And why not? Islamic law forbids Muslims to leave Islam. The prophet Muhammad himself says: "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him." (Bukhari, IX:84:57). From WND, with thanks to Ali Dashti:
Saudi religious police arrested a 30-year-old citizen who converted from Islam to Christianity.Emad Alaabadi, who has a wife and four children, is in prison in Jeddah after his Nov. 29 arrest in the town of Hufus, reports International Christian Concern, a Washington, D.C.-based human-rights group.
Alaabadi was driving his children home from school Nov. 29 when he was intercepted by police. The police escorted him home to drop off the children then took him to prison in Hufus before being transferred to Jeddah.
The Saudi man made contact Dec. 4 with his mother in Australia, who said he sounded very weak.
ICC said if Alaabadi's case is like others, he probably has been tortured as the religious police attemp to reconvert him to Islam.
Saudis are forbidden by law from converting to another religion.
This man, his family, and those now around him have my prayers. He lives where Satan has his seat. May his jailers be turned from their false cult to believe in Christ.
I know someone who worked in Saudi for seven years and he told me how there used to be public beheadings for apostates.
This was in 1981, I'm not sure what happens now.
I get the feeling the Saudis probably realize that the eyes of the world are a bit more on them so it makes sense that they would prefer to torture this man back to Islam or have him perish in gaol.
Incidently I was a member of Amnesia International for twenty years without knowing that this sort of thing goes on.
By the way, converts to Christianity in Libya too are put in prison.
This is sufficient cause for Libya to be currently chairing the UN Human Rights Group.
Notice how Gaddafi is very pally with Saint Nelson de Mandela.
I have e-mailed this case to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. I encourage you to do so as well. Here is how to contact them in regards to this case - please provide the links to the story or any pertinent info that can be of use.
Amnesty International USA Interfaith Action Network
networks@aiusa.org
(Please include "Attn. Interfaith Action Network" in the subject line)
Human Rights Watch (offices at this link):
http://www.hrw.org/contact.html
What an ally we have in these bastards. Saudi Arabia needs to be visited by a MOAB....
Hey, don't use bastard as a derogatory term, Prickzilla.
Otherwise, i concur.
Elephant-
I joined Amnesty 18 years ago, and I don't think proper attention has been paid to the plight of apostates in the Islamic world until relatively recently. Furthermore, I am not altogether pleased with the lack of effort exerted on behalf of dhimmis, but a large part of that problem is due to lack of manpower, resources, and AI's inability to focus on such cases when it has to spread itself too thin lobbying on behalf of every oppressed religious group in the world (and there are alot of them).
As for Human Rights Watch, who knows?
Ultimately, one would hope that the churches whose faithful are being oppressed would act more vigorously in protecting their flocks, it's not very good that it seems to have fallen to secular groups to fight on their behalfs. For example, I believe the Holy See would have much more impact on protecting oppressed Catholics than AI or HRW. Unfortunately, the lack of effort appears to be nigh universal.
Amnesty International reports on apostates:
http://66.151.110.203/texis/search?dropXSL=&pr=all&prox=paragraph&rorder=500&rprox=750&rdfreq=500&rwfreq=500&rlead=750&sufs=2&order=r&query=apostate&cq=
This 2000 report "PAKISTAN: Insufficient protection of religious minorities" is particularly interesting:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/document.do?id=33938A26009B592080256A3100529AD9
Bastardos is right!!
Some of history's greatest men and women were bastards. Charles Martel, who halted the Islamic assault on Western Europe in 732 was the bastard son of Pepin II:
http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/DAILYF/2003/10/daily-10-10-2003.shtml
http://historymedren.about.com/library/who/blwwcharlesmartel.htm
What a courageous man. God bless him and protect his family.
BTW, why do we designate our own selves as "apostates" or "infidels", using the enemy's terminology? We are not these things!
Mike,
It seems that AI USA is a little better than AI UK. Here they seem to spend a lot of time campaiging against America.
It would not be hard for them to have more articles on persecuted Christians and other minorities all over the the Islamic world. There are plenty of sources of information for them to tap into on the internet.
I agree with you about the failure of Western churches to speak out for persecuted Christians i the Islamic world.
It was terrible that photo of the Pope kissing the koran and the fact that the Archbishop of Canterbury spent the third anniversary of September 11th in Egypt praising Islam.
The clergy in Britain seem more interested in multi-faith events where the Bishop and the Iman end up having a cup of tea together praising each other's commitment to tolerance.
OT - But relevant
UK Action Alert: Bishop Richard Harries of Oxford
On this morning's 'Thought for the Day' on BBC Radio 4 (For those of you not in the UK - this is BBC Radio's flagship current affairs programme) the Bishop of Oxford saw fit to discuss the merits of Turkey joining the EU. With entirely predictable results.
