{"id":7435,"date":"2014-05-21T08:45:13","date_gmt":"2014-05-21T15:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=7435"},"modified":"2014-05-28T09:38:09","modified_gmt":"2014-05-28T16:38:09","slug":"islam-appalling-and-abhorrent-in-the-eyes-of-a-blind-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/islam-appalling-and-abhorrent-in-the-eyes-of-a-blind-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Islam: \u2018Appalling and Abhorrent\u2019 in the Eyes of a Blind World?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0<\/span>RaymondIbrahim.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
A few days ago in Sudan, an eight-month pregnant wife and mother was sentenced to death by hanging for refusing to renounce Christ and embrace Islam. \u00a0According to the\u00a0LA Times<\/em><\/a>:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"
Photo via RaymondIbrahim.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, who has a young son and is married to a Christian from South Sudan, violated Islamic sharia law, the court said. She insists she was raised Christian, not Muslim.<\/p>\n

The court also ordered Ibrahim to be flogged for having sexual relations with her husband, since her marriage is not recognized by officials.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim refused a court order Sunday giving her several days to renounce her Christian faith, which resulted in the sentencing Thursday\u2026.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim, currently jailed with her son, will be allowed to give birth and raise her second child until the age of 2 years but then faces execution. Sudanese authorities refuse to allow Ibrahim\u2019s son to reside with her husband because the husband is Christian.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

Tragic as this story is, it is also immensely commonplace in Islamic countries.\u00a0 Why? Because Islamic law does in fact punish the apostate from Islam\u2014including with death\u2014in accordance with the\u00a0commands of the Muslim prophet Muhammad<\/a>.\u00a0 Indeed, many Muslim clerics believe that \u201cIf the [death] penalty for apostasy was ignored, there would not be an Islam today; Islam would have ended on the death of the prophet,\u201d as top Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi\u00a0once declared<\/a>\u00a0on live television.<\/p>\n

Of more significance is the Amnesty International statement concerning Meriam Ibrahim\u2019s plight. While its criticism is aimed at Sudan\u2019s legal system, the statement unwittingly provides a glimpse of how the international community would view Islam if it could actually understand that these human rights abuses are not products of this or that government or regime, but of Islam itself.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Amnesty International statement<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

The fact that a woman has been sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion is\u00a0appalling and abhorrent<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Adultery and apostasy are acts which should not be considered crimes at all. It isflagrant breach of international human rights law<\/em>.\u00a0 The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, which includes the freedom to hold beliefs, is far-reaching and profound; it encompasses freedom of thought on all matters, personal conviction and the commitment to religion or belief (emphasis added).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If, as Amnesty International declares, flogging and executing a person, in this case a pregnant woman, because of her \u201creligious choice\u201d and marrying a man of a \u201cdifferent religion\u201d are \u201cappalling and abhorrent\u201d; if they are a \u201cflagrant breach of international human rights law\u201d\u2014what do we make of the fact that Muslim converts to Christianity are punished and sometimes killed all across the Islamic world?<\/p>\n

Consider the following anecdotes, a few examples, most from 2013 alone (culled from my monthly \u201cMuslim Persecution of Christians<\/a>\u201d series and listed in country alphabetical order):<\/p>\n

