Letter from Yousef

07 May 2012
Greetings from your servant and younger brother in Christ, Youcef Nadarkhani.
To: All those who are concerned and worried about my current situation.
First, I would like to inform all of my beloved brothers and sisters that I am in perfect health in the flesh and spirit. And I try to have a little different approach from others to these days, and consider it as the day of exam and trial of my faith. And during these days which are hard in order to prove your loyalty and sincerity to God, I am trying to do the best in my power to stay right with what I have learned from God’s commandments.
I need to remind my beloveds, though my trial due has been so long, and as in the flesh I wish these days to end, yet I have surrendered myself to God’s will.
I am neither a political person nor do I know about political complicity, but I know that while there are many things in common between different cultures, there are also differences between these cultures around the world which can result in criticism, which most of the times response to this criticisms will be harsh and as a result will lengthen our problems.
From time to time I am informed about the news which is spreading in the media about my current situation, for instance being supported by various churches and famous politicians who have asked for my release, or campaigns and human rights activities which are going on against the charges which are applied to me. I do believe that these kind of activities can be very helpful in order to reach freedom, and respecting human rights in a right way can bring forth positive results.
I want to appreciate all those are trying to reach this goal. But at the other hand, I’d like to announce my disagreement with the insulting activities [public burning of Korans by a pastor in Florida] which cause stress and trouble, which unfortunately are done with the justification (excuse) of defending human rights and freedom, for the results are so clear and obvious for me.
I try to be humble and obedient to those who are in power, obedience to those in authority which God has granted to the officials of my country, and pray for them to rule the country according to the will of God and be successful in doing this. For I know in this way I have obeyed God’s word. I try to obey along with those whom I see in a common situation with me. They never had any complaint, but just let the power of God be manifested in their lives, and though sometimes we read that they have used this right to defend themselves, for they had this right, I am not an exception as well and have used all possibilities and so forth and am waiting for the final result.
So I ask all the beloved ones to pray for me as the holy word has said. At the end I hope my freedom will be prepared as soon as possible, as the authorities of my country will do with free will according to their law and commandments which are answerable to.
May God’s Grace and Mercy be upon you now and forever. Amen.
Youcef Nadarkhani

Asia Bibi October 2014

Asia Bibi October 2014

Pakistan is a perennial recipient of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. It’s an occasional ally/frequent enemy, sometimes actively conspiring against U.S. interests, sometimes actually firing on U.S. troops (incidents so notorious they now have their own Wikipedia page), and — of course — it’s the home of increasingly virulent jihadist extremism. And, no, this extremism isn’t confined to the fringes of Pakistani society but is sometimes even manifested in its appellate courts.
Last week, a Pakistani court of appeals upheld Asia Bibi’s death sentence for blasphemy. She’s a Christian and a mother of five.
Death. For allegedly saying bad things about Mohammed.
Barbaric.
Not that it matters (one should be able to freely insult the prophet of Islam without fear of death), but there’s evidence that even the inherently illegitimate blasphemy charge is trumped-up nonsense. Here’s Asia Bibi describing the incident in her own words. The story begins with Bibi taking a drink of water, then offering the cup to her Muslim neighbors:

Then I start to hear muttering. I pay no attention and fill the cup again, this time holding it out to a woman next to me who looks like she’s in pain. She smiles and reaches out . . . At exactly the moment Musarat pokes her ferrety nose out from the bush, her eyes full of hate: “Don’t drink that water, it’s haram!”
Musarat addresses all the pickers, who have suddenly stopped work at the sound of the word “haram,” the Islamic term for anything forbidden by God.
“Listen, all of you, this Christian has dirtied the water in the well by drinking from our cup and dipping it back several times. Now the water is unclean and we can’t drink it! Because of her!”
It’s so unfair that for once I decide to defend myself and stand up to the old witch.
“I think Jesus would see if differently from Mohammed.”
Musarat is furious. “How dare you think for the Prophet, you filthy animal!”

The story then moves into the familiar demand for conversion:

“That’s right, you’re just a filthy Christian! You’ve contaminated our water and now you dare speak for the Prophet! Stupid bitch, your Jesus didn’t even have a proper father, he was a bastard, don’t you know that.”
Musarat comes over as though she’s going to hit me and yells: “You should convert to Islam to redeem yourself for your filthy religion.”
I feel a pain deep inside. We Christians have always stayed silent: We’ve been taught since we were babies never to say anything, to keep quiet because we’re a minority. But I’m stubborn too and now I want to react, I want to defend my faith. I take a deep breath and fill my lungs with courage.
“I’m not going to convert. I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save mankind? And why should it be me that converts instead of you?”

Bibi’s act of defiance is rewarded with physical assault, an assault that days later grows more sinister:

Five days later, I went to work fruit picking in another field. I’ve almost filled my bowl when I hear what sounds like a rioting crowd. I step back from my bush, wondering what’s going on, and in the distance I see dozens of men and women striding along towards our field, waving their arms in the air.
I catch the cruel eyes of Musarat. Her expression is self-righteous and full of scorn. I shiver as I suddenly realize that she hasn’t let it go. I can tell she’s out for revenge. The excited crowd are closer now; they are coming into the field and now they’re standing in front of me, threatening and shouting.
“Filthy bitch! We’re taking you back to the village! You insulted our Prophet! You’ll pay for that with your life!”
They all start yelling:
“Death! Death to the Christian!”
The angry crowd is pressing closer and closer around me. I’m half lying on the ground when two men grab me by the arms to drag me away. I call out in a desperate, feeble voice:
“I haven’t done anything! Let me go, please! I haven’t done anything wrong!”

