Since 1990, more than 70 people have been murdered by mobs and vigilantes over allegations of insulting Islam. [64], In October 2006, Kareem Amer became the first Egyptian to be prosecuted for their online writings, including declaring himself an atheist. Recent reports on Sharia law in relation to religious conversion, Ireland: Refugee Documentation Centre, 26 June 2012, Q15539", Ballooning Pakistan blasphemy charges engulf television stations, http://www.internationalhumanrightslexicon.org/hrdoc/docs/religionUNSRreport2003.pdf, "Women Protection Act: Top Islamic court rules against law", "Shariat Court knocks out 3 sections of women's protection act", Laws Penalizing Blasphemy, Apostasy and Defamation of Religion are Widespread, International Legal Protection of the Right to Choose One's Religion and Change One's Religious Affiliation, Saudi Arabia Laws Criminalizing Apostasy, Saudi Arabia: Writer Faces Apostasy Trial, International Religious Freedom Report for 2012: Saudi Arabia, HAW urges Saudi to free two Ahmadis held for apostasy, "Saudi Arabia court gives death penalty to man who renounced his Muslim faith", "Rahaf al-Qunun: Saudi teen granted asylum in Canada", Somali Islamists Execute Christian Convert, "Sudan scraps apostasy law and alcohol ban for non-Muslims", "Apostacy | International Humanist and Ethical Union", "Sudanese woman spared death sentence for apostasy arrives in Italy", "Sudan threatens 25 Muslims with death on charges of apostasy", "Sudan: apostasy case against 25 Muslims withdrawn", "The Problem with Tunisia's New Constitution", "If you sow dictatorship, you harvest terrorism", "Jabeur Mejri: "En Tunisie, les affams se mangent entre eux", "Condamn pour blasphme en Tunisie, Ghazi Beji obtient l'asile politique en France", "Caricatures de Mahomet: le Tunisien Jabeur Mejri est sorti de prison", "Tunisie: Grci par la prsidence, Jabeur Mejri a t libr", "Es sollte keinen Mut erfordern mssen, Atheist zu sein", "Why so many Turks are losing faith in Islam", United Arab Emirates 2012 International Religious Freedom Report, Launch of the Council of ex-Muslims of Britain, "Losing their religion: the hidden crisis of faith among Britain's young Muslims", "Ex-Muslims give reasons they left the faith, using a hashtag", "How one woman left Islam to campaign for atheism", "New estimates show U.S. Muslim population continues to grow", "A new estimate of the U.S. Muslim population", "The share of Americans who leave Islam is offset by those who become Muslim", "The number of ex-Muslims in America is rising", "Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out, Jun 24 2003", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apostasy_in_Islam_by_country&oldid=1164433415, This page was last edited on 9 July 2023, at 06:32. During the four decades of Habsburg rule, several apostasy controversies occurred, most often involving young women with a low socio-economic status who sought to convert to Christianity. Others have been kidnapped by family members and friends, and put on a plane back home. Geschiedenis". By Yursil Kidwai, Contributor Award-winning blogger We know it. In the Western European country of Belgium, Muslims made up about 5 to 7% of the total population as of 2015. In U.S. law, any maliciously intended written or oral accusation made . [52] If the Islamic Republic, he wrote, "wants to prove itself as a haven for religious freedom, then it must ban these regressive laws. [15], According to Pew Research Center in 2010, 97.9% of Algerians were Muslim, 1.8% were unaffiliated, with the remaining 0.3% comprising adherents of other religions. "[150] Mohamed Nazim was subsequently reported to have been arrested and put in protective custody by the Maldivian Police. Killing Those Who Insult Islam or Muhammad - TheReligionofPeace He received death threats from Islamic groups and in 2012 was arrested and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. [236][239] When Mejri wanted to accept Sweden's invitation to move there, he was again imprisoned for several months, however, after being accused of embezzling money from his former job by his ex-colleagues[239] (who started bullying him as soon as they found out he was an atheist),[236][235] a rumour spread by his former friend Beji[236] (who felt betrayed by Mejri because he had outed him as an atheist). The law criminalizes "anyone who challenges, either directly or indirectly, the religion or justice of the King or Crown Prince." . Twenty three days later, he fled across several countries and ended up in the Netherlands, where he obtained permanent residency on 30 May 2017. "[42] Egypt