An unexpected turn in the case of Sayed Pervez Kambakhsh. Perhaps Karzai decided he needed to do something "moderate"-looking in a hurry. "Clerics and hardliners vent their fury at Pervez release," by Kim Sengupta for the Independent, September 8:
Conservative and religious groups in Afghanistan reacted with fury yesterday to the news that Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, who was sentenced to death for promoting women's rights, has been freed.
After President Hamid Karzai secretly pardoned the 24-year-old student, hardliners called for an urgent ulama, a meeting of Islamic scholars, to organise protests against the decision.
Mr Kambaksh's brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, said he was "very glad, very happy" at what had happened, and human rights organisations and a number of liberal parliamentarians welcomed the news.
The fate of Mr Kambaksh became a cause célèbre after his plight was revealed by The Independent. A petition to secure justice secured more than 100,000 signatures and the Afghan government came under pressure from Western leaders to free him.
Mr Kambaksh's original death sentence was set aside by Afghanistan's Supreme Court. But the judges ruled that he must serve at least 20 years in prison. Following the presidential amnesty he is now starting a life with a new identity in another country after 20 months of incarceration.
Mr Ibrahimi said: "We are all very happy that so much progress has been made with Pervez and I want to thank all the people who have helped in this. I have to be careful about what I say but, of course, Pervez should never have been put in that position, it was wrong. The family is very glad he is out."
But yesterday in Kabul, Maulavi Hanif Shah Hosseini, a prominent mullah, declared: "Kambaksh committed a crime against the Koran and the people who conspired so that he escaped the law have also committed a crime.
"All the decisions to help this man who disrespected Islam are coming from the foreigners. But the decision to follow along with this came from Karzai and the Afghan government and we disown them. We are going to call for a gathering of the ulama to decide what to do. We are not going to make a big stand against this and any trouble will be the fault of people who helped Kambaksh."
Qari Rahmatullah, MP for Kunduz, said: "This just shows that our country is not independent. Our policies are dictated by outsiders. Why should a man be allowed to insult Islam and then just walk away?" And he added: "Good Muslim people will be unhappy about this and Mr Karzai will have difficulties if the voting [in the election] goes to the second round."
A number of reports suggest Karzai has covered his bases there.
standing up for women's rights is so Un-Islamic...Mulims will kill you for doing it...
"Why should a man be allowed to insult Islam and then just walk away?"
Why indeed? Islam doesn't tolerate those who insult it, whether that "insult" is naming a teddy bear Mohammed, drawing a cartoon, deciding you don't want to be a Muslim anymore, or, if you are female, deciding you want to marry who you want.
Islam condemns and insults itself through its lack of tolerance. No thinking individual would choose to be a member of this death cult.
"No thinking individual would choose to be a member of this death cult."
Posted by: GMcCal
That pretty well sums it up, GMcCal. Moslems do precious little thinking, and are rarely individuals. Instead they belong to a herd, with a 1400-year-old villain's book to do their thinking for them.
Let's just ask the question - Why are we sending our brave, young men and women over to this 7th century country to risk their lives for these barbarians?
Conservative and religious groups in Afghanistan reacted with fury yesterday to the news that Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has been freed.
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"Conservative and religious"? The Christian Coalition? The Conservative Caucus? The John Birch Society? The Eagle Forum? Focus on the Family?
Not so much. Agree with these groups or not, none of them are howling for the blood of "blasphemers".
These terms are ludicrous--as though they mean the same thing in the Muslim world as they do in the West.
more:
But yesterday in Kabul, Maulavi Hanif Shah Hosseini, a prominent mullah, declared: "Kambaksh committed a crime against the Koran and the people who conspired so that he escaped the law have also committed a crime.
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I hope Pervez Kambaksh flees the country. He will never be safe from the tender mercies of his co-religionists so long as he remains in Afghanistan.
Remember, the next time you see or hear the phrases 'mainstream Muslim(s)' or 'mainstream Islam', think of the situation described in the article.
The Islam it describes IS mainstream, complete with the Shari'a; Islam as it was actually intended and as it's still practiced--without question or complaint--in places like Afghanistan and Bangladesh and Yemen; quite unlike the phony 'mainstream Islam' of Detroit and Seattle and New Orleans where--to our American Muslim neighbors' chagrin--its full implementation is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution and secular, American law.