Afghanistan<\/strong>: A member of Afghanistan\u2019s Parliament said that all\u00a0Afghans who convert to Christianity should be executed<\/a>.\u00a0 His exact words: \u201cAfghani citizens continue to convert to Christianity in India. Numerous Afghanis have become Christians in India. This is an offense to Islamic Laws and according to the Quran they need to be executed.\u201d As one of many live examples, \u00a0Said Musa, an amputee and father of six young children, was once charged with apostasy and\u00a0pressured to renounce Christianity<\/a>, but he refused. So he was imprisoned, suffering \u201csexual abuse, beatings, mockery, and sleep deprivation because of his faith in Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Algeria<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>The wife of Ali Touahir, a 52-year-old Muslim convert to Christianity, left him, taking their seven-year-old daughter, and is divorcing him in court.\u00a0 One of his wife\u2019s brothers openly threatened to kill apostate.\u00a0 The wife\u2019s lawyer asserted: \u201cIt is not possible that my client [the Muslim wife] still remain under the same roof with a man who has renounced his religion, as he became apostate; and\u00a0we are not ignorant of the punishment that is due an apostate under sharia [death]<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cameroon<\/strong>: Two Muslim converts to Christianity were shot dead and two others wounded, in the Christian-majority African nation where Muslims make approximately 20 percent of the population.\u00a0 One of them was previously threatened by the Nigerian Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram to return to Islam or \u201cface Allah\u2019s wrath<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Egypt<\/strong>: A court sentenced an entire family\u2014Nadia Mohamed Ali and her seven children\u2014to\u00a0fifteen years in prison for converting to Christianity<\/a>. A born Christian, Nadia had earlier converted to Islam and married a Muslim man; reconverting back to Christianity after the death of her husband, she attempted to reflect this change formally on her identity card and her children\u2019s, which created suspicions among security, who arrested the family.\u00a0 Separately and days ago in Egypt, after a former Muslim woman on live television announced her apostasy and lack of faith in Muhammad as the \u201cMessenger of Allah,\u201d she was insulted, ridiculed, and thrown off the set by the host.<\/p>\n

Iran<\/strong>: Imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini was reported as \u201cfacing physical and psychological torture at the hands of captors demanding he renounce his beliefs.\u201d The 32-year-old married father of two, who left his home in Boise, Idaho, to help start an orphanage in his former country, once detailed \u201chorrific pressures\u201d and \u201cdeath threats\u201d in a letter to family members: \u201cMy eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky\u2026\u00a0\u00a0They are only waiting for one thing\u2026for me to deny Christ<\/a>.\u00a0But they will never get this from me.\u201d \u00a0The imprisonment and torture of Muslim converts to Christianity in Iran is quite common (recall the plight of\u00a0Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani<\/a>).\u00a0 According to\u00a0Adnkronos News<\/a>, \u201crenouncing the Muslim faith is punishable with the death penalty [in Iran]. Over 300 Iranian converts to Christianity have been arrested over the past two years, according to opposition websites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyrgyz<\/strong>: After a young Muslim girl converted to Christianity, her parents \u201cwanted her to recant and renounce her faith in Christ,\u00a0so they began to beat her systematically till she lost consciousness<\/a>\u2026 It was winter when all of this happened, so her parents put her into a cold room and kept her there for several days. Still they were unable to break her spirit.\u00a0 They then started pulling her hair and put her face against the stove, burning her face. In spite of this, she remained faithful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morocco<\/strong>:\u00a0A fatwa, or Islamic decree, by the government\u2019s top religious authority,\u00a0calls for the execution<\/a>\u00a0of those Muslims who leave Islam, causing many Christian converts to live in fear. Lamented one Christian: \u201cThe fatwa showed us that our country is still living in the old centuries\u2014no freedom, no democracy.\u00a0 Unfortunately, we feel that we aren\u2019t protected. We can be arrested or now even killed any time and everywhere. The majority of the Christian Moroccan leaders have the same feeling.\u00a0 We are more followed now by the secret police than before. Only the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ gives us courage and peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pakistan<\/strong>: A 16-year-old Muslim boy who converted to Christianity was abducted in Peshawar by Taliban-linked Islamic militants \u201cand his fate may already be marked, as he is considered \u2018guilty of apostasy<\/a>.\u2019\u201d As one Pakistani pastor explained, \u201cIf a young Muslim converts to Christianity in Pakistan, he is forced to live in hiding. Every Muslim might feel compelled to kill him. The change of religion is not punished by the civil law, it is punishable by Islamic law. For this reason cases of Muslim conversion to Christianity are very rare and some convert in secret.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Muhammad Kamran, a Muslim convert to Christianity, exemplifies the pastor\u2019s words.\u00a0 After he told his wife of his conversion, she abused and exposed him, resulting in his being severely beaten by local Muslims.\u00a0 In his words: \u201cNo one was willing to let me live the life I wanted [as a Christian]\u2014they say Islam is not a religion of compulsion<\/a>, but no one has been able to tell me why Muslims who don\u2019t find satisfaction in the religion [such as myself] become liable to be killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia<\/strong>:\u00a0 After a woman was exposed as having converted to Christianity, she was sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes.\u00a0 Although she managed to flee the nation and went into hiding, the Christian Lebanese man accused of introducing her to Christianityreceived six years in prison and 300 lashes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Somalia<\/strong>:\u00a0 The Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabaab (\u201cThe Youth\u201d), which has vowed to cleanse the Horn of Africa of all Christian presence, has slaughtered countless Muslim converts to Christianity\u2014men, women, and children\u2014in the last few years.\u00a0 Most recently, Al Shabaab\u00a0shot to death<\/a>\u00a042-year-old Fartun Omar, a widow and mother of five, for converting to Christianity.\u00a0 Months earlier, they had killed her husband for the same \u201ccrime,\u201d and had been hunting for the wife. In a separate incident, Al Shabaab\u00a0publicly executed a 28-year-old man after determining that he had in fact become a Christian<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0 Al Shabaab Muslims also seized Hassan Gulled, 25, for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, and\u00a0imprisoned him, and tortured him<\/a>.\u00a0 According to local sources, \u201cAl Shabaab have been torturing him to see whether he would deny his Christian faith. Since last week, no information has surfaced concerning Gulled. There is a possibility that he could have been killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tanzania<\/strong>: At the time pregnant and with three children, Lukia Khalid explained how when she told her Muslim husband that she had converted to Christianity, \u201cHe threatened to kill me<\/a>\u00a0if I was to stay with him. I then decided to escape that night with my three children to a neighbor\u2019s house\u2026.\u00a0 We left only with the clothes that we were wearing.\u00a0 The command was so urgent that we could not wait any longer. We had to leave immediately.\u201d\u00a0 Last heard, they were living in destitute conditions.<\/p>\n