According to him (wait for it) - It's the Christian thing to do! Apparently respect for the 'other' demands it. Oh yes and it would strike fear in the heart of Islamists as it will show them what Islam 'properly understood' really is. Besides, said the bishop, no disconnect whatsoever between Islam and European values.
It is especially the Islam 'properly understood' bit that got me. Besides this 'proper understanding' leading him to ludicrous positions on the effect of Islam on the West; it is just plain arrogance! What he is basically saying is: "I have seen Islam and it is fuzzy, warm and kind. Just like me in fact." No matter that those who study Islam all their lives come to totally different conclusions. I'll be the arbiter. Case closed.
The clincher was that he used Kemal Ataturk's magnanimous statement to mothers of dead allied soldiers after WW1(They are our sons...) as proof of how 'properly understood' Islam looks. No mention of the fact that Ataturk is the 'bogeyman' of the majority of those who claim to 'properly understand' Islam in Turkey.
People (especially those who should know better!) should not be allowed to get away with this kind of insipid nonsense anymore. They either need to be challenged or educated.
Please help me in doing the following:
* Write the Bishop a respectful letter challenging his position.
* Send him a copy of 'Islam unveiled'.
If you want to listen to what he said, you can follow this link (should be updated later today):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/thought/index.shtml
A written version will be added during the next few days, probably also to this own website.
Here is his contact details:
The Rt. Rev. Richard Harris
Bishop of Oxford
Diocesan Church House
North Hinksey
Oxford
Oxon
OX2 0NB
There is also a web form, here:
http://www.oxford.anglican.org/contact.php?PHPSESSID=05a10e9ea3dc559cd4ffa1f4bdd43849
(Select 'Bishop of Oxford')
Please keep letters short, to the point and above all respectful.
PJS1
excellent idea, will be writing to him asap.
I have been forwarding stories from JW to journalists especially peter hitchins @ the sunday mail, he has printed a couple of stories from JW in his sunday column.
I have listed my e mail contacts below so that all at JW can contact them with stories.
Also please note I have added notes on where I got their e mails from:
peter.hitchens@mailonsunday.co.uk
jeremyhthomas@aol.com - a vicar no doubt, got his address from the Times, he is part of some obscure organisation called Camapaign Against Racism & Islamaphobia
Yasmin.Alibhai-Brown@independent.co.uk
Strange woman, claims islam is a great faith, moderate, democratic etc. Married to a non moslem (punishable by death). chucked out of uganda by idi amin, who was granted refuge by the saudi's and basically a all round hypocrite and ignoramous.
minette.marrin@sunday-times.co.uk -
John.Daniszewski@latimes.com - this idiot wrote a peice claiming that beheading was not islamic !
richard.littlejohn@the-sun.co.uk
sbs@leonet.co.uk - womens rights organisation
mikemarqusee@blueyonder.co.uk lefty organisation Iraqi Occupation Focus.
He asked to be taken off my mailing list, I refused, he should learn something.
estella24@tiscali.co.uk Campaign Against criminalising Communities...No not the community of Chinese you know who.
If enough people were to send enough e mails to journalists, politician, clergy christian/sikh/hindu/buddhist then things will change.
I intend to and i advise others to do so as well write to your local MP, councillar, politician, especially the Conservative ones.
Per Mike's comment, above, I read the Pakistan report, and read the following:
"Ahmadis, members of a religious group founded in the nineteenth century, consider themselves to be Muslim but orthodox Muslims regard them as heretical. In 1974, a constitutional amendment introduced by then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto declared Ahmadis a non-Muslim minority. Subsequent legislation passed in 1984 (see below) has made it a criminal offence for Ahmadis to call themselves Muslim, and to profess, practice and propagate their faith as Muslims."
So what is so wrong about wanting to correct false advertising? Surely you don't have a problem with this, do you? Every group has a right to keep out those who want to dilute the faith or steer it in the wrong direction. They also have a right to keep folks who believe in a bad religion from breeding with their sons an daughters and diluting their ethnic patrimony. I see nothing wrong with this. Killing, yes. That is wrong. But you need laws to keep outsiders from mixing freely with your own kind, or pretending like they are your kind in order to marry or breed into your group. Read Elliot Abrams on the dangers of Christians breeding with Jews in America. He calls it a second Holocaust.
I really respect the Jews in Israel for taking a strong position in this regard to keep their race pure. They do not permit Jews, legal Jews to return to Israel unde the Law of Return (even if they are persecuted as Jews elsewhere) since Christians are a danger to the Jewish nation. And they do not permit Christians to breed with their sons and daughters. There is no such thing as a Christian and a Jew getting married in Israel. Some Israeli employment agencies make foreign guest workers sign a contract agreeing not to have sex wih Jews when they come to Israel to work. This isn't a bad thing. This is good. If you are going to have a safe place to call your own, you have to establish such laws.
