Archives

22 March 2006

The religion of Islam is one of tolerance

However, not in Afghanistan where an Afghan stands trial for being a Christian.

Abdul Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and could face the death sentence under Sharia law unless he recants.

Afghanistan's post-Taleban constitution is based on Sharia law, and prosecutors in the case says this means Abdul Rahman, whose trial began last Thursday, should be put to death.

It appears that the Afghan government is backtracking from their prescribed implementation of constitutional law and is looking for "an out", on the basis that the convert may be "mentally unfit" and consequently could escape execution. The international backlash to this egregious act of religous tyranny seems to have the Karzai government spinning, even if they initially pledged to not intervene in the case.

But let us review a salient truth here — Afghanistan's post-Taleban constitution calls for execution if one rejects Islam. So aside from a loophole centered on a defendant's mental state, an Afghani faces death for converting to Christianity (or any other religion). And this apostasy law was exported from Saudi Arabia's flavor of Wahabbi Islam.

So what happens to Apostates in Saudi Arabia? Well, we don't seem to have many, if at all. When there's a group of guys sitting together having coffee, you won't see someone suddenly jump to his feet and say "There's something I need to share with you. I've taken Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Saviour. I am saved, Halleluja!"

There are no doubt a few Saudis, particularly those who have travelled abroad, who may feel that. There are certainly quite a few who have absorbed the teachings of other religions into their own religious world view. But Saudi Arabia is not a safe place for some wannabe Ned Flanders. Because, under Shariah Law, Apostacy is not only a Sin, it is also a Crime, and a Crime punishable by Death. So that's why you don't come across many Apostates, and why discretion is the better part of valor for those who are. Our clerics and lawyers will justify this situation as being perfectly acceptable; for them, it's just the same as the Spaniards did four hundred years ago. You know, those good old days, when you were most likely to die of Bubonic Plague before the age of thirty, having had three out of thirteen children survive.

But, Joy Oh Joy, it gets better. Because we don't just keep this bit of Muslim Brotherly Love to ourselves. We export it! And Afghanistan, thanks to all our zealots and Imam University graduates who went to join the Taliban in former years, is where it has also taken root!

Freedom on the rise!