A Jordanian man who converted from Islam to Christianity is about to lose everything, including custody of his children, as punishment for his “apostasy.”
ISTANBUL, April 24 (Compass Direct News) – On trial for converting from Islam to Christianity, a Jordanian man may lose legal custody of his children and have his marriage annulled if found guilty of “apostasy.” Mohammad Abbad, 40, fled Jordan last month after Muslims violently attacked him and his 10-year-old son in their home and his father sued him on charges of apostasy, or leaving Islam. “I can’t win this case as long as I insist that I converted from Islam to Christianity,” Abbad wrote from the safety of a nearby country. “The court will annul my marriage, I will be deprived of my kids, I will be with no ID or passport, and my properties will be confiscated,” said the father of two, referring to a previous Jordanian apostasy verdict. In a separate November 2004 ruling, an Amman Sharia Court headed by Judge Suleiman Abdullah Abu Yahya convicted a Muslim convert to Christianity of apostasy. Stripped of all his legal rights, the convert and his family fled Jordan to escape the verdict.
What a wonderful religion…
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No, not the religion since all religions denounce apostasy – it’s bad for their “tithe base.” – but rather “what a wonderful government.”
The issue isn’t Islam in this case. It’s Jordan’s legal system that allowed religious mandates to determine secular law.
I would hazard that any theocracy would have similarly vile laws. Just look at what goes on in Israel due to the integration of the Rabbinic courts with the legal system if you wish a non-Muslim example.
“jonlan,” Can you give documentation of any Israeli citizen losing custody of his children because he converted from Judaism to another religion? If not, then your argument of moral equivalency has failed.
Also, you contradict yourself in this statement: “The issue isn’t Islam in this case. It’s Jordan’s legal system that allowed religious mandates to determine secular law.”
If “religious mandates” are what are determining the course of this case, then Islam is the religion and is, in fact, the very heart of the issue here.
Firstly, I was using the neo-theocracy of Israel as an example of a non-Muslim theocracy that has caused problems. I’ve not heard of any Israeli loosing their children over apostasy. I do know that gentiles can’t get married at all in Israel though.
Secondly, my point was that the intersection of religion with law is the problem, not the religion itself. A religious mandate can be anything, but is only grossly abhorrent when it carries the weight of governmental policy and law as well.
The issue is Islam. I am an educated Jordanian ex Muslim. I stumbled across this looking for some concrete evidence of what the law is, so that I know what to expect if I am exposed. No one ever talks about apostasy as many Muslims are afraid of the topic, and believe in their hearts that all apostates should be murdered. I must keep my thoughts to myself. I can trust no one.
The government here lets the fanatical Islamists and Wahabis walk all over the society. The ruling class is rich and secular and don’t really give a damn about the rest of us. The man in this story is lucky he was not murdered by the followers of the “religion of peace.” The law may not demand execution for those of us who leave, but the people do. In this case, the intersection of government and religion has no bearing on what people will actually do. Jonolan, they will kill us if we become known. We will have our marriages annuled, our children removed, our property seized because the government allows fanatical Islamists to petition the courts on behalf of themselves and the Muslim Umma to do these things, even though it is not strictly part of the law. If the fanatics that surround us at every corner in this country have their way, we will be beheaded. To avoid prison sentences, they can call it a crime of honour. The society will approve of this because vigilante violence against those who speak against Islam, against men and women who “misbehave” is all approved of by the majority of the people. I know, because I am part of the people.
I will be lucky if I make it out of this country alive and unharmed. That is the reality of Islam and its followers in every country in the world. Don’t tell me it isn’t the religion, because I know all too well that it is.