JackS
you are a very sick individual, it is easy to see through your post.
I know a few jew/israelis, there is no legal ban on jews marrying non jews in Israel.
As for your absurd comments about employment agencies, how precisly is this law enforced ?
Your post is a pathetic attempt at anti jewish propaganda.
So how did this guy become a Christian? Was he a muslim who converted? Was he a saudi citizen? How did he come in contact with someone who was willing to oversee his conversion in Saudi Arabia?
Elephant:
Thanks for sharing your insights on AI UK. I agree with you completely that Amnesty COULD devote more energy to the plight of dhimmis.
As for Jack S's remarks on the Ahmadis, let's keep in mind that many orthodox sects of Islam, most notoriously the Wahhabi, view any deviation from a strict, literalist interpretation of Islam as heretical. The Sufis, amongst others, are familiar with this treatment:
http://muslim-canada.org/sufi/sufismnew.htm
As the article notes:
"The Sufi goal of union with God was regarded as heresy by many outside of Sufism, and was seen as a threat to Islam. Islamic scholars believed that knowledge of God was obtained from the study of the Qur'an, not through personal experience. In 922 A.D. a Sufi mystic al-Hallaj, was crucified for blasphemy for his ecstatic declaration of unity with God, "I am the Truth"."
Just how far out of the mainstream is Ahmadiyya Islam that it warrants the murder of its adherents and the destruction of their places of worship?
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-ahmadi.htm
http://www.punjabilok.com/faith/islam/ahmed_move1.htm
http://www.muslim.org/our-ideo.htm
I'm not convinced it's "false advertising" or deviant - even moreso, I'm not convinced they deserve to be murdered on account of their beliefs, just because they do not fall in line with the orthodoxy.
As for you discussion on eugenics, I don't care to qualify such fossilized notions by commenting on them.
Well I pray for him, he will be a martyr, greetings
"As for you discussion on eugenics, I don't care to qualify such fossilized notions by commenting on them."
Ahem, eugenics isn't a "fossilized" notion. It does, in reality, work (not the way Adolf Hitler saw it, but regardless). Any state control over reproduction does, of course, constitute a violation of human rights, but to say eugenics is "fossilized" is far from the truth.
To PC or Not To PC?
Many of the new Islamic migrants are former goat or camel herders – modern concepts and ideas of freedoms – will be lost on most for at least a few generations. But does the extended – culture shock give them the right to murder us?
Many Islamic people wish to migrate to Western countries because they believe that we have everything. In their minds – our streets are paved with gold.
Many Western people believe that they had to work for everything they have – and that even golden streets need paving.
Turkey should not enter the European Union. The Turkish people will only come for the money – but will not want to integrate.
Perhaps Turkey should join an Arab Union. Human rights and the rights of women will not feature high on the list of reforms – needed to join it. And the economic policies will be simplified to – where there is oil – there is prosperity and economic growth. The Turkish worker could fill this need for Islamic workers in the Saudi Kingdom.
More than half of Turkish women believe it is OK to be beaten by their husbands or other male members of the household.
The Theo Van Gogh film was provocative in that it showed the partially naked body of a Muslim woman – covered in Islamic verse.
The Theo Van Gogh film was provocative in that it showed the total humiliation and abuse of a woman by her husband – under the sanction of a belief in God.
An Islamic Imam is deported to Algeria – for teaching the Qur’anic verse – on how best to beat your wife – without leaving visible marks.
Islam should moderate itself – if it is to co-exist peacefully in Europe.
Does the Islamic man feel that he should have dominion over all women / even when he walks the streets in a Western country?
According to the teachings of the Holy Qur’an – women are as farm animals. Are they?
Muslims in Western countries are using – those countries’ laws to suppress their women – as they were in the old country. In the spirit of openness and PC’correctness it is being allowed.
Did you see how few women were in the Olympic line-up for Islamic countries – I am sure they were all happy and completely satisfied to watch the other women of the world perform at such a high level.
There was an unprecedented level of security at the 2004 Olympics.
All Islamic people are not violent.
Why all the security at the airports – if Islamic violence is a not a real threat?
Which Islamic people are you afraid of?
Islam is a religion of Peace.
Where Islam can not take over a non-Islamic area - peacefully – the Qu’ran teaches us that violence should be used.
If you are a Muslim and wish to convert to another religion – you should be put to death under Shari’ah Law.
We should all try to understand Islam – to live together in harmony.
