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Tunisia: Melee erupts among lawmakers over apostasy article in draft constitution

Jan 22, 2014 6:38 pm By Robert Spencer

Electing Tunisian board of elections

Muhammad said: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him” (Bukhari 9.84.57). The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law according to all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence. The Tafsir al-Qurtubi, a classic and thoroughly mainstream exegesis of the Qur’an, says this about Qur’an 2:217: “Scholars disagree about whether or not apostates are asked to repent. One group say that they are asked to repent and, if they do not, they are killed. Some say they are given an hour and others a month. Others say that they are asked to repent three times, and that is the view of Malik. Al-Hasan said they are asked a hundred times. It is also said that they are killed without being asked to repent.”

All the schools of Islamic jurisprudence teach that a sane adult male who leaves Islam must be killed. They have some disagreements about what must he done with other types of people who leave Islam, but they have no disagreement on that. Yet Islamic apologists in the West routinely charges that Islam’s death penalty for apostasy is an invention of greasy Islamophobes. Tunisia’s secular lawmakers, who said that “allowing the charge of apostasy in the constitution would mean giving jihadists license to kill,” are apparently all Islamophobic bigots. Who knew?

“Tunisia: melee disrupts constitutional debate,” from ANSAmed, January 22 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) – ROME – A melee between secular and religious Tunisian lawmakers last night disrupted voting on a draft constitution, underscoring tensions over the role of Islam and the transition to democracy three years after the nation’s revolution.

Peppered with shouts, fits of tears, chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great), shoving matches, and MPs leaving the room, the debate foundered on an article banning accusations of apostasy, which means renouncing one’s religion.

Religious MPs said the article is ”contrary to Islam”, while secular ones said allowing the charge of apostasy in the constitution would mean giving jihadists license to kill.
Elected in October 2011, the constituent assembly was expected to come up with a final draft within a year, but its work has been stymied by infighting, social unrest, and the assassination last year of two secular politicians, allegedly killed by hardline Islamist militants, whose violent proliferation since the 2011 uprising has widened the rift between Islamist and secular parties.

The ruling moderate Islamist Ennahda party having agreed to step down, approving the constitution is a key step before a caretaker government takes office to prepare for new elections later this year.

Deputy Assembly Speaker Meherzia Labidi, who is from the Ennahda party, ended up adjourning the session to Wednesday. (ANSAmed).

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Filed Under: Apostasy, Sharia, Tunisia Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. mortimer says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 7:32 pm

    The first apostates to be killed will be sitting members of parliament.

  2. LemonLime says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 8:03 pm

    The article said:

    “The ruling moderate Islamist Ennahda party…”

    Moderate…!?.

    I suppose they would be “moderate” in a relative sense — just as a speeding locomotive is “slow” relative to the speed of light. That doesn’t mean one should favor having a picnic on railroad tracks when a train is due any second.

    From a recent interview with Tunisian politician Beji Caid Essebsi (at 87, a veteran of the previous government, Minister of the Interior and Director of National Security under President Bourguiba that was needlessly toppled to make way for this obviously Islamist “Arab Spring”):

    Washington Post: How do you think [the political party] Ennahda has done running Tunisia? What are your criticisms of them? What is the difference between your party and them?

    Essebsi: There are ideological differences. They are for a religious state, and we are for a civil state. They have tried in the constitution to change the structure of the society. They want an Islamic society, and we are against that.

    Washington Post: Like the Muslim Brotherhood?

    Essebsi: Yes, exactly. But they haven’t succeeded — civil society stopped the process. For example, they wanted to introduce sharia as the source of law. We are against that. They also tried to change the status of women and make them complementary [rather than equal]. And we don’t accept that.

    Washington Post: What happened?

    Essebsi: We protested and they backed off on that. We don’t know yet because the constitution is not yet adopted. So the scenarios are all open.

    Washington Post: Didn’t they say it was a crime to attack the “sacred values” of the state?

    Essebsi: They introduced Article 141, which said that Islam is the religion of the state. We are against that — we said that we cannot accept that Tunisia will be a religious state. They backed down on this.

    Washington Post: But you don’t know because there is no final [constitution] draft. When will the final draft be done?

    Essebsi: That’s the problem of the constituent assembly.

    http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/03/16/former-prime-minister-beji-caid-essebsi-charged-with-torture

    *******************

    And the JW article above mentions —

    “Deputy Assembly Speaker Meherzia Labidi, who is from the Ennahda party”

    Guess what, she was exiled years ago to France because she presented a danger to the state — i.e., the Bourguiba regime, which routinely tried to protect itself from dangerous Muslim extremists (indeed, Essebsi himself has been prosecuted by some forces of the new “Spring” government with torture of jihadists during his Bourguiba regime tenure). And this Ennahda lady, Labidi, while in France opposed the hijab. And yet, she’s an activist for a party, Ennahda, which is decidedly Islamist. Just goes to show, we can’t trust any Muslims who seem to be doing the right thing — when we in our gullible desperation to try to find a decent Muslim define “right thing” way too generously.

  3. jay boo says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 8:13 pm

    Interfaith dialog …is not impossible

    FIRST a quote from Anne Frank
    “Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.”
    “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” — Anne Frank

    In the necessary focus on anti-jihad it may also be prudent
    not to lose focus on the big picture.
    Sanaz Nezami, 27 — a native of Tehran gave the gift of life to strangers.

