Hours after a Sudanese court sentenced his pregnant wife to
death when she refused to recant her Christian faith, her husband told CNN he feels helpless.
"I'm so
frustrated. I don't know what to do," Daniel Wani told CNN on
Thursday. "I'm just praying."
Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag 27, has been sentenced to death
by hanging by a Sudanese court for apostasy,
(that is, renouncing ones faith or religion) after marrying a Christian man
Mariam, whose father is Muslim but raised orthodox Christian
by her mother, was earlier sentenced to death by hanging on Sunday May 11th but
was given till today May 15th to have a rethink and convert back to
Islam
before the verdict would be enforced. However during a court appearance today,
Mariam maintained that she's a Christian and there's no going back.
"We gave you
three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you
to be hanged to death." Judge
Abbas Mohammed Al-Khalifa told the woman in court today
Khalifa also sentenced Ishag to 100 lashes for
"adultery".
“I am a Christian and
I never committed apostasy,” she said in court.
Defending the judgement of the Sudanese judge, Ahmed Bilal
Osman, Sudan's information Minister, said such judgement is not only delivered
in Sudan but also in other Islamic countries
"It's not only
Sudan. In Saudi Arabia, in all the Muslim countries, it is not allowed at all
for a Muslim to change his/her religion." he told AFP
The death sentence will reportedly be carried out after
Ibrahim gives birth.
Meanwhile, some liberal religious scholars have argued
apostasy is not even a crime. They back up their beliefs by citing the Koranic
verse which states: "There shall be
no compulsion in religion."
Other more conservative Muslims refer to the words of the Prophet Muhammad in the Hadith saying: "It is not permissible to spill the blood of a Muslim except in
three [instances]: A life for a life; a married person who commits adultery;
and one who forsakes his religion and separates from the community."
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