Tuesday, March 28, 2006

"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it."

From the Associated Press:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060328/ap_on_re_as/afghan_christian_convert

Rahman, 41, was released from the high-security Policharki prison on the outskirts of Kabul late Monday, Afghan Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar Danish told The Associated Press.

"We released him last night because the prosecutors told us to," he said. "His family was there when he was freed, but I don't know where he was taken."

Deputy Attorney-General Mohammed Eshak Aloko said prosecutors had issued a letter calling for Rahman's release because "he was mentally unfit to stand trial." He also said he did not know where Rahman had gone after being released.

He said Rahman may be sent overseas for medical treatment.

On Monday, hundreds of clerics, students and others chanting "Death to Christians!" marched through the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif to protest the court decision Sunday to dismiss the case. Several Muslim clerics threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.

"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it," said senior Cleric Faiez Mohammed, from the nearby northern city of Kunduz. "The Christian foreigners occupying Afghanistan are attacking our religion."

Rahman was arrested last month after police discovered him with a Bible during a custody dispute over his two daughters. He was put on trial last week for converting 16 years ago while he was a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He faced the death penalty under Afghanistan's Islamic laws.


I don't know. I used to be open-minded when it came to Islam being described as a "religion of peace". But then you hear its leaders crying:

"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it."


Islam demands those who don't agree with its basic beliefs to be killed? I'm really confused. If these Afghani clerics are mistaken in what Islam really stands for, why doesn't anyone else in a position of leadership in the Islamic tradition step up and quickly correct these bloodthirsty clerics or simply tell them to hush up?

I'm afraid the real reason no one ever steps up to deny these claims is because these outraged Afghani clerics are speaking the truth about Islam... That it does demand death for anyone who doesn't stay within its folds.

Many modern day Muslims bring up the past by saying the Christian Crusaders were just as bloodthirsty. Probably. But most in the church didn't agree with the Crusaders' tactics of "convert or die" and Christianity has moved on from those disgraceful practices.

After all, Jesus said, "Love your enemy--do good to those who persecute you." Christians have asked for forgiveness from those they've wronged and from God. And they have moved on, confident that they have received it because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

If Islam is such a "peaceful" religion, then why hasn't it moved on from utilizing these medieval or "Dark Ages" tactics? It seems to be a religion that is evolving backward...becoming darker rather than enlightened. It's transforming out of a "peaceful" religion into a violent, hate-filled, xenophobic religion.

So why doesn't anyone in the Islamic world point out this paradox and stop this madness? Could it be because, deep down, this is reality of the Koran? Kill all non-believers, scare your own believers into toeing the line or else...

The more these clerics yell for an innocent's man blood, the more I'm reminded of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Abdul Rahman has been freed, but let's continue to pray for his safety. Let's continue to keep our brothers and sisters in Christ in that turbulent area of the world in our prayers.

2 comments:

Cindy A. Matthews said...

From Richard Cohen of the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/27/AR2006032701299.html

"The groupthink of the Muslim world is frightening. I know there are exceptions -- many exceptions. But still it seems that a man could be killed for his religious beliefs and no one would say anything in protest. It is also frightening to confront how differently we in the West think about such matters and why the word "culture" is not always a mask for bigotry, but an honest statement of how things are. It is sometimes a bridge too far -- the leap that cannot be made. I can embrace an Afghan for his children, his work, even his piety -- all he shares with much of humanity. But when he insists that a convert must die, I am stunned into disbelief: Is this my fellow man?"

I have to agree with Richard on this issue--is this "unfathomable zealot" who would take another's life simply for disagreeing with him my fellow human being?

Someone in the Muslim world better get on the PR bandwagon and clean up this mess or else more people will start believing the way Richard Cohen and I do.

Cindy A. Matthews said...

Fortunately, Italy has provided asylum for Abdul Rahman. But will he be safe? Or will Abdul have to live in hiding like Salman Rushdie did a few years ago when the Muslim mullahs and clerics passed a "death sentence" in abstentia on him for speaking his mind?

Story at yahoo news:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060329/ap_on_re_as/afghan_christian_convert