by David J. Rusin
American Thinker
August 3, 2008
http://www.islamist-watch.org/article/746
Persuading Western Muslim leaders to repudiate Shari'a-sanctioned
violence against apostates can be a frustrating exercise, as Prince
Charles discovered in 2004. Troubled by the treatment of Muslims who
convert to Christianity in Islamic nations, the prince convened a
summit of senior figures from both religious communities. It ended in
disappointment. The Islamic representatives failed to issue a
declaration condemning the practice, which the Christians had
requested; they also cautioned non-Muslims not to discuss such matters
in public, arguing that moderates would be more likely to make
progress if the debate were kept internal.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, the outspoken Anglican prelate of Rochester,
attended the meeting but rejected their advice. While continuing to
highlight the perils faced by those who leave Islam in countries like
Saudi Arabia and Iran, he now has turned his focus to the harassment
of apostates in the West. Last year the bishop warned that a convert
could die in Britain unless prominent Muslims affirm the right of all
people to change their faith. There have been few takers, despite the
dire need for this message: a poll indicates that 36% of younger
British Muslims believe death to be an appropriate punishment for
renouncing Islam.
Their views are grounded in Shari'a law. All major schools of Islamic
jurisprudence stipulate that a sane adult male must be put to death
for abandoning Islam, though varying interpretations persist on
whether females should be killed or merely imprisoned. Many Islamic
states outlaw apostasy and seven list it as a capital offense.
However, freelancers such as angry relatives present the greatest
danger to ex-Muslims, as Sunni and Shiite scholars largely agree that
Shari'a empowers individuals to punish converts. This tradition has
followed Muslims to the Western world.
Salman Rushdie, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and other high-profile apostates have
brought needed attention to the risks that ex-Muslims encounter, even
in liberal democracies. Pope Benedict XVI recently underscored the
plight of this vulnerable population by baptizing the Italian
journalist and former Muslim Magdi Allam on the most public of stages:
Easter Vigil mass at the Vatican. Having suffered threats for opposing
Islamic fundamentalism, Allam now speculates that he will endure
"another death sentence for apostasy."
Ordinary Muslim apostates face similar fears, which were palpable when
Christian converts from Islam met in Virginia four years ago at the
first Muslim Background Believers Convention. One woman admitted that
she had not yet told her family about embracing a new faith. "I know
they're going to disown me," she said, "if they don't kill me."
Another relayed that her brothers were not speaking to her because she
had married an American. "Can you imagine what they would do if they
found out I was a Christian?"
For other ex-Muslims, the intimidation is far more concrete. Khaled
emigrated from Iraq to the Netherlands, hoping to freely practice his
new religion; instead he receives death threats from Islamists. Sofia
was beaten and told by her father that she deserves to die; she
ultimately was thrown out of their London house. Hannah, the daughter
of a British imam, has changed residences forty-plus times since
converting to Christianity; she went underground in 1994 when her home
was attacked by a horde of men that included her father, whom she
describes as "shouting through the letter box, 'I'm going to kill
you.'" In April Dutch politician Ehsan Jami announced that he is
closing down his Central Committee for Ex-Muslims after less than a
year of operation because people are too scared to join.
Aiding apostates begins with acknowledging what endangers them: the
prescription of death under Shari'a law. Yet Islamist lobby groups
like the Council on American-Islamic Relations labor to obscure the
facts. During the diplomatic crisis that centered on Abdul Rahman, a
convert to Christianity who faced capital punishment in "liberated"
Afghanistan two years ago, CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper initially
shrugged, "We haven't dealt with that issue." Once media interest in
the story had made silence untenable, CAIR released a statement
claiming that "Islamic scholars say the original rulings on apostasy
were similar to those for treasonous acts in legal systems worldwide
and do not apply to an individual's choice of religion."
Other leading Western Muslims justify, or even promote, the punishment
of apostates. For example, Syed Mumtaz Ali, president of the Canadian
Society of Muslims, argues that freedom of religion implies the
ability to be governed by one's religious laws. From this he concludes
that, in the spirit of "tolerance," Canada must allow Muslims to
discipline people who abandon the faith. He does grant that these
penalties would not necessarily include death, but one may wonder
whether his position is just a matter of expediency. After all, he
surely recognizes that multiculturalism has its limits.
Given the prevailing climate, Bishop Nazir-Ali has called for
governments to do more to protect former Muslims. However, it is clear
that many officials are too swayed by political correctness to
comprehend the dangers associated with leaving Islam. This sad reality
is demonstrated by the case of Nissar Hussein, a British citizen and
Christian convert. When he reported to police that locals had
threatened to burn down his home, he says he was told to "stop being a
crusader and move to another place."
Intimidation of ex-Muslims has not succeeded in dissuading Christian
missionaries from going about their usual business, even when they
themselves face bullying in Islamist-heavy neighborhoods. Nazir-Ali
recently stirred controversy by chiding the Church of England for its
oversensitivity toward Muslims. He recommends more proselytization
instead. At the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem on June
24, he observed that "just as Muslims have a right to invite others to
join Islam, Christians have a right to invite others to Jesus."
His statement reflects the thriving marketplace of religious ideas
that has characterized the West for several centuries. Yet the perils
suffered by Muslim apostates offer a powerful reminder that upholding
such freedoms demands vigilance. How our societies respond to this
challenge will help set the parameters of freedom in the twenty-first
century by determining whether fundamental rights truly are guaranteed
for all.
David J. Rusin is a research associate at Islamist Watch and a
Philadelphia-based editor for Pajamas Media. He holds a Ph.D. in
Physics and Astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania. Please feel
free to contact him at rusin@meforum.org.
Islamist Watch
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