Kabul Bloodlust Update: “Mood hardens against Afghan convert,” from BBC News, with thanks to Null:
…Under the interpretation of Islamic Sharia law on which Afghanistan’s constitution is based, Mr Rahman faces the death penalty unless he reconverts to Islam.
Please, BBC, give us another interpretation. All the schools of Islamic jurisprudence agree on this issue.
“The Prophet Muhammad has said several times that those who convert from Islam should be killed if they refuse to come back,” says Ansarullah Mawlafizada, the trial judge.
“Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity. That is why we have told him if he regrets what he did, then we will forgive him,” he told the BBC News website….
And Islam is so peaceful, tolerant, and kind that we will murder him very sweetly if he doesn’t.
Tiny Minority of Extremists Alert:
But the bigger problem confronting the president is that an overwhelming number of ordinary Afghans appear to believe Mr Rahman has erred and deserves to be executed.
If the death penalty for apostasy were not mainstream Islamic law, would this be the case?
At Friday prayers in mosques across the Afghan capital, the case of Abdul Rahman and the consequent international outcry is the hot topic of discussion and the centrepiece of sermons.
“We will not let anyone interfere with our religious practices,” declared cleric Inayatullah at Kabul’s Pulakasthy mosque, one of the city’s largest.
“What Rahman has done is wrong and he must be punished.”…
“What is wrong with Islam that he should want to convert?” asks an agitated Abdul Zahid Payman.
Well, Abdul, for starters, the fact that people like you will want to kill someone who does convert.
“The courts should punish him and he should be put to death.”
Few were willing to listen to the growing condemnation in the West.
“According to Islamic law he should be sentenced to death because God has clearly stated that Christianity is forbidden in our land,” says Mohammed Qadir, another worshipper.
US President George Bush says he is “deeply troubled” by the case.
That cuts no ice with Mr Qadir.
“Who is America to tell us what to do? If Karzai listens to them there will be jihad (holy war).”