Afghan man faces death for being a Christian
Prosecutors, judge, family insist convert should die

By Kim Barker
Tribune foreign correspondent

March 21, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Abdul Rahman told his family he was a Christian. He told the neighbors, bringing shame upon his home. But then he told the police, and he could no longer be ignored.

Now, in a major test of Afghanistan's fledgling court system, Rahman, 42, faces the death penalty for abandoning Islam for Christianity. Prosecutors say he should die. So do his family, his jailers, even the judge. Rahman has no lawyer. Jail officials refused to let anyone see Rahman on Monday, despite permission granted by the country's justice minister.

"We will cut him into little pieces," said Hosnia Wafayosofi, who works at the jail, as she made a cutting motion with her hands. "There's no need to see him."

Rahman's trial, which started Thursday, is thought to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan. It goes to the heart of the struggle between Islamic reformists and fundamentalists in the country, which is still recovering from 23 years of war and the harsh rule of the Taliban, a radical religious regime that fell in late 2001.

Even under the more moderate government now in power, Islamic law is supposed to be followed, and many believe it requires the death penalty for anyone who leaves Islam for another religion.

"We are Muslim, our fathers were Muslim, our grandfathers were Muslim," said Abdul Manan, Rahman's father, who is 75. "This is an Islamic country. Imagine if your son told a police commander, also a Muslim, that he is a Christian. How would this affect you? It's very difficult for us."

Much of Afghanistan remains conservative and religious. But Islamic rules are violated in Afghanistan every day--whether by alcohol being sold openly on the streets, or by prostitutes who cater to both foreigners and Afghans, or by the booming opium trade.

Many Islamic scholars believe that Muslims who convert from Islam should be killed, but liberal and moderate scholars disagree. One Afghan liberal scholar, Ali Mohaqeq Nasab, spent almost three months in jail last fall after publishing a magazine challenging many traditional views on Islamic law, including the belief that Muslims who convert to other religions deserve to die.

Most Afghans are Muslim--only a few are publicly Sikh or Hindu. Christians are rare and prefer to hide their religion. Afghan Christians have no church, and foreigners worship either in small groups, or at embassies or military bases.

Rev. Giuseppe Moretti, who ministers to Catholics in Afghanistan, said he has heard of some Afghan Christians who converted overseas, but most keep that secret once they come back. No Afghans worship under him.

"I hope this man is not condemned," Moretti said. "It's a very delicate situation."

Rahman and his family have a history of problems. Manan said his son never worked, beat up family members and seemed mentally ill.

Rahman left Afghanistan shortly after the birth of his daughters, now 12 and 13. He and his wife divorced. While overseas, Rahman converted to Christianity. He returned to Afghanistan about three years ago and moved back in with his father and daughters. He left for months at a time, working at a restaurant or as a security guard.

He stayed with cousins, who asked him to leave after he said he was a Christian. Eventually, Rahman moved back with his father.

"He is my son," said Manan, crying. "But if a son does not care about the dignity of his family, the dignity of his father, God can take him away. You cannot make anything out of such a son. He is useless."

He complained about Rahman's behavior to local police, but did not mention his religious conversion. At first, police asked the family to try to resolve its own problems. Then in early February, Rahman showed up at the police station and complained about how his family treated him. While there, he announced he had become a Christian.

Police said they had no choice except sending the case to central police command.

"We knew he had converted, but we didn't want to get involved in religious issues," said Col. Abdul Mohammed, the deputy commander of the police district. "So we filed a report on the family's problems to send to the central police. And he insisted over and over, `Please write in my file that I converted to Christianity.'"

On Thursday, the first day of the trial, Rahman appeared in court with no lawyer. Prosecutor Abdul Wasi said Rahman had been told repeatedly to repent and come back to Islam, but Rahman refused. Wasi called Rahman a traitor.

"He is known as a microbe in society, and he should be cut off and removed from the rest of Muslim society and should be killed," Wasi told the court.

Rahman said he had surrendered himself to God. "I believe in the holy spirit," he said. "I believe in Christ. And I am a Christian."

Judge Ansarullah Mawlawizada, who is handling the case, said he normally takes two months to decide on cases. But because this case is so serious, he expected to hold another hearing within the next week and make a decision.

Mawlawizada, who kept Rahman's green Bible on his desk, said he respected all religions. He emphasized that he did not favor the aggressiveness of the Taliban, who cut the hands and feet off criminals in a soccer stadium. But he said Rahman had to repent.

"If he doesn't regret his conversion, the punishment will be enforced on him," the judge said. "And the punishment is death."

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