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Daesh threatens to behead Saudi actor over serial criticising militants

Saudi actor Nasser Al Qasbi named an atheist by Daesh supporters over his role in MBC channel's serial 'Selfie'.

A scene from the serial Selfie.

Dubai – Daesh supporters are airing online threats to behead Saudi actor Nasser Al Qasbi over his role in a serial aired on MBC channel, which criticises the organisation.

The Arabic serial ‘ Selfie’, being aired on the channel from the beginning of Ramadan, has sparked a debate on Sunday for the third day in a row.

The programme, in its first episode, criticised some wrongful religious practices adopted by Daesh and uncovered the real face of the militant group, as well as the mistakes they are making according to Shariah.

Most of the viewers hailed the episode while some hardliners named the Nasser Al Qasbi a disbeliever for his role in the serial. 

Tweeters posted images of the most circulated scenes of the serial in which the protagonist’s son was asking the Daesh leader to slaughter his father.

However, media men, educated persons and intellectuals praised the two episodes that highlighted Daesh saying they were useful.

The first episode of the serial tackled the violations of Shariah law being committed by Daesh, including murdering innocent people, attacking women and children and running a market where captive women are sold as slaves.

The episode ended by a scene when a young man slit his father’s throat, who abandoned Daesh beliefs.

While the first episode of the serial was being aired, a number of Daesh members launched an attack on social media against Nasser Al Qasbi and MBC channel, accusing them of fighting Islam.

They threatened that the actor will be killed as he has become an atheist, according to their viewpoints.

Al Qasbi’s social media accounts received a barrage of threats and insults for criticising Daesh in the TV programme.

A Daesh member posted a message on Al Qasbi’s timeline, saying: “I swear by God, You, atheist, will regret, and all Mujjaheddin [fighters] in the Arabian Peninsula will not feel peace of mind until they cut your head off your body…. You will see.”

In reply to the shower of threats and insults, Al Qasbi tweeted: “My account has now been brimmed with insults and threats of whatever one could imagine. I would say to those people ‘Easy! Be quiet, please. Ramadan Kareem. We are just on the first day of Ramadan’.”

However, some Muslim clerics launched a campaign to boycott all the programmes being broadcast by the MBC channels a few days prior to Ramadan. An Imam of a Saudi mosque declared Al Qasbi as a disbeliever during last Friday sermon, but retracted his fatwa [edict] hours later.

In a TV interview with Al Arabia TV Channel, Al Qasbi said the programme was successful at its first episode, while the second and third episodes tackled the major issue of the present time from which all are suffering, which is Daesh.

“It is heated issue and Selfie is a popular TV programme, which emotionally affected the street,” he said.

In reply to a threat made by Daesh to him, Al Qasbi said; “I’m a son of this society, and I do not present unacceptable things. We are sons of this nation and patriotism is inside all of us … This country is not reserved for a specific category of people; rather everybody has the right to respond to what he/she sees,” he added.

Al Qasbi pointed out that he might prosecute whoever makes him a disbeliever, but he will not do so in order to avoid a revolution. He said he will not also file a lawsuit against the Imam who proclaimed him a disbeliever as the latter had withdrawn his fatwa later.

“We have numerous episodes, which are, in order, aired as scheduled. The serial tackles different social issues,” he concluded.