At the beginning of year, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for a “religious revolution” within Islamic thinking. He asked, “Is it possible that 1.6 billion people should want to kill the rest of the world’s inhabitants—that is 7 billion—so that they themselves may live?” Sisi went on to say “This umma (Islamic world) is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost—and it is being lost by our own hands.”

As Raymond Ibrahim wrote in a column that was reprinted here at The American Spectator earlier this month, “In other words, Islamic terrorism and chaos is not a product of grievance, territorial disputes, colonialism, Israel, offensive cartoons, or anything else the West points to. It’s a product of their “own hands.”

Ibrahim originally published his column on January 7th, the same day the Charlie Hebdo murders took place in Paris.

Well, if Islamic terrorism is a product of their “own hands” and not “offensive cartoons”, the Charlie Hebdo attacks presented Sisi an opportunity to put this religious revolution to the test.

Although Sisi condemned attacks, 48 hours ago he directed Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab to ban any foreign publication offensive to Islam. This is obviously directed at Charlie Hebdo.

The publication ban also comes the day after an Egyptian student named Karim al-Banna was sentenced to three years in prison for Atheism and insulting Islam. Of course, the insulting Islam charge was a direct result of Banna proclaimng himself to be an Athiest. Banna was arrested after complaining to police about harrassment he received after he appeared on a list of Atheists in a local newspaper.

I guess this means President Sisi’s religious revolution has been put on hold.