Mohammad Younus Shaikh (or Younis Sheik or Younis Sheikh) (born 1965) is a hotel manager and writer in Kharadar, Pakistan. In 2005, he wrote a book: "Shaitan Maulvi" (Satanic Cleric). On account of that book, the police charged Shaikh with offences under Pakistan's Penal Code and under the Anti-terrorism Act. An anti-terrorism court found Shaikh guilty of those offences, and sentenced him to a fine and to life in prison.[1][2]
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Shaikh is a matriculate but he has not had any religious education.[1]
On 3 February 2005, Shaikh was distributing copies of his book when he came to the attention of Sub-inspector Gulzar Ahmed Khokhar. The Sub-inspector arrested Shaikh for violating Sections 153A, 295A, and 295B of the Pakistan Penal Code, and Sections 8 and 9 of the Anti-terrorism Act.[1] The police placed Shaikh in solitary confinement in Karachi Central Prison to prevent other inmates from attacking him.[2]
At trial, the special public prosecutor proved that Shaikh had committed blasphemy by writing that stoning to death (Rajam) as a punishment for adultery was not mentioned in the Quran, and by insulting four historical Imams (religious leaders) by describing them as “Jews.”[2]
On 11 August 2005, Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the Anti-Terrorist Court found Shaikh guilty of “defiling a copy of the Koran, outraging religious feelings and propagating religious hatred among society.”[3] The judge imposed upon Shaikh a fine of 100,000 rupees, and sentenced him to spend his life in jail.[1]
In 2007, a blogger reported that Shaikh appealed his conviction to the High Court, and won the right to a new trial.[4]