Family waits to see if mother, accused of blasphemy, will be hanged

www.cnn.com...

Itan Wali, Pakistan (CNN) -- In this village in Pakistan's Punjab province a tearful 12-year-old girl ponders if the Pakistani government will soon hang her mother.

"Whenever I see her picture I cry," Isham Masih told CNN. "I want my mother back. That's what I'm praying for."

This month a Pakistani court sentenced Isham's mother, 45-year-old Asia Bibi, to death, not because she killed, injured or stole, but simply because she said something.

Prosecutors say Bibi, who is a Christian, broke Pakistan's strict blasphemy law by insulting Islam and the prophet Muhammad, a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment according to Pakistan's penal code.

The alleged incident happened in June 2009 when Bibi, a field worker, was picking fruit in a village two hours west of Lahore. Prosecutors say when Bibi dipped her cup into a bucket of drinking water during a lunch break, her co-workers complained the water had been contaminated by a non-Muslim.

Court records show the women got into a heated argument.

Mafia Satar said she was there and heard Bibi's insults.

"She said your Muhammad had worms in his mouth before he died," Satar told CNN, a crude way of saying Muhammad was no prophet.

The town cleric, Qari Muhammad Salim, reported the incident to police who arrested Bibi. After nearly 15 months in prison came her conviction and the death sentence.

www.cnn.com...

This is beyond crazy.

It's hard to fathom the morality in doing such a thing.

But sadly, when something like this happens, its "we did it" or "they did it". Never is an individual accounted for in such a scenario of injustice.

Awww Islam is an understanding and liberating religion of peace and non violence......

Dont you remember that?

Anyone who still buys this charade needs to wake up.

A woman cant even get a drink of water because shes a christian? And now shes being hung because she insulted someone back who insulted her? You know why, because she insulted a MUSLIM.

So sad that religions have to result to this kind of thing, and that people still make allowances for things in the name of being "politically correct" or fear of being labeled as a bigot..........

Know whats bigoted? Killing people because your offended that they said something about your religion or death threats because someone drew a picture of Mohammad , THATS bigoted..........

reply to post by wonderworld


It's easy to understand. The radicals in the Muslim Faith use fear to entrap their members and make sure they never adopt any other Religion or even begin to think Muhammad is not some sort of Deity and was just another flawed Man like the rest of us. They are clearly afraid if their people realize the brutality and how enslaved they are, they won't be able to control them any longer.

Before I'm attacked here, I'm only referring to the radical nut jobs who seem to dominate Islamic Leadership, not the Muslim People who I find very likable. Mix Politics and Religion you get horror stories and enslaved people. It has always been that way. Mix radical religious beliefs with the Law and you really get a bad situation. There can never be any true freedom under these Theocratic systems.

I have made some close friends from both Ethiopia and the Sudan over the last couple of years. Wonderful people and none of the insane radicalism we see in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq or Pakistan. They absolutely love America and are getting ready to start their third business. They came from horrible poverty and horrible conditions and really appreciate a system where they can succeed and live a good life. Great neighbors also. To bad so much of Islam is under insane Theocracies and the insane Sociopaths who rule them.

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


Actually every Muslim I've gotten to know in the US have been very nice people. It's wrong to label all Muslims over the actions of the radicals who happen to be in charge in some area's. I doubt the average citizens in those area's are any happier about the the radicals than we are. They are slaves with no way out.

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


Yes, I know Christians get persecuted but this is a bit drastic. An innocent woman with a family. Very sad times we live in.

reply to post by wonderworld


This proves the whole hypocrisy of ALL organised religions. It gets to the point where religious drones are brainwashed to the point where questioning anything results in action against you. The religion mentioned in the post will kill you. Others religions will exile you, still try to convert you & even sue

I believe all religions are bogus & "believers" are actually suckers! Does that mean I deserve to die or should be exiled or treated differently? Obviously in Pakistan it means yes!

I note that, so far at least, the usual pro-muslim ATS voices are silent on this one...

This is just another sickening example of what can happen to an innocent person under Sharia Law. I really wish that people would stop going miles out of their way to say that this kind of insanity - done in the name of Islam, and in accordance with the teachings of their Prophet - does not represent mainstream muslim thinking.

This sentence is according to the law of their faith. It was not handed down out of the blue by some raving lunatic radical who was making it up as he went along. This was the considered judgement of a court, and the sentence is entirely in accordance with Islamic tradition and common practice.

