies—are common. There is no separation of religion and state, as the country is explicitly Islamic in character and design.