Afghanistan

Afghan man prosecuted for converting to Christianity - 03/21/2006

An Afghan man is facing a sentence of death, as a Kabul court is prosecuting him on a charge of converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under the country's Islamic laws.

The defendant, Abdul Rahman, age 41, was arrested last month after his family accused him of becoming a Christian, Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada told The Associated Press in an interview. Rahman's trial will start on 23 March 2006.

The defendant confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. The charges of rejecting Islam is believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan and brings focus to the struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take four years after the ouster of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime.

"Afghan man is prosecuted for converting to Christianity." Lewiston Tribune 20 Mar 2006: 2A.

Christian Rahman may be "unfit" to stand trial -03/23/2006

Abdul Rahman, 41, may be mentally unfit to stand trial according to Sarinwai Zamari, a state prosecutor.

"We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person," Zamari told the Associated Press.

Rahman will be undergoing a psychological exam, according to Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai. "If he is mentally unfit, definitely Islam has no claim to punish him," Baluch said. "He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped."

Television footage of Rahman at last week's hearing showed him leafing through a Bible, and then saying "They want to sentence me to death, and I accept it, but I am not a deserter and not an infidel. I am a Christian, which means I believe in the Trinity." Based on an article from...

"Christian convert may be 'unfit' to stand trial." USA TODAY 23 Mar 2006: 11A.

Pressure building against Afghan Government to stop prosecution of Christian - 03/25/2006

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard joined other Western Leaders expressing outrage over the prosecution of Abdul Rahman. "This is appalling. When I saw the report about this I felt sick literally," Howard told an Australian radio network. "The idea that a person could be punished because of their religious belief and the idea thay might be executed is just beyond belief." Senior clerics in the Afghan capital continue to voice strong support for prosecuting Rahman and again warned they would incite people to kill him unless he reverted to Islam. Rumors are swirling around Afghan that Rahman might be released soon, in spite of the Chief Judge Ansarullah Mawlavi Zada, asserting the autonomy of the court. "We have constitution and law here. Nobody has the right to put pressure on us," he told the AP.

"Judge holds firm in case of Afghan Christian convert." Lewiston Tribune 25 Mar 2006: 2A.

Case dismissed against Christian Abdul Rahman- 3/27/2006

The court dismissed the case against Christian Abdul Rahman. The move eased pressure from the West but raised the dilemma of protection for him after his release. Islamic clerics have called for him to be killed. Muslim extremists have warned the decision would touch off protests across the religiously conservative country.

"Court dismisses case against Afghan convert to Christianity." Lewiston Tribune 27 Mar 2006: 2A.

Cite Article Source

MLA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. "Afghanistan." Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2006.   <http://guidedbiblestudies.com/library/afghan.htm>.

APA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. (2006, January) "Afghanistan." Becker Bible Studies Library Retrieved   from http://guidedbiblestudies.com/library/afghan.htm

Chicago Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. (2006) "Afghanistan." Becker Bible Studies Library (January), http://guidedbiblestudies.com/library/afghan.htm (accessed )

About the Author

Kathy L. McFarland is a Becker Bible Studies Teacher and Author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She is a Religious Studies student of Liberty University, Hebrew language student attending Israeli taught Ulpan and a Homeschool parent teaching the things of God. She is also well-known as a child advocate of innocent children tortured and suffering from the abuse of sexual perversion, out-of-control violence, and pathetic neglect by a carnal world gone mad.

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