One can go on and on with examples (see\u00a0Crucified Again: Exposing Islam\u2019s New War on Christians<\/em><\/a>, pages 96-135, for a more thorough expose, including on the doctrine and history of apostasy in Islam, and dozens of more recent examples).<\/p>\n

Returning to Meriam Ibrahim, the pregnant Sudanese mother set to be executed for refusing to recant Christ and embrace Islam, some questions and observations are in order:<\/p>\n

Are all the other anecdotes listed above not equally \u201cappalling and abhorrent\u201d\u2014to use Amnesty International\u2019s words describing Meriam\u2019s specific plight?\u00a0 Are they not all a \u201cflagrant breach of international human rights law\u201d?<\/p>\n

If so, and if the international community is actually serious about putting a stop to them, should it not try to ascertain the true source behind them?<\/p>\n

After all, considering that Muslim converts to Christianity are being attacked all throughout the Islamic world\u2014including in nations as diverse as Algeria, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, and Kyrgyz\u2014surely the source is not something as simple as \u201cSudan\u2019s legal system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact is, Muslim converts to Christianity are even under attack in Europe.\u00a0 In Norway alone, for example, two Iranian converts out for a walk were\u00a0stabbed with knives by masked men shouting \u201cinfidels!\u201d<\/a>\u00a0One of the men stabbed had converted in Iran, was threatened there, and immigrated to Norway, thinking he could escape Islam\u2019s apostasy penalty.\u00a0 Earlier, an Afghan convert to Christianity was scalded with boiling water and acid at a Norwegian refugee processing center: \u201cIf you do not return to Islam, we will kill you<\/a>,\u201d his attackers told him.<\/p>\n

