In the West, we are much more enlightened than this. We don’t arrest people who are accused of insulting Islamic sacred beliefs. We simply excoriate them as “racists” and “Islamophobes,” deplatform and forcibly silence them, and ostracize them from polite society. We are much more advanced in the West.
“Iran Jails Christian Convert For Insulting Islam,” by Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife, January 24, 2020:
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)– Iranian Christians want prayers for a former Muslim who has been jailed for embracing Christianity; his supporters told BosNewsLife. Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, 64, received a three-year prison term on charges of “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs,” said advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC).
The Christian convert was sentenced a year after being detained in the southwestern city of Shiraz. He was charged initially with “propaganda against the state and insulting the sacred Iranian establishment,” MEC confirmed to BosNewsLife. However, “at a hearing on October 22, the judge further accused Ismaeil of ‘apostasy’”, or abandoning Islam, MEC explained. And the court increased bail demands from 10 million to 100 million tomans (US$9000), according to trial observers. Friends reportedly provided pledges to cover the bail demands.
“There were further hearings in November when the apostasy charge was dropped as well as in December and January,” MEC noted.
“At the most recent hearing on January 8 at Branch 105 of the Civil Court in Shiraz, a new judge repeated many of the questions that had been asked previously. The judge focused on the charge of ‘insulting Islamic sacred beliefs in cyberspace’. That charge was because of Ismaeil forwarding a message sent to his phone that was deemed to be insulting to the ruling Iranian clerics,” MEC added.
Found guilty, Ismaeil was sentenced to three years in prison under Article 513 of the Islamic Penal Code, Christians said. The legislation allows for a punishment of between one and five years in prison.
ACTIVISTS OUTRAGED
In a reaction, Mansour Borji of religious rights group Article 18 reportedly called the sentence “a disproportionate reaction to something so ordinary.” Borji said the charges are related to his conversion to Christianity. “This may reveal the real reason why he’s been charged with something that most ordinary Iranians do daily.”
MEC said that Ismaeil is appealing the sentence. However, the efforts are complicated as he also faces two other charges, including “propaganda against the Islamic Republic” and “membership of a group hostile to the regime,” MEC explained.
Iranian Christians have expressed disappointment at what they view as the “harshness” of a sentence that they claim is directed against Ismaeil’s Christian faith. They also request prayer that “God will strengthen and encourage Ismaeil during the judicial proceedings,” said MEC, which is closely monitoring the case.
Other prayer requests include the ability of the “his lawyer to make a strong defence” so that “the three-year prison sentence will be successfully appealed.”
Iranian Christians also pray that charges of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic” and “membership of a group hostile to the regime” will be dropped. They hope that “Iranian authorities will uphold the rights of religious minorities and that Christian converts will not be persecuted,” MEC said….
mortimer says
Sharia law is intolerant and harsh and incompatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Article 18 of the UDHR states that “everyone has the right to freedom of religion, freedom to change his religion and freedom to manifest his religion in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, states that:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and IMPART INFORMATION and IDEAS through any media and regardless of frontiers
Michael Copeland says
Interviewer:
“For example, is it the right of the Muslim to convert to Christianity or another religion?”
sheikh Yassir al-Burhani:
“Of course this is not a right.”
(JihadWatch.org 1 June 2012)
Mateen Elass says
According to many Muslims, this is not technically correct. They will acknowledge that Muslims have the right to convert to any other religion, but with the caveat that if they do, they must face the penalty prescribed by shari’a, which of course is death. So, you are free to convert, but not to continue living.
gravenimage says
True, Mateen. This is what Muslims mean by “no compulsion in religion”.
Eur says
Even in Morocco it is prohibited by law.( because islam is the law)
mortimer says
Christians are persecuted in Iran and must be constantly vigilant against any unfavorable perception by malicious observers. However, the Bahai’s are no doubt the most persecuted of all minorities in Iran.
https://www.bic.org/focus-areas/situation-iranian-bahais/current-situation
Attacks and assaults
Since 2005, there have been at least 68 documented instances of physical violence against Baha’is, ranging from simple assault to murder, all of which have gone unprosecuted.
Since 2005, more than 1007 Iranian Baha’is have been arrested. Most of the arrests and detentions follow a similar pattern: Agents of the Ministry of Intelligence arrive at the homes of Baha’is, search the premises, confiscate items such as computers and books, and then make arrests.
Often Baha’is are arrested individually, or in twos and threes, after authorities raid a Baha’i home. Large groups of Baha’is are also often arrested. In January 2017, seven Baha’is were arrested in Yazd, for example, and on 28 September 2016, 14 Baha’is were arrested in Shiraz and Karaj.
