Freedom Of Religion --Muslim Style

Afghan Lawmaker: Christian Converts Must Die

A prominent lawmaker in Afghanistan is calling for the execution of Afghans who convert from Islam to Christianity.

Mohabat News, an Iranian Christian news agency, reported that Nazir Ahmad Hanafi, head of the Afghan parliament's Legislative Commission, said: "Afghani citizens continue to convert to Christianity in India. Numerous Afghanis have become Christians in India. This is an offense to Islamic law and according to the Koran, they need to be executed."

Thousands of Afghan refugees have fled to India, and a small congregation of Christian converts meets in New Delhi, according to CNS News.

Another Afghan lawmaker, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, reportedly has demanded that the Afghan government pressure Indian authorities to provide the names of Afghans who have converted to Christianity so that the Afghan government can arrest and punish them if they return home.

And Afghan lawmaker Abdul Latif Pedram has blamed the increase in conversions on the presence of American forces in the country. According to Mohabat, he said: "The United States' long-term plan is to attack Afghan culture. Converting Afghan citizens serves that purpose."

Barnabas Fund, a charity that supports Christians in Islamic nations, reported: "For 10 consecutive nights at the end of August, two TV channels broadcast photos of the leader of the Afghan church in Delhi, calling for him to be executed."

A U.S. State Department report disclosed that while there are five Hindu temples and 13 Sikh places of worship in Afghanistan, there are no Christian churches or schools.

The report stated: "Under some interpretations of Islamic law, converting from Islam to another religion is deemed apostasy and considered an egregious crime. Male citizens over age 18 or female citizens over age 16 of sound mind who convert from Islam have three days to recant their conversions or possibly face death by stoning."

Christians are also under fire in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters have begun forcing the 15,000 or so Coptic Christians in the village of Dalga to pay a "jizya" tax, the Washington Times reported.

Jizya is the tribute "that conquered non-Muslims historically have to pay their Islamic overlords," a source explained.

The tribute ranges from 200 Egyptian pounds a day (about $29) to 500 pounds a day.

And in Syria, Islamist rebels invaded a Christian man's shop "and gave him three options," according to the Christian Science Monitor. "Become a Muslim, pay $70,000 as a jizya tax, or be killed along with his family."