Another story showing that the threat of death for those who leave Islam is not a relic of history, but is very real today. And it’s a positive development that the appeals court is actually taking this seriously. “Christian Afghan fears for life if deported,” from Knight Ridder, with thanks to Twostellas:
Years after his conversion to Christianity, Ahmad Ahmadshah, 43, a Minneapolis cabdriver, explained that moment to a U.S. immigration judge. Ahmadshah described how he had received a Bible from friends in Pakistan and read it in secret at his home near Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1988.
“I read a book, and my heart accepted,” Ahmadshah said. “I believe that this is the book that says the truth.”
Today, Ahmadshah is convinced that his faith could cost him his life.
He has lived in the United States since 1996, but U.S. immigration authorities are trying to deport him for visa violations – despite evidence that his sister was killed for her Christian faith in 1993 by religious soldiers answering to a warlord still active in Afghanistan.
This month, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made Ahmadshah’s deportation less certain. A three-judge panel threw out an order from the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals, which had rejected his application for asylum.
The judges ordered immigration judges to reconsider his case, taking into account how apostates – Muslims who reject Islam – are treated in Afghanistan.
“The murder of Ahmadshah’s sister points to a pattern of violence perpetrated against Christian converts and was coupled with a threat directed at Ahmadshah himself,” the appeals court wrote.