Other forms of Persecution
Other forms of persecution faced by Iranian Baha’is include the monitoring of their bank accounts, movements, and activities; the denial of pensions or rightful inheritances; the intimidation of Muslims who associate with Baha’is; the denial of access to publishing or copying facilities for Baha’i literature; and the unlawful confiscation or destruction of Baha’i properties, including Baha’i holy places.
FYI says
“sacred islamic beliefs”?
Like how islam..?
MISSED the Golden Rule{see Matthew 7 v 12}
{How and why allah missed this no muslim can answer}
MISSED the SECOND CHIEF Commandment of God{Lev19:18}
So no “love thy neighbor” in islam but the opposite:koran 5:51.
{Since your neighbor is an infidel,no need to see him as equal..}
Preaches DISOBEDIENCE to God’s Biblical Commandments{see Exodus 20}and thus violates the FIRST CHIEF Commandment of God{Deuteronomy 6 v 4-9}
Has a Doctrine of HATE{al walaa wal barraa}{compare with the Bible’s 2 chief commandments of LOVE described by Jesus as “The whole law of moses and the prophets depend on these 2 chief commandments”{Matthew 22v 40} and allah COMPLETELY MISSED THEM!!
allah also missed the Holy Spirit ,that aspect of God required to understand God,as he gets the theology of the Trinity spectacularly wrong koran 5:116 and doesn’t want muslims to know about it k4:171 preffering they rely on his false Arab wisdom instead{“it is better for you” says allah.Yes,muslims don’t know about God’s Holy Spirit because if they did they would see how WRONG the koran/allah/muhammed/islam is}
Note to muslims:
Jesus is JEWISH {John 4 v 22} and couldn’t possibly be a muslim
MARY IS NOT in the Trinity{why does allah get Theology wrong?}
Christians are NOT polytheists and do not believe in 3 gods
Jews don’t believe in anybody called “Ezra is the son of allah” k9:30
It is impossible Jesus had the Gospel koran 5:46
Your “perfect” koran is full of errors:you can see them {but you’ll deny it}
Do you see all these incongruities in the “perfect” book?
Look at allah’s criterion of “perfection” in koran 4:82
All these “sacred islamic beliefs” are 100%bogus.
The “perfect” koran that is so full of errors that by allah’s OWN criterion of koran 4:82 it must,in its imperfections, come from a source “other than allah”
{CLUE:allah is the BEST of deceivers k3:54,the champion at misleading people}
The “perfect” prophet who admitted to being a fraud{al tabari 6:111},FAILED the Poison test and who laughably does not even satisfy the koran’s OWN criterion of prophethood koran 45:16{i.e Membership of the Children of Israel}
al lah the champion deceiver:the god of islam..
b.a. freeman says
“We are much more advanced in the West.”
—
well, right now we are, but it’s the sophistication of the bulls**t they are slinging that is more advanced; just wait until the ummah takes control! severed hands, crushed genitalia, and gouged eyes will become the norm, just like it is now in the islamic “republic.” come to think of it, things won’t be very pleasant once the left takes charge (just before the ummah seizes power from the left), either.
gravenimage says
I think this is the point Robert Spencer was making–that we are already too far down this road.
Walter Sieruk says
This “mullah tyranny” that imprisoned a Christian on the claim that he “insulted sacred Islamic beliefs is yet further proof that Islamic is such a weak and fragile religion that it can stand up to or hold up to the light of the Bible.
For example, that “ Jesus is the Son of God” is upheld in the Bible. To be more specific about the nature of Jesus, the Bible instructs the Jesus is the Son of God, Who is God the Father. Matthew 3:16. First John 2: 22, 23. 5: 9-11.20.
The way for a person to discover the truth concerning the nature of Jesus is found in the Bible verse Isaiah 8:20. This instructs “To the law of the testimony: If they speak not according this word, it is because there is no light in them.” In other words, if a religious teacher has teaching that are in contradiction to the Word, the Bible, then that teachers is a false teacher who teaches false doctrines. The Muslim clerics, as the imam and mullahs, teach and speak doctrines about God from the Quran .
