CAIRO (Updated)- An Egyptian website Sunday evening returned to normal operation after Internet hackers, believed to be Muslim militants, blocked it for around two hours for allegedly lampooning Islam's Prophet Mohamed and his wives and companions. "Due to the blasphemy against the Prophet Mohamed and his wives and companions, and due to questioning some major books, we have decided and managed to hack the website of Al-Youm Al-Sabea," a message on the front page of the website read minutes before the domain collapsed. It added that the website, which was established around two years ago and has become one of the main news providers for Internet users in Egypt and the Arab world, had insulted the Prophet and distorted Islam's doctrine in a "systematic way". The hacking was apparently motivated by the website's publication of some chapters of a novel titled" The Prophet Mohamed's Trial". On Wednesday, al-Youm al-Sabae said it would not continue publishing the controversial novel unless Al Azhar's Islamic Research Centre approves it and the author changing its title. The hackers breached the website, which led to technical problems and then a full stoppage of its domain, as they uploaded their message and 100 questions about alleged defects in the Christian doctrine. "Thank Goodness, we have managed to block this website after plans were made to publish a book by profligate author Anis el-Deghidi," the message read. Editors of Al-Youm Al-Sabea denied that they had insulted Islam or the Prophet Mohamed, and asked el-Deghidi to send his book to Al-Azhar, the main Islamic institution for review. "We have asked el-Deghidi to re-title his book and let Al-Azhar review it before we can publish it," read a statement from the website, a copy of which was obtained by The Egyptian Gazette Online.