Stop making excuses for this barbaric religion - and in particular for their brutal, heartless and unforgiving "system of justice".

Why anyone would ever want to become a part of this death cult is beyond me...oh, wait, there is that little convert or be killed thing. Why would anyone want to remain a part of this madness, if they are already a muslim...let me think, what is the sentence under Sharia Law for a person who converts to another faith? Would it be...death? Hmmm

These kinds of incidents are, sadly, part of mainstream Islam...not radical Islam, not from the lunatic fringe. I wonder, just how many of these stories do some people have to read before they wake up to the facts?

I pray for this poor woman and her family.

Islam is a peaceful and tolerant religion.




It's funny how they cry and cry about tolerance but never seem to show any in return. Story after story from country after country. And the best part is the apologist that aren't even Muslim's sticking up for them. I bet they would not last 1 month living the lifestyles they do in countries like this. It is ironic.



If Europe was smart they would see what this religion really is before it is to late.

Just in case there are some of you who would cling to the belief that the subject of this thread is way outside of the norm, below is an excerpt from another current case of a death sentence for blasphemy in Pakistan...not only handed down by an "Additional District and Sessions Judge", but confirmed as appropriate by the "Lahore High Court"

A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday confirmed the death sentence handed down to a blasphemy convict and ordered that he be hanged till death.
This is the second case of its kind in the country when the death sentence of a blasphemy accused has been confirmed by the LHC since inception of the blasphemy law.

The accuser in this case...

...alleged that although the letters did not contain names of the senders, he was sure that Wajihul Hassan was behind these letters. He alleged that Wajihul Hassan was a Muslim but later converted to Christianity and was using derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet. The complainant could not produce any of these letters before the police and mentioned in the FIR that he had burnt all the six letters.

www.jihadwatch.org...

Now there is a rock solid case for you, under Sharia Law. Complete hearsay...and the actual "evidence" (which the accuser even admits did not directly implicate the condemned man) was purposely destroyed by the accuser. This warrants not only a guilty verdict...but a death sentence by the Court...and confirmation by a Higher Court.

The final nail in this guys coffin, no doubt, was the accusation that this guy had previously converted to Christianity...which the man denies, by the way.

Kangeroo Court is closer to the truth.

This recent publicity just gives Islam another bad name. If they kill her the West will just hate the established judicial system in Pakistan. Most from the West probably will never want to visit that country due to its oppression. I think Islam needs to drop their barbaric ways. The Jews used to stone people just for saying Jehovah’s name out loud. They still frown on people who say it but they stopped stoning people because it was just wrong to kill because of a word.

Just insert a drawing of Mohammed for the guy who said Jehovah. Notice the people are stone happy. There are people who get exciting killing others in the name of religion. I’m beginning to get the impression the Muslim’s favor Mohammed over Allah because they get so bent out of shape over what is said or drawn of him. Sounds like what the Catholics did to Mary.

It is important to note that the reasons this happens is because these people follow their Koran to the letter.

Christians would have no choice but to be just as evil and brutal if they followed their Bible to the letter too.

All religions are just mind control, and run by evil entities. Not much has changed since it was considered "good" to brutally torture "witches", who had often simply said the wrong thing at the wrong time too.

I wish people would wake up and realise that any "god" who thinks torturing a human is a good thing is just tricking you.

Let's have a quick look at some other fairly recent examples of Sharia Law in action, shall we...lest you think it is just a Pakistani phenomenon?

Afghanistan...

...some strict interpretations of Islamic law calls for the death penalty for any woman found in the company of a man other than a close family member. Sexual activity is assumed to have happened. A woman, Jamila, was found guilty of trying to leave the country with such a man. She was caught and stoned to death...

Afghanistan...

...a woman, Nurbibi, 40, and a man Turylai, 38, were stoned to death in a public assembly using palm-sized stones. They were found guilty of non-marital sex.

United Arab Emirates...

...an unmarried citizen of Indonesia, was working as a housemaid in the United Arab Emirates when her pregnancy was detected...she was sentenced to death by stoning

.

NOTE: After the Indonesian Government got involved, her sentence for this "crime" was reduced to one year in prison.

Nigeria...

...a teenage single mother, Bariya Ibrahim Magazu claimed at trial that she was raped by three men. The court assumed that she was guilty, because she could not prove that her father pressured her to engage in sexual activity with the men. She was found guilty of two offenses: having premarital sex, and bringing false charges against the men that she claimed were responsible. Her sentence was 180 lashes.

