Mohsen Namjoo, who has been described before in the press as “Iran’s Bob Dylan,” has been sentenced to five years in prison in Iran (he is currently abroad so the sentence is in absentia) for disrespectfully utilizing verses from the Qur’an in his work.

An Iranian Koran scholar filed a complaint against Mohsen Namjoo, who also plays a traditional Persian lute, for the way he had performed using verses from Islam’s holy book, English-language Press TV said on its website late on Monday.

The scholar, who Press TV did not name, accused Namjoo of “an insulting, sneering performance of Koranic verses with musical instruments.”

It quoted the singer’s brother and lawyer as dismissing the accusation, saying he “did not mean any disrespect.” Press TV said Namjoo, who apologized a few months ago for the incident, was abroad but did not say in which country.

[...]

In a report posted on its website last week, the semi-official IQNA news agency (Iran’s Quran News Agency) named the plaintiff as Abbas Salimi and quoted him as saying Namjoo was accused of “derisive rendering of Koran verses and disrespect toward” the holy book.

What time is it? said the judge, to Mohsen when they met
“Five to ten,” said Mohsen. The judge says “That’s exactly what you get!”

Meanwhile, America’s Bob Dylan — that is, Bob Dylan — has quoted and referenced the Hebrew and the Christian Bible in countless ways down through the decades. From “God said to Abraham, ‘Kill me a son,’” to “There’s a moment when all old things become new again,” and everything in-between and beyond, Dylan has exercised free rein over all kinds of verses of Holy Scripture, sometimes inverting them or making them appear self-referential in a manner that could be described (by the uncharitable) as a “derisive rendering.” Somehow, despite all the terrible intolerance we’re told emanates from Christian fundamentalists and the like, he has escaped a prison sentence (I would think he deserves about 1500 years by now). Actually I can’t recall any instance where he’s even been taken to task in the most mild way for such behavior; unless you count those who condemned him for his gospel songs — but that criticism was coming from a decidedly different direction.

Well, something tells me that Mohsen Namjoo is going to remain on the road and headin’ for another joint for quite some time to come.

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