« Hugo Chavez unhinged | Main | Video Of Chavez Anti-Bush/Anti-US Rant At UN »
September 20, 2006
African Taliban Murders Christian Convert After He Refuses To Join A Crowd Chanting Qur'anic Verses
Another "peaceful" application of Islamic law by a follower of the faith of perpetual outrage:
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (ANS) -- Somali Christian sources report that Ali Mustaf Maka'il, a 22-year-old college student and cloth merchant, who converted from Islam to Christianity eleven months ago, was shot and killed in the Manabolyo quarter of Mogadishu on September 7.As has been made abundantly clear by numerous incidents such as this one reported here, many Muslims believe that not only must non-Muslims convert to Islam or die, converting "from" Islam has the same consequence.According to a report from The Barnabas Fund, quoting a Christian source inside Somalia, the gunman was loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts (ICU), the Islamist organization that took power in Mogadishu in early June 2006 and now controls much of southern Somalia.
The report states: "The gunman shot Ali in the back after he refused to join a crowd chanting Qur'an verses in honor of the lunar eclipse. (Solar and lunar eclipses are significant in Islam and are accompanied by special congregational prayers.) The ICU confiscated his body for 24 hours before delivering it to the grieving family."
The Barnabas Fund says: "It seems that under the new Islamist rulers, who include hard-line jihadi elements, the tragic history of persecution and martyrdom for Somalia's tiny Christian community is set to continue and most likely to worsen."
The Barnabas Fund explains that the leader of the ICU, Hassan Dahir Aweys, promised to implement shari'a in all areas he controls.
"According to shari'a, apostates (those who leave Islam for another religion), must be killed. ICU leaders have even threatened to kill as apostates Muslims who are lax in their prayers, claiming this is commanded by shari'a. Several Muslims have been publicly flogged for drug related offences since the ICU took control."
The Barnabas Fund report states that more then 99.5 percent of Somalis are Muslims and regard Christianity as a foreign religion of their historic enemies in Ethiopia and of their former colonial masters the Italians and the British.
Need we have to point out here that "the tragic history of persecution and martyrdom for Somalia's tiny Christian community" existed long before Pope Benedict's recent comments about conversion by the sword being evil, the need for reason and rationality in faith, and the evil of committing violence in the name of religion? As we continue to observe and experience, a rather large segment of the Muslim community never misses an opportunity to make the Pope's points for him, and make clear the validity of his comments.
As we said in, "Former Archbishop of Canterbury Backs Pope And Blasts Violent Islam", "Muslims need to learn that Islam is not beyond criticism (other faiths have prospered greatly through introspection, self criticism and reform), and Muslims must with great urgency and priority shut down the extremist segments of their faith, and establish a climate within which bridges between the West and Islam can be rebuilt where they have existed before, and established where they were never developed.
Hat tip - Jawa Report
Cross posted from Hyscience
Posted by Richard at September 20, 2006 2:00 PM