Wow...guess she got off easy, assuming the 180 lashes didn't kill her.

Nigeria...

...Safiya Hussaini Tungar-Tudu, a 30-year-old pregnant woman, had asked a Sharia court in Sokoto state to force a man that she alleged had raped her, to pay for her daughter's naming ceremony. The court refused, and then charged her with engaging in sexual intercourse outside of marriage. She was sentenced to be stoned to death.

NOTE: The conviction was overturned on appeal...largely because Sharia Law had not yet been established at the time of the rape.

More Sharia fun from Nigeria...

...Safiya Hussaini, 33, was convicted of adultery. She was sentenced to be buried up to her neck in sand and to be stoned to death...She appealed her conviction...Her defense team finally argued that, under Islamic law, the interval between conception and birth can be up to seven years! Only two years previous to the birth of her daughter, she was still married to her husband. The lawyers argued that her husband could possibly have been the father.

Anyway, this all overturned...again because Sharia Law had not yet been implemented at the time of the "offence".

Bauchi...Nigeria

...a woman, Adama Unusua, 19, was sentenced to 100 lashes by a Bauchi court, for engaging in sexual intercourse with her fiancé.

Nigeria...one more time...

...Upper Sharia court in the northern state of Niger has sentenced two people to be stoned to death. Ahmadu Ibrahim, 32, and his lover Fatima Usman had confessed to pre-marital sex.

www.religioustolerance.org...

reply to post by mobiusmale


This is how Christians would behave if they actually followed their Bible.

What the Bible says about stoning to death

Originally posted by NuclearPaul
reply to post by mobiusmale

 

This is how Christians would behave if they actually followed their Bible.

What the Bible says about stoning to death

Yes, of course. And this is why, in civilized parts of the world, we now have a separation of Church(es) and State.

The key difference at this time is that there is no movement within Christianity (that I am aware of) that is trying to adopt or enforce the most primitive of its historical traditions.

The Jewish God must have been in a very bad mood three or four thousand years ago...ordering all of these stonings, and the wiping out of entire families and cities. But He seems to have mellowed since his Son came to Earth. Kidding aside, my personal belief is that these stories and supposed "wrath" instructions and actions were the work of men...not God himself.

The problem with modern Islam is that they are on the march, so to speak, still hoping to force all of the world to adopt their faith - and to adopt their system of justice, which still clings to these barbaric forms of group control. In many of the countries where they do have control, to this day we still witness the imposition of these draconian punishments...for slights or slips of one kind or another.

Originally posted by NuclearPaul
reply to post by mobiusmale

 

This is how Christians would behave if they actually followed their Bible.

What the Bible says about stoning to death

Hmm how many people do you hear about being stoned every year? Nice try but epic FAIL.


Now on thew other hand you hear story after story about Islam's intolerance to everyone including themselves. I love apologists.

Here is an update on this situation.

edition.cnn.com...

...Pakistan's president will soon review a petition to free a Christian woman sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed, a senior Pakistani government official told CNN on Saturday. Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer said Asia Bibi signed her petition for mercy on Saturday when he visited her at the prison where she's been jailed for nearly 15 months. Taseer said he will now personally submit the petition to President Asif Ali Zardari.

"I want to send a strong message that we are here for the protection of minorities," Taseer told CNN. "We don't want them to be targeted by these kind of laws."

Let's hope they can take the steps necessary to reverse this sentence - and then to repeal the law.

Then let's hope this lady and her family can quickly get asylum in some other Country.

Is it time to wake up from religion? I think so.

If there was ever a time for every sane,reasonable human being to get on board with the Venus Project, I think that time would be right about now!

www.thevenusproject.com...

Say what you will,but evidence throughout history has shown that in order for us truly progress,we must rid ourselves of outdated ideals and superstitions. I find it irresponsible and ludicrous that governments continue to encourage and support any religion as a whole. I see religion as nothing more than a ridiculous tool used to subject people to yet more layers of laws and condemning us to an intellectual fish bowl,further reducing our ability to attain true freedom to evolve to a shadow and a hope.

Just my opinion,of course. I could be wrong, but then again...

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


Yes, I find it contrary to their belief system. I don’t think it can be sugar coated. I usually respect other cultures but not to kill a young woman for becoming a Christian. Can you imagine if we killed all US citizens for turning Muslim?