Who silenced Sayyid Al-Qimni? One of the most gifted and daring critics of Islamic fundamentalists, the Egyptian Sayyid Al-Qimni, has released a statement in which he expressed repentance, and dissociated himself from his own writings. He also said that he will now retire from writing in order to take care of his family. This came after death threats to Qimni, who recently changed his residence. Qimni is one of the most effective polemicists against Islamic fundamentalists in the Arab world, and his book Shukran Bin Laden had been confiscated by the book burners at Al-Azhar Islamic University, and his other book Rabb Az-Zaman resulted in his trial (he was acquitted). I closely follow Qimni's writings and appreciate his secular perspective but I do not like his "liberal" views or his invocation of vulgar Orientalist cliches. I also disagree with his support for the Egyptian dictatorship, and his views on "peace" with Israel. But his articles in Ruz Al-Yusuf (not to mention his books) in which he railed against Yusuf Al-Qardawi (among others) greatly amused me.