also has no statutory ban on apostasy. [168][169] However, Mahjoub El Hiba, a senior Moroccan government official, denied that the fatwa was in any way legally binding. PDF Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan - CRSS 371 (2014), The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India By Girja Kumar. During the Spanish Inquisition, between the 16th and 18th centuries, thousands of people were tortured and killed for apostasy. [225][226]Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Christian Sudanese woman was sentenced to death for apostasy in May 2014, but allowed to leave the country in July after an international outcry. Matt Hoffman, Modern Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan and the Rimsha Masih Case: What Effectif Anythe Case Will Have on Their Future Reform, 13 WASH. U. GLOBALSTUD. [1] [2] [3] It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. This happened to 26-year-old blogger Waleed Al-Husseini in October 2010, who was arrested and charged with defaming religion after openly declaring himself an atheist and criticising religion online. Omani jurists state that this deference to Sharia, and alternatively the blasphemy law under Article 209 of Omani law, allows the state to pursue death penalty against Muslim apostates, if it wants to. Muslim philosophers had for three centuries been making major contributions to mathematics, physics and medicine. Denmark, Ireland and Malta all recently repealed their blasphemy laws. At the same time, Pakistan began to monitor the content of Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Amazon and Bing. [243] In 1978, UAE began the process of Islamising the nation's law, after its council of ministers voted to appoint a High Committee to identify all its laws that conflicted with Sharia. Blasphemy. [188], The Palestinian Authority (PA) requires Palestinians to declare their religious affiliation on identification papers. Punishment and enforcement of these laws vary. One of the main justifications for the continued use of the ultimate punishment in many Muslim countries is that sharia law mandates it and/or makes it permissible. Unless such an act takes place in public, it is difficult to imagine a situation in which such stringent evidentiary requirements could be met. Anyone who travels to and enters Qatar with written or recorded materials or items that support or promote conversion of Muslims to apostasy are to be imprisoned for up two years.[206]. Blasphemy is an offence under sharia (Islamic law). In practice, Egypt has prosecuted apostasy from Islam under its blasphemy laws using the Hisbah doctrine;[49] hisbah complaints (accountability based on Islamic Sharia) are made by members of the public against other members about things like journal articles, a books, or a dance performances that the complainant believes "harmed the society's common interest, public morals, or decency". [12], In late 2015, 21-year-old student and ex-Muslim atheist, Morid Aziz, was secretly recorded by his erstwhile girlfriend, Shogofa, criticising Islam and begged her to 'forsake the darkness and embrace science'. [1] In Muslim-minority countries, "any violence against those who abandon Islam is already illegal". However, the reported executions have been by extra-state Islamist groups and local mobs, rather than after the accused has been tried under a Somali court of law. [152][153], During a question-and-answer session at one of Indian Muslim orator Zakir Naik's lectures 29 May 2010 on the Maldives, 37-year-old Maldivian citizen Mohamed Nazim stated that he was struggling to believe in any religion, and did not consider himself to be a Muslim. Proponents argued that it should be possible to freely question and criticise Islam, opponents claimed the campaign was amongst other things 'hateful', and said the extremist excrescences of Islam were unfairly equated with the religion as a whole. The sale of books on atheism by authors such as Abdullah al-Qasemi and Richard Dawkins has risen in Baghdad. She is on Twitter at @naima_asif. [37][43][45] Pakistan's blasphemy laws are known to be widely abused by those seeking personal gain from those accused, as evidenced by the Imran Ghafur Masih case study. [232], The highest profile cases of apostasy in Tunisia were of the two atheist ex-Muslims Ghazi Beji and Jabeur Mejri, sentenced to 7.5 years in prison on 28 March 2012. In contrast, conversion from another religion to Islam is recognized, and the government publishes through mass media an annual list of foreign residents who have converted to Islam. Subsequent debates resulted