Michelle Malkin continues her excellent coverage here, here, and here and On Tap discusses it here.
Abdul Rahman is a 41-year-old Afghani citizen who is facing the death penalty in his home country. His crime? Apostasy. Under Muslim law, Rahman could be executed for converting from Islam to Christianity.
My friends Cam and Michelle had the idea that interested parties should gather on Friday at noon at the Afghan embassy on Wyoming between 23rd and 24th to show their support for Rahman and their opposition to the medieval prohibition in Islamic law of converting away from the faith.
It’s at noon, straight up, at the Afghan Embassy, 2341 Wyoming Avenue NW. It’s scheduled to last an hour.
See what blogs elsewhere in the blogosphere have to say about this story.
PoliPundit also weighs in with some excellent commentary:
Elsewhere, some clerics call for killing him.
Abdul Rahman is on trial in Afghanistan, facing the death penalty. In the West a man could only face such a sentence for murder, and in many countries the death sentence is not an option at all. In Abdul Rahman’s case, he is facing execution for having converted from Islam to Christianity.
For many people, that is the story in a nutshell, but in Rahman’s case the story is much deeper than a simple political-religious crisis. You see, Rahman’s family is still very much Muslim, and so he has no real access to support; the government has denied any visitors, and his own family has condemned his conversion. Even were he freed from prison, Mr. Rahman might be forced to flee the country to survive death threats already made against him.
It is not likely, however, that Rahman will be sentenced to death. First, while the prosecutor has claimed that Sharia requires Muslims who convert to another faith to be killed, the Quran is silent on that question, and no specific hadith considered to be credible is clear, either. Further, the Constitution of Afghanistan says that capital punishment must be approved by the President (Article 129[2)], and President Karzai is certainly sensitive to the American opinion of Afghanistan; killing a man for being Christian is not at all something Mr. Karzai is likely to endorse.
And even the prosecutor has backed off a bit suggesting that Rahman may be found ‘mentally unfit’, in which case “Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven”. The question at hand is serious on several levels, as any decision is likely to serve as a key precedent.
It should be noted that Abdul Rahman did not become a Christian anytime recently, after the U.S.-led invasion, but fifteen years ago, when Afghanistan as anything but a friendly place for Christians. Imagine living under the rule of the Taliban, and then & there choosing to follow the way of Christ. That folks, is courage!
This is very sad. I don't think I will ever understand this kind of hatred. As PoliPundit mentioned, even if he is not executed and is released from prison, Abdul Rahman’s life will probably not be safe in Afghanistan.
Senior Muslim clerics said Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity should be killed regardless of whether a court decides to free him.
Sign this petition for Abdul and please keep him in your prayers.
If you’re in the DC area, please also come out to the rally tomorrow and show your support for Abdul and for people everywhere who are being persecuted for their beliefs. I’d love to see you there!
P.S. -- See my previous posts on Abdul Rahman here, here, here, and here.
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