    More at
    http://iran-times.com/husband-said-to-beat-bride-to-death/

    • SaturnV says

      Jan 23, 2014 at 12:08 pm

      Boo: It’s a lovely sentiment, but hardly realistic. Anne Frank was a teenager when she wrote that and her sentiment reflects the idealistic beliefs common to her age group. Knowledge and wisdom temper that belief. Eventually you come to understand that everyone is not inherently good. And not every society is inherently good. I wish it were otherwise. But intelligent adults believe what they see, they don’t see what they believe.

  4. jay boo says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    Interfaith Dialog
    Is it 100% impossible
    FIRST a quote from Anne Frank
    “Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.”
    “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” — Anne Frank

    Sanaz Nezami, 27 — a native of Tehran gave the gift of life to strangers.
    … It is unclear if her death was an honor killing.
    In the necessary focus on anti-jihad it may also be prudent
    not to lose focus on the big picture. Something to ponder.

    More at
    http://iran-times.com/husband-said-to-beat-bride-to-death/

  5. jay boo says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    Sometimes interfaith dialog is possible

    FIRST a quote from Anne Frank
    “Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.”
    “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” — Anne Frank

    In the necessary focus on anti-jihad it may also be prudent
    not to lose focus on the big picture.
    Sanaz Nezami, 27 — a native of Tehran gave the gift of life to strangers.

    More at Fox news and other websites including the following
    http://iran-times.com/husband-said-to-beat-bride-to-death/

  6. LemonLime says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    Continuing from my comment above: concerning Meherza Labidi, a prominent nahdaouie (i.e., an Ennahda activist), she and other Tunisian Muslim women have tried to argue that Islamic values comport with feminism:

    Elles s’évertuent à nous expliquer que l’“égalité” et la “complémentarité” sont des synonymes…

    “They try to explain to us that ‘equality’ and ‘complementarity’ are synonyms…”

    The second word, “complementarity”, being a word to denote the role of the woman in Islam as a “complement” to the man. As the essay I linked to aptly notes, this is an incoherent equivalence. And it is a sly way to imbue Sharia inequality with the positive aura of “equality” by twisting the latter through claiming it is a synonym with “complementarity”.

  7. exsgtbrown says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 8:56 pm

    the meeting must have gone down like this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDqu6dxcwEQ

  8. Salah says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    Some EgyptIan Muslims don’t give a s— about apostasy laws, they’re tearing up the Qur’an online!

    http://crossmuslims.blogspot.ca/2014/01/egyptian-muslims-tear-up-quran.html

  9. miriam rove says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 9:52 pm

    I have been traveling and I see the site has a new format.m

  10. ebonystone says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 10:11 pm

    Why on earth did JW switch to this new format? It’s terrible. One has to hunt all over to find the articles; one has to do a complete sign-in for each comment, the list of links is gone, and there’s still no “reply” nor “edit” capability in the comments section. Go back to the old system!

    • marclouis says

      Jan 22, 2014 at 10:50 pm

      there are account recovery and login button on the right sidebar now

      • John Sstefan Obeda says

        Jan 23, 2014 at 3:28 pm

        I don’t like this new system, so far, either. And I see no buttons or anything on the right side; no side bar at all.

  11. mortimer says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    Reliance of the Traveller (manual of Sharia law) :

    OO1.2.3 – killing an apostate from Islam is without consequences !!!

  12. Donald Harding says

    Jan 22, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    I agree. Oh, according to the Koran, would’nt Obama be an apostate?

  13. mortimer says

    Jan 23, 2014 at 1:05 am

    LemonLine wrote: ““moderate” in a relative sense ”

    Yes, after passing the moderate apostasy law the ‘moderate Islamists’ can have moderate beheadings of the moderate apostates.

  14. duh_swami says

    Jan 23, 2014 at 7:16 am

    The only way to get out of the Islamic Mafia is the same as any other Mafia…feet first. Or, apostate and then hide out. Some apostates are good at hiding out in the open, others need to get out of town. It’s unfortunate, but apostates always have to look over their shoulders to see if any Islamic Mafia agents are sneaking up on them. Is it worth it? Apostates seem to think so…

  15. gravenimage says

    Jan 23, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    Tunisia: Melee erupts among lawmakers over apostasy article in draft constitution

    (ANSAmed) – ROME – A melee between secular and religious Tunisian lawmakers last night disrupted voting on a draft constitution, underscoring tensions over the role of Islam and the transition to democracy…
    ……………………………..

    It’s not a “transition to democracy” if apostasy is a crime…

    More:

    Peppered with shouts, fits of tears, chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great), shoving matches, and MPs leaving the room, the debate foundered on an article banning accusations of apostasy, which means renouncing one’s religion.
    ……………………………..

    Actually, “Allahu Akbar” means “[My] God is greater [than yours]”, and is *always intended threateningly.

    More:

    Religious MPs said the article is ”contrary to Islam”, while secular ones said allowing the charge of apostasy in the constitution would mean giving jihadists license to kill.
    ……………………………..

    And they’re *both* right. Isn’t that special?

    More:

    Elected in October 2011, the constituent assembly was expected to come up with a final draft within a year, but its work has been stymied by infighting, social unrest, and the assassination last year of two secular politicians, allegedly killed by hardline Islamist militants…
    ……………………………..

    Just another warning to anyone who would dare vote against criminalizing apostasy..

    More:.

    The ruling moderate Islamist Ennahda party…
    ……………………………..

    “Moderate Islamist”—this has gone though so much parsing it is utterly meaningless.

    None of this bodes well for the rest of the “Arab Spring”…

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