Thursday, August 18, 2011

Christian ex-Muslim to be executed in Iran

Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that Yosef Nadarkhani, a 32 year-old Iranian evangelical pastor, must reject his Christian faith or be put to death. It’s the latest incident in the Islamist Republic’s continuous and increased assault on its small Christian population.

Nadarkhani was first arrested on the charge of apostasy (leaving Islam for another faith) in October 2009 and sentenced to death by hanging for his refusal to teach Islam to Christian children. While Nadarkhani hadn’t practiced any faith before he became a Christian at age 19, he was born to Muslim parents and thus considered to be a Muslim under Islamic law.

Coming to a European city near you soon! Read it all at Front Page.

12 comments:

zai said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
zai said...

wow another attempt to make islam look violent,the article could be true.extremist muslims like the terrorists give islam a bad name,but it does not account for the 1,9 billion muslims around the world,whom choose to live in peace.it is wrong to execute a man for his choice of faith.islam does not teach us to so and it is forbidden.god is most merciful,hope we could all one day live in peace.

Robert Sievers said...

Actually, Muhammad taught otherwise.

From Sahih Bukhari Volume 8, Book 84, #57. Some Zanadiqa (atheists) were brought to 'Ali and he burnt them. The news of this event, reached Ibn 'Abbas who said, "If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah's Apostle forbade it, saying, 'Do not punish anybody with Allah's punishment (fire).' I would have killed them according to the statement of Allah's Apostle, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'"

However, zai, I completely agree with you that we should reject this kind of behavior ascribed to Muhammad.

zai said...

robert:i have been thought hadith and the quran,and that verse condradicts many teachings.prophet muhammed pbuh,is been depicted in the media as a bad person it's easy to misinterpret islam especially as it has been become a feared and violent religion according to extremist and media.the quran teaches of heaven and hell,and god is the judge of good and evil.i can quote but i do not wish to go into debate,hope you all find understanding through the journey through life and let peace unite us.mankind is given choice,please understand that not all muslims are extremists who wish harm on others.i only pray that we should all unite as we are all people of the book,and the coming of jesus pbuh would change the hearts of man.

Robert Sievers said...

salam alaikum zai,

I do not wish to go into a debate either. I also agree with you that this teaching is contradictory to others listed in the Qur'an and Hadith. Some Muslims I know resolve these inconsistencies by employing al-nasikh wa al-mansukh. Is this your approach also, or do you have another way to determine which Hadith to follow, and which not to?

Abu Daoud said...

Zai,

Thanks for dropping by. In the end you have to deal with brutal fact that your prophet said, "Whosoever changes his religion, slay him," or, in Arabic, "man baddala diinahu, faqtaluhu". That is not me trying to make Islam look intolerant, it is the clear teaching of your prophet in a verified hadith (that is, sahiih).

Oh, and yes, la ikraha fi diin (there is no compulsion in religion), is abrogated. It was the will of God only or a short while, but later revelations to the Prophet made it irrelevant.

Friend, may I ask your thoughts on the saying of the Messiah, who said, "Whosoever lives by the sword will die by the sword"?

AD

zai said...

abu:i will remain true to the peacefull teachings of our phrophet.and will not be commenting on any of your topics because you seem to have the wrong end of the stick,when it comes to islam.there is billions of muslims around the world,excluding extremists and terrorists whom know that violence was not the teachings of our beloved phrophet.maybe if you read the quran you would have better understanding.its easy to misinterpret.you have the veil and it may not be lifted in this world but certainly in the hereafter,and i don't ever recall the statement live by a sword and die by it,i could quote and debate but i now realise its not going to change anything towards your feelings of islam.goodluck and peace.

Asif ali said...

definitely Abu you should read quran with your own eyes,, and if can be possible then read quran in arabic language ,,and then come on this blog, ok?

Robert Sievers said...

salam alaikum asifsaleh,

Your idea of reading books other religions deem as holy is a very good one. I think more Christians should read the Qur'an as well as Muslims should read the Bible, so they know for themselves what the other religion teaches.

I have read the Qur'an before, and intend to read it again. However, what I don't understand is how to apply nasikh wa mansukh. How do I know which ayat of the Qur'an have been replaced?

zai said...

robert:thats really good to know,i have also read the bible and have one with me at home,islam believes in the bible but before it had been rewritten but there is still alot of truth in the holy bible which i believe.the confusing part is that there is several different versions of the bible,however the quran has not been changed and i have realised that when it comes to al-nasikh wa al-mansukh its usually pertaining to something that is'nt fard rather obligatory.i also want to study the different versions of the bible because the quran refers to the gospel as the book of god.i have respect for all walks of life,and religion interests me alot.howcome the bible has several versions of it,but the gospel was one book revealed to jesus pbuh.and also many priests in sa preach that pork(pig)is not permissible in christianity but many still choose to consume it.my best friend is christian and we have always been close and she sometimes asks me about her own religion because she is'nt sure at times.i don't preach islam to her but we speak about,the similarities in both faiths and the respect and love we have for jesus.please enlighten me more about the bible.

Robert Sievers said...

zai,

The different "versions" as you call them are just translations. It's like if I were to read the Qur'an, should I read the Pickthall version or the Yusuf Ali version? They are both translations off the original Arabic, just as the various Bibles are all translations off the original Greek and Hebrew.

As for being rewritten, I have never seen any evidence of that. Perhaps you would be interested in sharing just when that happened. Also, do you believe that happened to the Jewish Scriptures as well, and if so, during what time period?

Abu Daoud said...

Asif,

Oldest trick in the book. If someone can't read Arabic then you said, oh, you don't know what it reallllly means!

What kind of deity writes a book that can't be translated. الهنا اكبر من الهكم

Lame.

And of course I can read it in Arabic.

AD