Of course, the true source for all these attacks on Muslim converts to Christianity\u2014in nations that do not share race, language, culture, politics, or economics\u2014is Islam itself.\u00a0 Anyone with common sense, anyone with the ability to be honest with oneself, must concede as much.\u00a0 \u00a0There is no other reasonable way to explain such identical patterns of abuse in such a wide array of nations.<\/p>\n

But so long as the international community and human rights organizations fail to employ some common sense and honesty\u2014fail to call a spade a spade\u2014so will they ensure that countless more innocent humans like Meriam Ibrahim continue to suffer \u201cappalling and abhorrent\u201d treatment, simply for trying to exercise their \u201cright to freedom of thought, conscience and religion\u201d under Islam.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com A few days ago in Sudan, an eight-month pregnant wife and mother was sentenced to death by hanging for refusing to renounce Christ and embrace Islam. \u00a0According to the\u00a0LA Times: Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, who has a young son and is married to a Christian from South Sudan, violated Islamic sharia law, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[848,225,59,33,842,227,330],"tags":[956,192,1017,955,1060,950,545,482],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1VV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1053,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/who-the-president-should-speak-out-against-religious-persecution\/","url_meta":{"origin":7435,"position":0},"title":"Why the President Should Speak Out Against Religious Persecution","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Christian Solidarity International On January 24, during his State of the Union Address, the president of the United States has a chance to expose the plight of religious minorities living in Muslim majority nations. Doing so would not merely shed light on one of the most ignored\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/religion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6920,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/gen-sisi-religious-discourse-greatest-challenge-facing-egypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":7435,"position":1},"title":"Gen. Sisi: ‘Religious Discourse Greatest Challenge Facing Egypt’","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 According to Egyptian media,\u00a0during\u00a0his recent speech at the Dept. of Moral Affairs for the Armed Forces, Gen. Abdul Fateh al-Sisi\u2014the man who ousted former President Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood in response to the June Revolution and who is seen as the nation\u2019s de facto ruler\u2014declared\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7216,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-are-slaughtering-us-like-chickens-muslim-persecution-of-christians-december-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":7435,"position":2},"title":"The Are Slaughtering Us Like Chickens’: Muslim Persecution of Christians, December 2013","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Insitute As happens at Christmas every year throughout the Muslim world, Christians and their churches were especially targeted\u2014from jihadi terror strikes killing worshippers, to measures by Muslim authorities restricting Christmas celebrations.\u00a0 Some incidents follow:","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6773,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/muslim-blood-superior-to-infidel-blood\/","url_meta":{"origin":7435,"position":3},"title":"Muslim Blood Superior to Infidel Blood","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 Arguing that Muslim blood is more precious than infidel blood, Muslim clerics in and out of Sudan are outraged because a Sudanese court has condemned a Muslim man to death\u2014simply because he murdered a non-Muslim, the American diplomat John Granville on January 1, 2008. A 2009\u00a0report\u00a0offers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6219,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/crucified-again-venn-institute-interviews-raymond-ibrahim\/","url_meta":{"origin":7435,"position":4},"title":"Crucified Again — Venn Institute Interviews Raymond Ibrahim","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Raymond Ibrahim [Note: The following interview was conducted by the\u00a0Venn Institute\u00a0with Raymond Ibrahim] Raymond Ibrahim is a widely published author, public speaker, and Middle East and Islam expert, and author most recently of\u00a0Crucified Again: Exposing Islam\u2019s New War on Christians. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0@RaymondIbrahim5 Venn Institute: Most Americans see persecution\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1864,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/how-taqiyya-alters-islams-rules-of-war-defeating-jihadist-terrorism\/","url_meta":{"origin":7435,"position":5},"title":"How Taqiyya Alters Islam’s Rules of War: Defeating Jihadist Terrorism","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Middle East Quarterly\u00a0(Winter 2010) Islam must seem a paradoxical religion to non-Muslims. On the one hand, it is constantly being portrayed as the religion of peace; on the other, its adherents are responsible for the majority of terror attacks around the world. Apologists for Islam emphasize that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7435"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7435"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7486,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7435\/revisions\/7486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}