She has been convicted of adultery because she is considered a Muslim, and Muslim women are forbidden to marry non-Muslim men. She has likewise been condemned to death for apostasy because she declares herself a Christian even though her father was a Muslim. If her father was a Muslim, then she is, too, according to Islamic law. She has until the child is weaned, as per the example of Muhammad as depicted in this hadith.
“There came to him (the Holy Prophet) a woman from Ghamid and said: Allah’s Messenger, I have committed adultery, so purify me. He (the Holy Prophet) turned her away. On the following day she said: Allah’s Messenger, Why do you turn me away? Perhaps, you turn me away as you turned away Ma’iz. By Allah, I have become pregnant. He said: Well, if you insist upon it, then go away until you give birth to (the child). When she was delivered she came with the child (wrapped) in a rag and said: Here is the child whom I have given birth to. He said: Go away and suckle him until you wean him. When she had weaned him, she came to him (the Holy Prophet) with the child who was holding a piece of bread in his hand. She said: Allah’s Apostle, here is he as I have weaned him and he eats food. He (the Holy Prophet) entrusted the child to one of the Muslims and then pronounced punishment. And she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people and they stoned her.” (Sahih Muslim 17.4206)
“EXCLUSIVE – Wife set to hang for marrying Christian U.S. citizen gives birth to baby girl in squalid jail,” by Arthur Martin, Daily Mail, May 27, 2014:
A doctor who is facing execution in Sudan for marrying a Christian gave birth to a baby girl in prison today.
Meriam Ibrahim, who has spent the past four months shackled to the floor in a disease-ridden jail, gave birth five days early.
The baby was born in the hospital wing at Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison in North Khartoum and is said to be healthy.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, her lawyer Mohaned Mustafa Elnour said: ‘This is some good news in what has been a terrible ordeal for Meriam.
‘I am planning to visit her with her husband Daniel later today. I think they are going to call the baby Maya.’
Meriam, 27, was sentenced to death by hanging earlier this month after being found guilty of converting from Islam to Christianity and marrying a Christian man, U.S. citizen Daniel Wani, who lives in Manchester, New Hampshire.
She will receive 100 lashes before she is executed – sometime in the next two years.
Before the birth, Meriam made the defiant claim that she would rather die than give up her faith.
In a heart-wrenching conversation with her husband during a rare prison visit, Meriam told him: ‘If they want to execute me then they should go ahead and do it because I’m not going to change my faith.’
An Islamic Sharia judge said she could be spared the death penalty if she publicly renounced her faith and becomes a Muslim once more.
Meriam insists she has always been a Christian and told her husband she could not ‘pretend to be a Muslim’ just to spare her life.
She told him: ‘I refuse to change. I am not giving up Christianity just so that I can live.
‘I know I could stay alive by becoming a Muslim and I would be able to look after our family, but I need to be true to myself.’…
Daniel was in Khartoum trying to arrange for Meriam and their 20-month-old son Martin to live with him in the US when his wife was arrested in September. She was three weeks pregnant with their second child.
She has been held since February in Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison, North Khartoum, with Martin.
The authorities will not release Martin into the care of his father because they claim he is a Muslim too.
She spends much of her time shackled to the floor, is not receiving enough nutrition in her food to cope with the rigours of a difficult pregnancy and is rarely allowed outside.
Both she and her bewildered son have contracted various illnesses because of the poor sanitation at the jail.
A report by Human Rights Watch claims the prison is ‘beset with overcrowding’ and suffers from ‘poor sanitation, disease and the deaths of many children living with their mothers’.
Daniel, who is originally from South Sudan, but is now a naturalized American, was initially refused permission to visit her.
Describing his first visit after she had been inside for two months , he said: ‘The first time I only had ten minutes and we never even had a conversation with each other.
‘I had to attend to my son first and once I had done that I was told by the prison guards that my time was up.
‘I wanted to take Martin away with me, but I knew I couldn’t. It’s not good place to be for a little boy to be. I am not allowed to spent time with them because the Sudanese officials do not recognise them as my wife and son.
‘They say the marriage is void. Now, even my wife is no longer my wife. And my son is not mine and my new daughter is not mine. They say I am a stranger to them.
‘I know my wife puts on a brave face but I can tell that she is in quite a bit of pain. She doesn’t get to leave the room for weeks.
‘She has suffered medical complications while in jail, but no one knows the full extent of what they are because she is in prison. It’s a difficult time. To see her walking in chains is difficult.’
Daniel, who is wheelchair-bound because he suffers from muscular dystrophy, cuts a forlorn figure as he wheels himself around his empty house….
RG says
And this is how muslims prove to the rest of the world that they “GOOD” muslims! Wow! Who knew???
May God’s grace sustain this innocent family and open the doors of prison!!!!
mariam rove says
This is one time we need navy seal 6 and our special op for a prison break. M
wildjew says
Don’t count on it with a Commander in Chief whose father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims.
mariam rove says
I know. it was just wishful thinking….m
dlbrand says
Indeed.
WTD says
UK Independent: Apostasy woman in Sudan sentenced to death forced to give birth with her legs chained
Edward Bahr says
A religion which can only keep its members through threats of violence is one which has no future. Christianity is a loving embrace; Islam is a chokehold.
Kepha says
No wonder the woman in question refuses to give it up. Her example humbles me.
xyz says
Today our Lord said you will be with me in paradise..
dlbrand says
“Today our Lord said you will be with me in paradise..”
Yes, Sir. Amen.
Jesus Christ, Life and Light to all who receive Him–life death cannot alter, Light, darkness—not that of a jail cell, not that of the grave– can neither extinguish nor fade.
wildjew says
“If her father was a Muslim, then she is, too, according to Islamic law….”
