I trust Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR is on the phone to these clerics right now, explaining to them how they are misunderstanding the peaceful and tolerant religion of Islam.
In any case, it looks as if Zamari’s attempt to placate both sides, as ingenious as it was, may not work.
From AP, with thanks to Jihad Watch News Editor Rebecca Bynum:
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….
But four senior clerics interviewed by The Associated Press in their mosques in Kabul said Rahman deserved to be killed for his conversion.
“He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian,” said Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque.
“The government is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed.”
“He is not mad. The government is playing games. The people will not be fooled,” said Abdul Raoulf, cleric at Herati Mosque. “This is humiliating for Islam. … Cut off his head.”
Raoulf is considered a moderate cleric in Afghanistan. He was jailed three times for criticizing the Taliban’s policies before the hard-line regime was ousted by US-led forces in 2001.