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Afghanistan: A Christian convert is saved from the gallows but
at what price?
A.H.
Jaffor Ullah
2006/03/29
Undoubtedly, it is a happy ending for a
Christian convert in
Afghanistan
but it may also open a can of worms for President Hameed
Karzai’s shaky government.
Unless you’ve been unusually busy with
your worldly affairs, you must have heard the troublesome
predicament of one Mr. Abdur Rahman in
Afghanistan
. His trouble with Islamic Sha’ria laws dates back to
1990 when he embraced Christianity while he was working for a
Western NGO
inside the country. Since then, he went to
Germany
to make a living. He then returned to
Afghanistan
to claim the custody of his two teenage daughters. And that
is where his trouble began. His in-laws took the custody of
his two daughters when he changed his religion; recently, they
went to police when Abdur Rahman claimed the custody of his
children. Soon after this, the Islamic court in
Afghanistan
gave their verdict that by changing religion – from Islam to
Christianity, Mr. Rahman became an apostate for which the
punishment is death. Mind you,
Afghanistan
after the demise of Taliban regime is still under the yoke of
Sha’ria laws.
I first heard about the curious case of
Rahman’s apostasy in television news where of all people Mr.
George Bush, the sitting
U.S.
president, made some harsh remark about the plight of Mr. Abdur
Rahman. Mr. Bush’s commented that the
U.S.
had gone through a lot to oust Taliban regime in December 2001
and now the court system of
Afghanistan
is acting like a Taliban regime. He promised he will urge
President Hameed Karzai to spare the life of Mr. Abdur Rahman
for converting to Christianity. I knew right away that the
prosecution of Mr. Rahman won’t go through as long as Karzai
is at the helm in
Kabul
.
America
’s voice counts in
Afghanistan
and Hameed Karzai owe it to George Bush for becoming the
president of this troubled land. With
America
’s money for reconstruction and GIs for moping up Talibans in
remote provinces, how could Mr. Karzai say no to Mr. Bush?
The mullahs and many pious Muslims in
Afghanistan
are incensed hearing the news that the court won’t prosecute
Abdur Rahman for committing apostasy. Mr. Rahman was
released form jail on March 28, 2006. Irate Afghans chanted
slogans during a demonstration in the northern city of
Mazar-i-Shariff
in
Afghanistan
on March 27, 2006. The protestors demanded that Rahman be
tried under Islamic law. Most Afghans are religious who
take Sha’ria law very seriously. Thus, we may hear the
report of more street protests. There is this outside
chance that the beleaguered Talibans may incite trouble in
remote provinces telling the Afghans that Karzai is meek and
weak who listens to Bush diligently.
Lest we forget,
Afghanistan
may have changed their government but the country’s social
fabric has not changed one bit. There is no trace of
secularism anywhere in
Afghanistan
and the country’s official name is still Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye
Afghanestan (Islamic Republic of Afghanistan). The legal
system is based on Islamic Sha’ria laws. The newly
written constitution specifically states that no law should be
“contrary to Islam.” The state however is obliged to
create a prosperous and progressive society based on social
justice, protection of human dignity, protection of human
rights, realization of democracy, and to ensure national unity
and equality among all ethnic groups and tribes. Also, the state
shall abide by the UN charter, international treaties,
international conventions that
Afghanistan
signed, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Karzai Administration did not mention
once that killing Abdur Rahman would be out question because it
would violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The
Afghan government decided to invoke the mental competence issue
of the defended. By declaring Mr. Rahman mentally not fit,
the court dropped the charge and released Mr. Rahman from the
high-security Policharki prison on the outskirts of
Kabul
on March 27, 2006. Muslim clerics condemned the government’s
decision to release Abdur Rahman, saying it was a “betrayal of
Islam.” They threatened to incite violent protests. In
Islam, apostasy is a serious crime for which the punishment is
death. An apostate (in Arabic Murtaad) is a fair game; any
Muslim can kill an ex-Muslim. Therefore, the government is
hiding Mr. Rahman and working out a plan to send him out of the
country. According to news report, the Italian government
is considering giving Mr. Rahman to grant asylum there. It
looks like the plight of Mr. Rahman may end soon. But that
cannot be said about Karzai’s government. The fragmented
Talibans inside
Afghanistan
would foment political trouble by saying that Karzai is a weak
administrator who listens to George Bush. How this saga is
going to play out in days to come is not known. But one may
make a strong case for devout Afghans who may think that the
release of Abdur Rahman by Karzai government had breached
Islamic law. The disgruntled war lords who are not happy
with Karzai may join the mullahs to destabilize the country. Afghans
are notorious for changing sides. We have seen this trait
in the aftermath of December 2001 air attack in
Afghanistan
. The forces that supported the Taliban regime for years
suddenly changed their allegiance when it was all clear that
Americans were winning the war and Talibans were on the run.
In summary, a Christian convert in
Afghanistan
, Abdur Rahman, was condemned by Muslim clerics to die for
apostasy. However, under pressure from the West and most
notably from the Bush Administration, the condemned man was
released from jail on the ground of mental incapacity of the
defendant to face the charge. The country of
Italy
may offer the man political asylum to end the fiasco. However,
this generosity of Karzai Administration may open can of worms
for him. The country is still unstable where warlords rule
many remote provinces and collect taxes to maintain their
private army. One powerful cleric in
Afghanistan
said, “This is a betrayal of Islam and the entire Afghan
nation by our government.” The clerics and remnants of
Talibans who are lying low in the countryside may foment trouble
against Karzai. Please stay tuned for more development for
this crisis is far from over.
-----------------------
A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and
columnist, writes from
Ithaca
,
New York
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