While insulting Islam and being allowed to simply walk away might be an unconscionable crime in the 'mainstream Islam' of Afghanistan, it is not so in the phony 'mainstream Islam' in this country: yet.
Remix on an old joke.
Harold came from rural town in Eastern Washington, and was transferred by his engineering firm to Minneapolis. Due to the economy, he could only afford to move into a Muslim neighborhood.
The first weekend in his new home, Harold decided to have a barbeque to celebrate, and served pork back ribs to some co workers he invited to his house warming in order to make some friends. His neighbors, looking over the back fence, were not pleased to see he had prepared a pork feast, and had polluted the neighborhood with pork smoke. Further, that night some dogs got in the trash and spread rib bones all over the neighborhood.
There was a meeting and the clerical council and the Imam came to Harold's house. This was a nice Muslim neighborhood, and they wanted to keep it that way. They were very upset and warned Harold what he had done was unacceptable, as they would need to cleanse the neighborhood. To that end they would issue a Fatwa on his family, and the mosque would stage rallies outside his home if he did not list his house and sell.
Harold did not want to move and lose his money he put in the house, so he offered to convert to Islam. The council was happy and Harold was welcomed to the neighborhood properly. At the Mosque, in front of the congregation, the Imam raised his blessed scepter and tapped Harold's right shoulder "you were born a Catholic" tapped his left shoulder "your were raised a Catholic" and tapped his head, "but now you are Muslim!"
There was a great outpouring of joy, slaps on the back and Allah Akbar's all around!!
So for many weeks Harold and his family attended Mosque and the Barbeque was unused. Unfortunately for Harold, he was addicted, addicted to baby back ribs with his grandfather's secret recipe barbeque sauce. It seemed everywhere that Harold went, he saw ribs! Ribs on TV, Ribs in the store, Ribs in restaurants, RIBS, RIBS, RIBS!
He went to the Imam, and confessed his addiction and asked for help. The Imam said that unfortunately, eating pork was a sin against God, and there would be severe consequences for eating even one rib. To do so would show that Harold and his family had converted back to Catholicism, and would be apostates.
But Harold's Rib Mania knew no bounds, and one night the neighbors saw Harold fire up his Barbeque. Calls went out around the neighborhood and the Mosque Council and the Imam arrived just in time to see Harold put several slabs of his beloved baby back ribs on the fire..
Harold raised his blessed barbecue fork, and tapped one side of the racks, "You were born a pig" tapped the other side of the racks, "You were raised as a pig", and tapped the middle rack, "but now you are beef!"
Unfortunately for Harold, the Imam didnt buy it, and a violent mob jumped the fence and killed Harold and his family.
I've got a question about dogs in the muslim neighbourhoods in the US. Are they tolerated?
PeteVine, apparently, it's permitted for Muslims to keep dogs as hunting dogs, but they must be kept outside and if the Muslim owners do touch them at all (let alone pet them), it would ruin their "purity" for their prayers if they had already done their ablutions -- which Muslims have to do 5 times a day before prayers. Imagine that state of mind that thinks that petting a dog is going to ruin your prayer to God. Utter insanity, and related generaly to the fanatically obsessive state of mind that motivates them to want to kill us.
Hesperado - everybody else on the planet likes (loves) dogs. But not Islam. That, in my mind, should tip any human being off.
Maybe Muhammed was an Alien from Outer Space. Naw, most aliens wouldn't drink camel pee.
"who was sentenced to death for promoting women's rights"
I would mention that Sayed Pervez Kambaksh is a good candidate for political assylum in the west.
It seems that the UN Human Rights groups, international journalist organizations and Western diplomats have finally gotten under Hamid Karzai's skin. He is at a very weak moment right now due to the Afghan election fraud.
Now is a great time to pressure him on any issues bothering Western civilization.
I shall pray for the apostasy of Mr Kambaksh.
May he leave Islam altogether.
May he - like Ayaan Hirsi Ali - discover the sheer joy of using his faculty of reason to the fullest, unhampered by the mental bondage of Islam.