Apparently, THIS is why my sister’s friends are putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan:
An Afghan man is being tried in a court in the capital, Kabul, for converting from Islam to Christianity.
Abdul Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and could face the death sentence under Sharia law unless he recants.
Rahman, who was carrying a bible last month when he was arrested and charged with dissing Islam, has a backstory which is perfect for a Christian martyr, replete with persecution from the most intimate levels:
He converted 16 years ago as an aid worker helping refugees in Pakistan. His estranged family denounced him in a custody dispute over his two children.
Four years after the Taleban was ousted, conservative clerics are still in control of Afghanistan’s judiciary, stymieing Hamid Karzai’s reform-minded government, which would obviously prefer a secular legal branch. Afghanistan’s Sharia-based constitution enables this mess, creating a clusterfuck where Karzai can’t intervene in this case of conservatives v. reformists.
Trial Judge Ansarullah Mawlazezadeh benevolently states:
“We will invite him again because the religion of Islam is one of tolerance. We will ask him if he has changed his mind. If so we will forgive him,”
…and if not, they will kill him.
How tolerant of them. Shame on such narrow-minded hypocrites. Shame on those whose narrow-minded hypocrisy defiles a religion which means “peace”.
It turns out that they don’t just hate Christians (whew! THAT’S a relief):
Several journalists have been prosecuted under blasphemy laws in post-Taleban Afghanistan.
The editor of a women’s rights magazine was convicted of insulting Islam and sentenced to death last year – but was later released after an apology and heavy international pressure.
I don’t want to be the president of Afghanistan right now. Constitutionally castrated, he can’t do a thing as Sharia-mad clerics rush to judge and potentially execute a man whose only crime was choosing a different (and still Abrahamic!) faith.
Observers say executing a converted Christian would be a significant precedent as a conservative interpretation of Sharia law in Afghanistan.
But it would also outrage Western nations which put Mr Karzai in power and are pouring billions of dollars into supporting the country.
You think?
P.S. It would also outrage rational people everywhere, who find this unnecessary and vicious transgression of human rights untenable.
Dudette, have you ever lived in West or South Asia? Just curious.
a more original name:
yes, 27 yrs between us, eu, and asia, the rest in other continents. some of it getting degrees in int’l business, relations, and political science, much of it living around int’l communities (i.e. diplomats, un, multinationals, and ingo’s)
i think u have a point, so out with it…
=)
Or the Sufis, perhaps ? I know there are differences between the various Sufi sects, but the more liberal and “non-exclusivist” ones might be considered to be (for want of better terms) “reformation” versions of Islam.
Vikash:
Eddie, I do not agree with holding Muslims across the world accountable for Muslims in other nations, as Nationalism takes precedence here over religion (Islam is not a monolith nor is it united in its thought). If you said Afghanis should be held accountable for what is going on Afghanistan, I would agree. However, to what degree the Afghanis in Afghanistan today have any say in such a matter is a serious question. Has the coalition, as the democracy-granting institution, truly delivered? yet?
I meant to suggest quite the opposite: Muslims in the West should not be held accountable unless they violate the laws of the country in which they reside or if they are involved in illicit transnational activity. I as a Hindu certainly would not want to be blamed for Godhra or Dalit oppression or whatever else the drain inspector’s report turns up against Hindus.
That being said, I do wonder whether self-identifying as someone belonging to a faith heightens, ever-so-slightly, your level of “responsibility” to speak out, or condemn, atrocious behavior.
As to Muslim “reform,” it certainly is possible, why not. It would have to be indigenous, anti-Western (or face constant assault) and (probably) very gradual, not radical. Religious change must be viewed over centuries. Consider even a “radical” approach like Enlightenment: There was a lot of anti-Enlightenment shit going down in Europe long after Voltaire was dead. There still is!
Universalist Sufis aren’t considered muslims by other muslims.
UPDATE: Abdul Rahman, the defendant, may now be declared unfit to stand trial. How convenient is it that international pressure from the majority Christian countries has forced the defendant to be declared “unfit for trial.” It is a good way to avoid the debate of Islam apostasy by making this specific incidence the defendant’s fault: “..he’s mentally incapable to stand trial, therefore, there should be no trial…”
Eddie, my bad. I agree with ur thoughts.
RC, that documentary on PBS was awesome. I do remember seeing it.
Last year, my team on an out-of-town assignment was composed entirely of Tamils, newly arrived in the US and quite homesick. Since I had the rental car, I drove them to a Hindu temple in the next state. They invited me into the temple, and I explained that as a Christian, I could not bow before the statues or take part in their worship, but would be happy to go in with them if that was acceptable. So I took off my shoes and followed them on a clockwise circuit of the temple and am very glad I had that opportunity.
No one is asking the Muslims to convert, but if they cannot respect others’ beliefs, they will not be welcome here. This is not negotiable.
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/22/2006) – A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today called on the government of Afghanistan to release Abdul Rahman, a man facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says the manÂ’s conversion is a personal matter not subject to the intervention of the state.
SEE: Afghan Christian Could Face Death http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/22/world/main1428951.shtml
In its statement, CAIR said:
“Islamic scholars say the original rulings on apostasy were similar to those for treasonous acts in legal systems worldwide and do not apply to an individual’s choice of religion. Islam advocates both freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, a position supported by verses in the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, such as:
1) ‘If it had been the will of your Lord that all the people of the world should be believers, all the people of the earth would have believed! Would you then compel mankind against their will to believe?Â’ (10:99) 2) ‘(O Prophet) proclaim: ‘This is the Truth from your Lord. Now let him who will, believe in it, and him who will, deny it.’Â’ (18:29) 3) ‘If they turn away from thee (O Muhammad) they should know that We have not sent you to be their keeper. Your only duty is to convey My message.Â’ (42:48) 4) ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion.Â’ (2:256)
“Religious decisions should be matters of personal choice, not a cause for state intervention. Faith imposed by force is not true belief, but coercion. Islam has no need to compel belief in its divine truth. As the Quran states: ‘Truth stands out clear from error. Therefore, whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks.’ (2:256)
“We urge the government of Afghanistan to order the immediate release of Mr. Abdul Rahman.”
Before issuing its statement, CAIR consulted with members of the Fiqh Council of North America, an association of Islamic legal scholars that interprets Muslim religious law.
CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 32 offices, chapters and affiliates nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
Charges were just dropped against Rahman, they used the fig leaf of mental problems, and some are still threatening to kill him extrajudicially for converting.
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