TMCnet News
Editorial: An apostate's fate: Islamic law vs. 'universal values'(Sacramento Bee, The (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 28--An Afghani man whose conversion from Islam to Christianity put him at risk of being sentenced to death appears to have been spared, under heavy pressure from much of the world. But even if Abdul Rahman goes free after an examination to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial, neither his fate nor the future of Afghanistan as a country respecting the rule of civilized law will be secure. Afghan Muslim clerics, and even Rahman's relatives, have called for his execution for apostasy, and popular clamor has not abated. Moreover, Rahman almost surely would be killed upon release if he isn't sent into exile under armed escort. Nothing better illustrates this dilemma, also reflected in the country's new constitution, which guarantees freedom of conscience but, in a gesture to religious fundamentalists, also says no law can conflict with the principles of Islamic law, known as Shariah. This is not the first time a Muslim has been threatened with execution under Shariah. A court in a Muslim state of Nigeria sentenced a woman to death by stoning for adultery, even though she was raped. She was spared by presidential intervention. In Pakistan, blasphemy can bring a death sentence, although so far no one has been executed. In Saudi Arabia, the law prescribes death for offenses seen in the West as minor or not even unlawful. This newest incident is a reminder that what President Bush, responding to the Afghan prosecution, called "universal values" - in this case freedom of religion - clearly are not shared universally, notwithstanding the moderate views of many Muslims. Bush also noted the irony that people are still at risk of being killed for expressing an opinion contrary to orthodox views in a country liberated by Western forces and still protected and backed financially by the West. One must hope Abdul Rahman will be spared and given asylum in the West. But the deep-seated beliefs that underlie the desire to kill him will not soon go away. How long it will take Afghanistan, and other Muslim countries where fundamentalist forces still wield great influence, to embrace values that hold individual rights in high esteem is an interesting and troubling question. |