The Beeb: Afghans Want Abdul Rahman Executed, and Judge Says Islamic Law Requires Death for Apostates (ACM)

A simply breathtaking article from the BBC on the ongoing Afghan apostasy trial of Abdul Rahman.  I have collapsed some of the paragraphs for space reasons, and the entire story can be read here. 

Here is the Judge's take on Islamic law under the new Constitution for which the United States was midwife:

Under the interpretation of Islamic Sharia law on which

Afghanistan

's constitution is based, Mr Rahman faces the death penalty unless he reconverts to Islam. "The Prophet Muhammad has said several times that those who convert from Islam should be killed if they refuse to come back," says Ansarullah Mawlafizada, the trial judge. "Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity.  That is why we have told him if he regrets what he did, then we will forgive him," he told the BBC News website.

The account further explains that problems here for President Karzai do not end with the dictates of Islamic law and the fact that, under the new constitution, the judiciary is supposed to be independent and not subject to outside interference.  There are also the mores of the population he represents, through which the Rahman case is seen in a way polar opposite of its view by the Western prism:

[A]n overwhelming number of ordinary Afghans appear to believe Mr Rahman has erred and deserves to be executed. "We will not let anyone interfere with our religious practices," declared cleric Inayatullah at

Kabul

's Pulakasthy mosque, one of the city's largest. "What Rahman has done is wrong and he must be punished."

"What is wrong with Islam that he should want to convert?" asks an agitated Abdul Zahid Payman. "The courts should punish him and he should be put to death."

Few were willing to listen to the growing condemnation in the West. "According to Islamic law he should be sentenced to death because God has clearly stated that Christianity is forbidden in our land," says Mohammed Qadir, another worshipper.

US

President George Bush says he is "deeply troubled" by the case. That cuts no ice with Mr Qadir. "Who is

America

to tell us what to do? If Karzai listens to them there will be jihad (holy war)."