We should all try to understand Islam – to find out why we are being attacked.
Allah is the ‘One True God’.
Allah was a Moon God to the ancient Arabs.
Allah had three daughters – the ‘trinity’ / named Al-Lat, Manat and Al-Uzza. (See Encyclopedia Britannica (Islam/Life) Book 22 / page 105 – top right – sharing of the deities [Origin of Hajj – same page – bottom left]. Allah’s three daughters / all mentioned in the Koran / page unknown.
Encyclopedia Britannica – not allowed in the Saudi Kingdom. In the past the books have been shredded on entry.
Islam is a backward religion. It requires blind devotion – to ancient ideas. The problem comes when it requires the rest of us – to do the same.
One day Islam will take over America and Europe.
Does anyone remember when Osama bin Laden first declared war on America and the West? At the time – how seriously did any of us take the threat?
Did you ever see a beheading?
Before and during the beheading – an Islamic prayer is chanted in a hypnotic fashion. The knife is usually too dull to do the job quickly and so the barbaric fest lasts for up to 3 minutes or more.
Those are not the true followers of Islam.
The Koran says…...women can work / women can choose whether or not to wear a head covering / women are like farm animals / men can beat and starve them.
Questioning the Islamic faith is hateful.
In Islamic countries – real questions on Islam are forbidden.
Islam is a good religion - which has been hijacked by a few radicals.
Challenging Islam does no one any good.
Islam is a beautiful religion.
Islamic knowledge was a part of the foundation of a modern Europe; so should it not be too rude to ask - What has Islam done lately?
Why should we care anymore if Islamic women are mistreated? They have made the sacrifice for the Greater Good – and they prefer it that way.
Honor killings are good for Islamic women and girls. A family’s honor is more important than the female’s freedom.
The Jordanian women voted to keep Honor Killings. It is thought that it was more difficult for the men – who were responsible for carrying out the merciful act.
An Islamic woman’s worth is in her virginity. With all the things that today’s woman can accomplish – from being an astronaut to running a country as Prime Minister – it all comes down to ‘Are You a Virgin?’ – No one ever asks the men.
If an Islamic woman looses her virginity outside of marriage – even through rape – she might be killed or discarded at best. A single piece of skin – separates her from the rest of humanity.
An Islamic woman can work outside the home – with her family’s permission.
Islamic women are not so smart – they need to be controlled – it is for their own good.
Many Islamic women are kept illiterate – as with slavery – it is a lot easier to control those who can not read.
But the Koran doesn’t say this…………….
Islam is perfect and so should not be challenged.
September 11 / March 11 train bombing / Beslam siege / the beheadings – expose an underbelly of the Islamic faith which many never expected – existed. Starting with Saudi Arabia – young people in the Islamic World are taught to hate and possibly to kill – those who do not fall under their religious faith – in state run schools.
Perhaps Saudi Arabia’s desire to gain control of the West – equates to having us all face East while praying.
Islam teaches tolerance of other religions.
CNN’s ‘Inside the Middle East’ invites viewers to visit Iran – for a vacation. About one week later, Iranian government officials openly call for ‘Death to the Americans’. Does CNN think that maybe the Canadians and British can still go?
Islam is being portrayed badly by the world’s media.
When pressed – on China TV – about the death of Chinese workers in the region – the Pakistani Prime Minister said – Islam is a religion of companion, tolerance, love and moderation – he went on to site the Palestinian Crisis as the underlying cause for all Islamic violence. (Even the three attempts on the Pakistani President’s life?)
Peaceful protest worked for Gandhi in India and Martin Luther King in the US and after 40 years considerable progress has been made – but this probably would not work for the Palestinians. Living in rubble is good.
Sudanese leader tells group of Arab League in Egypt that – Israel – is responsible for the Brown skin Muslim against Black skin Muslim – Darfur crisis.
Is it true – that nonviolent Buddhist Monks have to walk with armed guards in Thailand – because they are being attacked by Islamic people and at least one of these Monks was found beheaded? I am sure these same Buddhist Monks will have all Muslims in their prayers.
Are the armored tanks parked outside Saudi Royal families’ homes – there to protect them from the – Freedom Fighters / Terrorists / American Infidels / Israeli Invasion?
Islamic countries repress all information – including that of the News Media and Scientific programs – in favor of high religious content and the glorification of the leaders.
How long will we be dependant on the oil?
How long could the Middle East remain prosperous on the illusionary Islamic Science – without the oil revenues?
At the moment Saudi Arabia can afford its eccentricities – but they may prove too expensive – in the future.
Besides oil – we know that there is also a large market in black cloth in ‘The Kingdom’.
Women’s Rights anyone? – Baa Humbug!