Afghan man faces death penalty for converting to Christianity

[MC]

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan man who allegedly converted from Islam to Christianity is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death, a judge said Sunday.

The defendant, Abdul Rahman, was arrested last month after his family went to the police and accused him of becoming a Christian, Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada told the Associated Press in an interview. Such a conversion would violate the country's Islamic laws.

Rahman, who is believed to be 41, was charged with rejecting Islam when his trial started last week, the judge said.

During the hearing, the defendant allegedly confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago when he was 25 and working as a medical aid worker for Afghan refugees in neighboring Pakistan, Mawlavezada said.

Afghanistan's constitution is based on Shariah law, which states that any Muslim who rejects their religion should be sentenced to death.

"We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law," the judge said. "It is an attack on Islam. ... The prosecutor is asking for the death penalty."

The prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, said the case was the first of its kind in Afghanistan.

He said that he had offered to drop the charges if Rahman changed his religion back to Islam, but the defendant refused.

Mawlavezada said he would rule on the case within two months.

Afghanistan is a deeply conservative society and 99 percent of its 28 million people are Muslim. The rest are mainly Hindus.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Afghanistan's constitution is based on Shariah law, which states that any Muslim who rejects their religion should be sentenced to death.

retarded

 

[GO!!!]

Piper,

We only attack unfriendly despotic nations. The friendly ones are free to go about their business. (Saudi Arabia, China etc.)

 

[Cloud Cover]

Paragraph 8, especially 8(c), says it all:

http://www.icj.org/IMG/pdf/doc-51.pdf


Don't look for the situation to change in those countries on this matter. It will never happen.

edited to add: maybe it's a question of perception, as there is some reasonable basis to suggest that our own very forgiving laws reflect many aspects of 21st century Christianity. 

 

[JasonH]

I see they have a long way to come before they hit democracy and tolerance.  Sad 

 

[MountainRunner]

MC, can you provide a link or reference to this article?  Thank you.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

.....has to play out yet.  Maybe this will be the "catalyst" that changes something. We still have a lot of stupid laws in various parts of N.A. that could be used by an over zealous prosecutor.

 

[Sheerin]

You gotta love his family for outing him......

 

[Pikache]

Religion can be a powerful force to break even family ties apart, esp. in more... backward nations.

 

[Jed]

The muslim edit Islam religion appears to have 0% tolerance for the unfaithful. Are there any other religions that hold this hard of a line ?

 

[BKells]

The muslim religion appears to have 0% tolerance for the unfaithful. Are there any other religions that hold this hard of a line ?

The religion is Islam. A muslim is a person who practices it.

 

[The Gues-|-]

"We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law," the judge said. "It is an attack on Islam. ... The prosecutor is asking for the death penalty."

So if they, the Afghan Judicial system is not against any particular religion in the world.... why would it be against the law and be considered an attack on Islams.  How about considering changing the law if it isn't representing of their beliefs?  It sounds a bit contradictory if what he said is true.  Sounds like there is a lot of work ahead to develop a true democracy.

 

[Jed]

Ooops, I actually know better. I mean that the Islam religion seems to be an extremely intolerant religion when it comes to holding a party line. Must be pretty hard to blend in to other nations of people that have predominant religions that have the same intolerance or lack of forgiveness. No wonder the Salvation Army and other Christain Based NGOs can't make any headway in the region.

 

[Five-to-One]

I doubt that, from what I've read in the news and seen on tv, all the people in positions of power in afghanistan, even now, seem to only have made it there by inforcing these hardline beliefs.
My prediction is that as soon as the international force leaves, they will thank us for everything and continue to revert backwards into an unaccepting culture. (In small villages they pray up to 5 times a day, this religion is all they have)

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

.......and when you have nothing......

 

[MC]

MC, can you provide a link or reference to this article?  Thank you.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188364,00.html

should have included in OP

 

[SHELLDRAKE!!]

So based on the concept that it is punishable by death to accept any religion other than islam..........are the christian peacemaker organizations over there with a hidden agenda? :

 

[Five-to-One]

I dont understand your comment Bruce, are you asking for an opinion on what they should do about it?

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

No, just when one has nothing and not much hope for a future, its easy to see how the religion can mean everything.

Then bring in the professional brain washers with their promises and we have the ingredients for the " at all costs" ideology.  Our job is to try and give them something besides that.....


...and kill the ones who would stop us from this noble task.

 

[Cloud Cover]

So based on the concept that it is punishable by death to accept any religion other than islam..........are the christian peacemaker organizations over there with a hidden agenda? :

Attended a briefing on this very matter. Had my eyes opened a fair bit.

Despite the name, propagation of religious beliefs has little to do with this group. Many (most) of the ones from Canada are also members of communist or socialist organizations, or hold those beliefs to a very radical extent.  Presumably, their activities turn most CSIS agents into slobbering sleuths trying to put it all together.

Most Christians who actively and publicly promote the Christian faith in the Islamic world do so by remote control or by proxy. There are a few who venture into the lands of Islam, but they are few and far between and probably feel they have nothing to lose, or worth living for, other than the belief of the Christian* sect they belong to. It was a different story when they were dealing in an underground fashion in communist countires- there they actually had a market for their services and wares, so to speak.

The primary focus of the CPM appears to be undermining the work of Christian governments in Islamic countries. Don't know why, but that's what they do, IMO.

*edited to correct typo