When a young mullah intervenes, he is explicit: Convert or die.

“If you don’t want to die,” says the young mullah, “you must convert to Islam. Are you willing to redeem yourself by becoming a good Muslim?”
Sobbing, I reply:
“No, I don’t want to change my religion. But please believe me, I didn’t do what these women say, I didn’t insult your religion. Please have mercy on me.”
I put my hands together and plead with him. But he is unmoved.
“You’re lying! Everyone says you committed this blasphemy and that’s proof enough. Christians must comply with the law of Pakistan, which forbids any derogatory remarks about the holy Prophet. Since you won’t convert and the Prophet cannot defend himself, we shall avenge him.”

This is a nation with a nuclear arsenal, that flies dozens of F-16s supplied by the United States, and is an alleged partner in our war on terror. But it’s a nation that sentences mothers to death simply because they’re Christians who refuse to deny Christ — even in the face of an angry, violent mob.
Bibi is appealing to Pakistan’s highest court, a process that could take years. In the meantime, how many more billions of American dollars will subsidize this savagery? I fully recognize there are good and noble members of Pakistani society — our European Centre for Law and Justice has an affiliate in Pakistan that is staffed with courageous lawyers who’ve saved many Christian lives — but it’s past time for our government to insist that our alleged allies behave in a manner that not only advances U.S. interests but also protects the most basic of human rights of Pakistan’s persecuted Christian minority.
We simply cannot tolerate jihadist extremism. Yet we do, again and again — even subsidizing and arming it. And how are we rewarded for this appeasement and forbearance?
With more sharia; with more jihad.
And with more Christian mothers facing the hangman’s noose.

ACLJ.ORG

Asia Bibi October 2014

A committed Christian.  A mother of five.  A loving wife.  A servant of all.
But will she also be a martyr?
That’s Asia Bibi.  She’s been sentenced to death by hanging under Pakistan’s Shariah blasphemy law.  She was targeted as a member of the sole Christian family in her small Pakistani village.  She was falsely accused of “blasphemy” – for supposedly speaking against the prophet Muhammad.
Last week an appeals court in Lahore, Pakistan upheld her execution sentence.
Here’s how this valiant Christian woman describes her plight, in her own words:

I’m the victim of a cruel, collective injustice.
I’ve been locked up, handcuffed and chained, banished from the world and waiting to die. I don’t know how long I’ve got left to live. Every time my cell door opens my heart beats faster. My life is in God’s hands and I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. It’s a brutal, cruel existence. But I am innocent. I’m guilty only of being presumed guilty. I’m starting to wonder whether being a Christian in Pakistan today is not just a failing, or a mark against you, but actually a crime.
But though I’m kept in a tiny, windowless cell, I want my voice and my anger to be heard. I want the whole world to know that I’m going to be hanged for helping my neighbor. I’m guilty of having shown someone sympathy. What did I do wrong? I drank water from a well belonging to Muslim women, using “their” cup, in the burning heat of the midday sun.
I, Asia Bibi, have been sentenced to death because I was thirsty. I’m a prisoner because I used the same cup as those Muslim women, because water served by a Christian woman was regarded as unclean by my stupid fellow fruit-pickers.
That day, June 14, 2009, is imprinted on my memory.

It’s as simple and devastating as that.  For five years, she’s been imprisoned on death row over a cup of water.  But what’s really at issue here is her Christian faith.
To her radical Islamic community and under Shariah law in Pakistan, her Christian faith is her “crime.”  It’s her death sentence.
Her family is in hiding, fearing for their lives.  In addition to the death sentence, Asia Bibi has a price on her head.  A radical cleric has implored the Taliban to carry out her execution sentence before the Pakistani government does.  Two Pakistani government officials who have spoken out on her behalf are now dead, murdered in cold blood for standing up for her human rights.
This atrocity cannot stand.  No one – anywhere – should ever be put to death because of their religious beliefs.
All of us who have the freedom to speak out have the responsibility to speak out.  It’s incumbent upon all of us to demand her freedom.
Though she has one final appeal at Pakistan’s Supreme Court, it is often public pressure and not a legal argument that wins freedom in these cases.
We’ve seen it in the case of Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani who is now free from a death sentence in Iran for his Christian faith, and we saw it just a couple of months ago with another Christian mom freed from death row in Sudan.  Meriam Ibrahim had been convicted and sentenced to death for her Christian faith, much like what Asia Bibi is now facing.  Meriam is now free because of the international outcry of hundreds of thousands around the world.
It’s time to raise our voices once again and #FreeBibi.  In just 24 hours, over 100,000 people have signed that ACLJ’s petition for Asia Bibi’s freedom at BeHeardProject.com.
Were mobilizing through our international offices, in Pakistan itself, here in Washington, and at the United Nations demanding her release.  We must pray, but we must also act.  Asia Bibi must not be allowed to die for being a Christian.

ACLG.ORG