Wait a minute, Barack Obama says he is a Christian. So does everyone I talk to on Politico when I mention Obama’s boast at al-Azhar University in Cairo June 2009 in light of Islamic law. Bill O’Reilly says you are on the far right (or worse) if you think Obama is a Muslim.
CogitoErgoSum says
But the information at Wikipedia indicates Barack Obama, Sr., was an atheist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama,_Sr.
gravenimage says
CogitoErgoSum, in his book “The Audacity of Hope” Obama describes his father as “raised a Muslim”, but a “confirmed atheist” by the time his parents met.
How Muslims interpret this varies—many would consider Obama a Muslim since his father was raised Muslim. Certainly, this would be the case were he in Sudan.
And if Kenya hadn’t had a great deal of residual Western influence at the time, this likely would have been a moot point, since Obama Sr. would have been killed as an apostate by his devout former coreligionists.
USA Retired says
Muslims/Islamist s, do not have a religion, but are ‘Fanciest Ideologists’! They cannot co-exist with any other religions peacefully, therefor they should all be required to live in their own Country, where ever that may be! They cannot obey laws in a Democratic society!
george whyte says
Amsterdam´s famous, or should we say infamous, red light district just got crazier! A new bar called “Hot Crescent” is offering its Muslim clients `halal prosititutes´.
http://www.albawaba.com/editorchoice/halal-prostitutes-amsterdam-579383
CogitoErgoSum says
I hope some way is found for this woman to be released. Now, if even for a short time, she has the comfort and tenderness of her newborn child. May they both be set free soon from the ugliness surrounding them in a world of hate and be able to experience the joy and beauty that can exist in a world of love.
“Every child begins the world again…” — Henry David Thoreau
A link to a beautiful song by Constance Demby that seems fitting:
Syd Chaden says
Altogether now, repeat after Obama: “Islam is the religion of love. Islam is the religion of love. Islam is the religion of love.”
Mo says
What’s Barry doing about this?
Oh, yeah. Nothing.
I bet if this was a Muslim imprisoned by Christians obeying the commands of their religious texts, the world would be in uproar and she’d be released tomorrow!
Oh, wait. There ARE NO SUCH texts in Christianity, therefore there are no Christians imprisoning Muslims (or anyone) for their faith.
Silly me.
How I loathe this monstrous ideology with all my heart and soul!
Mirren10 says
There are no words to convey the horror and absolute inhumanity of this.
That poor woman, her little son, the newborn baby, and her poor husband, who must be feeling so helpless and alone.
I can only say, with gravenimage, I loathe, hate, and **despise** this foul cult, from the bottom of my heart.
I’ve written a polite letter to the Embassy, and also to my MP, and the useless camoron, for all the good it will do. But one must do **something**.
I can’t find an address for the Sudanese Embassy in the US; is there one ?
http://www.sudan-embassy.co.uk/
Charli Main says
David Cameron has his head so far up the arse of the Muslim Council of Britain, he can´t see anything else.
Don´t expect any help from David ” the Muslims have made an enormous contribution to British society ” Cameron.
Mirren10 says
Just found it.
http://www.sudanembassy.org/
gravenimage says
Sudan: Woman condemned to death for leaving Islam gives birth in jail
………………………..
This is very troubling news. Unless they decide to let her ween the child, her continued pregnancy was the only thing keeping her alive.
Her husband is an *American citizen*. Where are the US authorities, coming to the aid of this persecuted family?
PJG says
She will be hanged, according to Islamic law, after th child is weaned ie in two years. A long time to languish in a Sudanese jail.
dlbrand says
As the Qur’an and sunnah assert, as I have stated before, as most who know Islam know, Allah only recognizes two nations. Thus, so did his messenger, Muhammad, thus so do those in his ummah commanded to follow that man’s traditions in every facet of their lives.
Because of that and the stated above Islamic basic precept, this non-Muslim if one of our own.
In brief, where are our non-Muslim elected officials on this? Where are their voices, where is there fight?
An innocent woman only because of the law of Allah is sentenced to death, forced to live in horrid inhumane conditions, the treasure of her womb enters this world in that horrid environment, and our “leaders” are silent?
Where, where is their courage, where is there rejection of this man known as the prophet of Islam, and all he brought?
This woman is a non-Muslim, thus unless you are a Muslim this woman is your daughter, your sister, your mother.
george whyte says
First picture of baby Maya born in a Sudan jail to mother sentenced to hang for marrying Christian U.S. citizen
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2642088/Joy-amid-nightmare-Exclusive-picture-baby-Maya-born-barbaric-Sudanese-jail-mother-sentenced-hang-marrying-Christian-U-S-citizen.html#ixzz335CozzEa
CogitoErgoSum says
George, thank you for the link. Maya is beautiful and so is her family. I noticed the following statement in the article from your link:
‘She {Meriam} has suffered medical complications while in jail, but no one knows the full extent of what they are because she is in prison. It’s a difficult time. To see her walking in chains is difficult.’
I expect that she will not die by hanging. Disease or other medical complications will be the “official” cause of her death. May her faith in Christ give her the strength and the peace she needs in the little time left….because the rest of the word seems not to care….or is in the process of submitting to Islam.
Helen Giles says
I sent a letter to president Putin asking for his help to free Meriam
Since our president is silent on the issue. He seems to be our last
hope.
Pulen Pather says
I am ashamed of the media in my country for not giving this cruel story prominence.
A country that boasts democracy does not denounce this travesty of human rights.
It is a crying shame