in the Austrian Conversion Ordinance of 1891, which made religious conversion of subjects a matter of state. Afkari maintained his innocence and pleaded to the judiciary to investigate his complaints of forced confession and torture. The association won the International League of non-religious and atheists's Sapio Award 2017 for being the first officially recognised organisation in the Middle East defending the rights of atheists. "Blasphemy is a crime under Sharia law, but obviously, the punishment is not lynching or being stoned to death or burnt alive," he said. He further asked what his verdict would be under Islam and in the Maldives. [37], Brunei is the latest Muslim-majority country to enact a law that makes apostasy a crime punishable by death. These communities feared the enhanced laws could lead to more human rights violations and further persecution of religious minorities. In several influential books still widely read today, Ghazali declared two long-dead leading Muslim philosophers, Farabi and Ibn Sina, as apostates for their unorthodox views on Gods power and the nature of resurrection. The Taliban tried to seize him, but he and his wife Marina, a well-known Afgan television host, decided to flee to the Netherlands. [102] Hashem Aghajari, was found guilty of apostasy for a speech urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics;[103] Hassan Youssefi Eshkevari was charged with apostasy for attending the 'Iran After the Elections' Conference in Berlin Germany which was disrupted by anti-regime demonstrators. A fourth accused in the same case, one Anwaar Ahmed, professor of Urdu language, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 100,000. Blasphemy in Nigeria's legal systems: an explainer My 2019 book Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment traces the roots of blasphemy and apostasy laws in the Muslim world back to a historic alliance between Islamic scholars and government. Fears for Nigerian humanist held for blasphemy in sharia state This page is not available in other languages. [209], Apostasy law is actively enforced in Saudi Arabia. "We are deprived of social and civil rights, deprived of our inheritance and left to the fundamentalists to be killed. They argue that Prophet Muhammad never executed anyone for apostasy, nor encouraged his followers to do so. [256], Altogether nearly a quarter (23%) of those raised in the faith have left, of those more than half of them abandon religion entirely, while 22% now identify as Christian. He came into conflict with his family, who threatened him with death, and after his father found books in his room denying the existence of God and miracles, he tried to shoot his son. An ally of the ulema, Zia updated blasphemy laws written by British colonizers to avoid interreligious conflict to defend specifically Sunni Islam and increased the maximum punishment to death. [75] Although there are no legal restrictions on leaving Sunni Islam, there are only three other officially recognised religions in Eritrea, all of them Christian: the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church (in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea. It is the law of Allah, which now is a culture for the entire society. . Feminist author Taslima Nasrin (who opposes sharia) suffered a number of physical and other attacks for her critical scrutiny of Islam,[20] before being driven into exile. S. Olsson (2008), "Apostasy in Egypt: Contemporary Cases of isbah", Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Hesba Cases Cast Away the Civil State Principles and Citizenship Rights; cited in. Casual discussion or "sharing one's faith" with any Muslim resident in Qatar has been deemed a violation of Qatari law, leading to deportation or prison time. [188] He was detained for ten months. Habib stayed with friends, got a degree in Islamic studies and founded the Council of Ex-Muslims of Morocco in 2013. Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University. It went viral, and human rights activists came to his aid. Well-known organisations who support ex-Muslims in the United States include Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA, co-founded by Muhammad Syed, Sarah Haider and others), Former Muslims United and Muslimish. Charges against her were dropped. [35] with one source saying Fifty percent of these were non-Muslims, who represent only 3% of the national population. [127] In 1856, a further Tanzimat reform improved the situation, and no further serious abuse was reported. [145][144] Canada-based AR leader Armin Navabi asked: "How is this group harming anyone? [16], By law, children follow the religion of their fathers, even if they are born abroad and are citizens of their (non-Muslim-majority) country of birth. [204] Articles 3(1) and 4(1) of Somalia's constitution declare that religious law of Sharia is the nation's highest law. "[171] It instead states that apostasy is a political stance rather than a religious issue, equatable to 'high treason'. Whilst many of these converts stayed crypto-Catholics to a certain extent, often helped by pragmatic lower clerics, the higher Catholic clergy ordered them to be denied the sacraments for their heresy. In 2012, Sudan sentenced Intisar Sharif Abdalla, a mother of three, to death by stoning, for allegedly having committed adultery. Since 1990, 62 people have been murdered following blasphemy accusations. 6. The WhatsApp voice note that led to a death sentence - CNN Compatibility with the principles of sharia law. Especially when the AKP Islamists are in power to enforce Islam upon society, this is making citizens turn their back on it. [15] The crime of "blasphemy" carries a maximum of five years in prison and the laws are interpreted widely. Blasphemy is also an offence under Nigeria's criminal law in. The appellant did not present any argument on the appeal because, according to reports, he was no longer alive. Blasphemy laws were also in place, if infrequently used, in various European countries until recently. There should be exoneration in the event of doubt or in the case of a hudud crime, repentance. [57] Several years before Mahfouz was stabbed, Omar Abdul-Rahman, "the blind sheikh" (served time in a U.S. penitentiary for his involvement in the first World Trade Center bombing), "noted that had someone punished Mahfouz for his famous novel, Salman Rushdie would not have dared to publish Satanic Verses". [251] Writing for The Observer Andrew Anthony argued that ex-Muslims had failed to gain support from other progressive groups, due to caution about being labelled by other progressive movements as Islamophobic or racist. If an accused does not recant, death by hanging may follow. Inheritance and property rights for apostates were prohibited by Pakistan in 1963. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania and Saudi Arabia. [203], Apostasy in Islam is a crime in Qatar. Anyone accused of blasphemy has three days to recant. [222] Article 126.2 of the Penal Code of Sudan (1991) read, Whoever is guilty of apostasy is invited to repent over a period to be determined by the tribunal. Under Sharia law, the punishment for 'blasphemy' is death; however, in the parallel Common Law system, the same crime is seen as a misdemeanour punishable by up to two years in . [54], In 1992, Islamist militants gunned down Egyptian secularist and sharia law opponent Farag Foda. [211] As of May 2014, the two accused of apostasy had served two years in prison awaiting trial. He was released and left the country[6] after the Italian government offered him political asylum.[8]. This ulema-state alliance, as I call it, began in the mid-11th century in Central Asia, Iran and Iraq and a century later spread to Syria, Egypt and North Africa. ', 'Do you fast during Ramadan? In 2008, the judge trying his case ruled that according to sharia, Islam is the final and most complete religion and therefore Muslims already practice full freedom of religion and cannot convert to an older belief. [69], Muslims constitute approximately 36.537%[75][76] to 4850%[77] of the Eritrean population; more than 99% of Eritrean Muslims are Sunnis. [5], In February 2006, the homes of Afghan converts to Christianity were raided by police. He was imprisoned for 13 days and tortured several times, before being released on bail; he faced life imprisonment for disbelief in God. Whilst the use of the death penalty is permitted under sharia law, its application is only allowed in limited circumstances, ensuring the highest requirements of due process and having regard to the . Sharia law operates in most northern states, including Kano. Kano is among the 12 states that uphold Sharia laws in Northern Nigeria and is notorious for jailing or murdering alleged blasphemers or desecrators of the Quran. Blasphemy allegations have also triggered violent riots and killings in Kano State. Afghanistan Article 130 of the Afghan Constitution requires its courts to apply provisions of Hanafi Sunni fiqh for crimes of apostasy in Islam. Consequently, it appears to be the law in Pakistan that persons convicted under 295-C must be sentenced to death with or without a fine.
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