As the Quran in 112 teaches “He is God alone: God is the eternal begetteth not…” Likewise, this religious book which is the entire foundation of and for Islam further teaches in 19:35. “It is not befitting to God that He should beget a son.” In great contrast the Bible teaches in John 1:14. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, [and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,] full of grace and truth.” Likewise John 3:16 teaches “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son… Then just a little further in verse 18 it is written about Jesus Who is “the only begotten Son of God. “ Other places in the Bible further teach that Jesus is the Son of God as in Matthew 16:15:16. Luke 1:35. John 3:36. First John 4:14. 15. 5:14,15. Moreover to be even more clear the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, Who is God the Father. As found in Matthew 3:16,17. First John 2:22,23. 4:14,15. Of course , it ,very much, needs to made even more specific . The Bible teaches that Jesus is also God the Son. As seen in Hebrew 1:8 and First John 5:20.
The imams and mullahs as well as the other apologists for Islam will try to “explain” this all away. As in they will try brush off all those Bible verse off by making the claim that the Bible had been corrupted, through time, by Christians and that’s why the Bible reads as it does. That claim they make actually underestimate the Power of God to protect and keep His Word safe and intact ,through time, and away from the corruption of men.
In conclusion ,with the above instruction of the way to find doctrinal truth in Isaiah 8:20 and in the light of the Bible verse provided it may be clearly seen, by all those who are willing to see, that Islam is in terrible doctrinal error and it is therefore a false religion, Proverbs 14:12. John 14:6.
In addition there is a Christian internet site which replies to the many claims made by the imams and mullahs as well as the other apologists for Islam. It’s http://www.answering-islam.org
Walter Sieruk says
Concerning the subject of the arrest and imprisonment this Christian of Iran for “Insulting sacred Islamic belief” further expose the intolerant brutal and murderous “mullah regime “ of Iran
First, it would be naive not to understand the those mullahs and ayatollahs didn’t have a hand in having their stooges , who are Islamic state police, the Revolutionary Guard s arrest many Christians because those in power in the Islamic tyranny are ruthless and cruel.
Second, this is further proof that Islam is such a weak and fragile religion that the arrest of those few Christians was felt necessary by the ayatollah, mullah and imams of Iran. For those Muslim clerics are afraid that if the Iranian people even have a chance to examine and thus compare and contrast the Bible and the Quran the people of Iran might discover that the Bible of the super of those two books.
Since the foundation for the tyrannical regime of the Islamic “Republic” of Iran is based on the Quran, which is also the entire foundation for of Islam, the Muslim clerics fear that their power base might collapse. So the arrests and sentencing to death of Christians reveals extreme fear those Muslim clerics have of the Bible, For this also show that those Muslim clerics in power in that “mullahs regime” of Iran will use .the Islamic state police and their tools to stop Christians and keep the Iranian people in in ignorance of the Bible and in the darkness of Islam.
Third, those mullahs and ayatollahs and imams of Iran with their falsehoods and deceptions of the many false doctrines of Islam in which they brainwash the Iranian people in believing is something that is both sad and tragic. Those ayatollahs and mullahs are, no doubt, just as deluded as the people who they thoroughly indoctrinate with false teachings of Islam. Of such demonic deception by false teachers who are also deluded such men a have been predicted in the Bible. For in the Bible it’s written that “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived.” Second Timothy 3:13. [K.J.V.]
All those mullahs and ayatollahs are, according to the doctrines of the Bible, Isaiah 8:20. false religious teachers .Meaning false teachers who teach and indoctrinate the false doctrines of the false religion of Islam into the hearts and minds of others . Such false teachers are described in the Bible ,in Second Peter 2:1. “There were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
In addition, it should be make clear that in the context and meaning of the above Bible verse Second Peter 2:1. The word “destruction” does not mean “loss of being but loss of well-being ,as the destruction of well- being . That is “going to ruin” by ending up and a terrible place of awful suffering which the Bible call hell, Luke 16:19-31.
bttone says
Well this is enough evidence needed to NOT invite these people into a civilised western mixed race n religion country.. Most of us get on fine, but these people are not of the same mentality are they, hence the problems going on…
But still some powers that be chose to ignore the dangers
CogitoErgoSum says
Christians know that God’s Kingdom is not of this world because Jesus has told us as much. Neither the Iranian government nor any other government on this Earth has been established by God. These Mullahs are not gods and their government is not sacred. They are adversaries of the Truth who mock the words of Christ. The day is coming when they will stand in judgment and all accounts will be settled.
God help this Christian man and bring him strength; bring justice to his oppressors.
gravenimage says
Islamic Republic of Iran jails convert from Islam to Christianity for “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs”
……………………
For Muslims, daring to adhere to any faith other than Islam “insults” their vile beliefs.
John says
The convert must consider himself lucky that he was not killed on the spot. But I assume he will remain in jail until he comes back to the fold. So what happens if he does not change his mind?