2 Afghans face death over translation of Quran

[John81]

2 Afghans face death over translation of Quran

KABUL ? No one knows who brought the book to the mosque, or at least no one dares say. The pocket-size translation of the Quran has already landed six men in prison in Afghanistan and left two of them begging judges to spare their lives. They're accused of modifying the Quran and their fate could be decided Sunday in court.

The trial illustrates what critics call the undue influence of hardline clerics in Afghanistan, a major hurdle as the country tries to establish a lawful society amid war and militant violence.

The book appeared among gifts left for the cleric at a major Kabul mosque after Friday prayers in September 2007. It was a translation of the Quran into one of Afghanistan's languages, with a note giving permission to reprint the text as long as it was distributed for free.

Some of the men of the mosque said the book would be useful to Afghans who didn't know Arabic, so they took up a collection for printing. The mosque's cleric asked Ahmad Ghaws Zalmai, a longtime friend, to get the books printed.

But as some of the 1,000 copies made their way to conservative Muslim clerics in Kabul, whispers began, then an outcry.

Many clerics rejected the book because it did not include the original Arabic verses alongside the translation. It's a particularly sensitive detail for Muslims, who regard the Arabic Quran as words given directly by God. A translation is not considered a Quran itself, and a mistranslation could warp God's word.

The clerics said Zalmai, a stocky 54-year-old spokesman for the attorney general, was trying to anoint himself as a prophet. They said his book was trying to replace the Quran, not offer a simple translation. Translated editions of the Quran abound in Kabul markets, but they include Arabic verses.

The country's powerful Islamic council issued an edict condemning the book.

"In all the mosques in Afghanistan, all the mullahs said, 'Zalmai is an infidel. He should be killed,'" Zalmai recounted as he sat outside the chief judge's chambers waiting for a recent hearing.

Zalmai lost friends quickly. He was condemned by colleagues and even by others involved in the book's printing. A mob stoned his house one night, said his brother, Mahmood Ghaws.

Police arrested Zalmai as he was fleeing to Pakistan, along with three other men the government says were trying to help him escape. The publisher and the mosque's cleric, who signed a letter endorsing the book, were also jailed.

There is no law in Afghanistan prohibiting the translation of the Quran. But Zalmai is accused of violating Islamic Shariah law by modifying the Quran. The courts in Afghanistan, an Islamic state, are empowered to apply Shariah law when there are no applicable existing statutes.

And Afghanistan's court system appears to be stacked against those accused of religious crimes. Judges don't want to seem soft on potential heretics and lawyers don't want to be seen defending them, said Afzal Shurmach Nooristani, whose Afghan Legal Aid group is defending Zalmai.

The prosecutor wants the death penalty for Zalmai and the cleric, who have now spent more than a year in prison.

Sentences on religious infractions can be harsh. In January 2008, a court sentenced a journalism student to death for blasphemy for asking questions about women's rights under Islam. An appeals court reduced the sentence to 20 years in prison. His lawyers appealed again and the case is pending.

In 2006, an Afghan man was sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. He was later ruled insane and was given asylum in Italy. Islamic leaders and the parliament accused President Hamid Karzai of being a puppet for the West for letting him live.

Nooristani, who is also defending the journalism student, said he and his colleagues have received death threats.

"The mullahs in the mosques have said whoever defends an infidel is an infidel," Nooristani said.

The legal aid organization, which usually represents impoverished defendants, is defending Zalmai because no one else would take the case.

"We went to all the lawyers and they said, 'We can't help you because all the mullahs are against you. If we defend you, the mullahs will say that we should be killed.' We went six months without a lawyer," Zalmai said outside the judge's chambers.

The publisher was originally sentenced to five years in prison. Zalmai and the cleric were sentenced to 20, and now the prosecutor is demanding the death penalty for the two as a judge hears appeals.

Nearly everyone in court claims ignorance now.

The mosque's mullah says he never read the book and that he was duped into signing the letter. The print shop owner says neither he nor any of his employees read the book, noting that it's illegal for them to read materials they publish.

Zalmai pleaded for forgiveness before a January hearing, saying he had assumed a stand-alone translation wasn't a problem.

"You can find these types of translations in Turkey, in Russia, in France, in Italy," he said.

When the chief judge later banged his gavel to silence shouting lawyers and nodded at Zalmai to explain himself, the defendant stood and chanted Quranic verses as proof that he was a devout Muslim who should be forgiven.

Shariah law is applied differently in Islamic states. Saudi Arabia claims the Quran as its constitution, while Malaysia has separate religious and secular courts.

But since there is no ultimate arbiter of religious questions in Afghanistan, judges must strike a balance between the country's laws and proclamations by clerics or the Islamic council, called the Ulema council.

Judges are "so nervous about annoying the Ulema council and being criticized that they tend to push the Islamic cases aside and just defer to what others say," said John Dempsey, a legal expert with the U.S. Institute of Peace in Kabul.

Deferring to the council means that edicts issued by the group of clerics can influence rulings more than laws on the books or a judge's own interpretation of Shariah law, he said.

Judges have to be careful about whom they might anger with their rulings. In September, gunmen killed a top judge with Afghanistan's counter-narcotics court. Other judges have been gunned down as well.

Mahmood Ghaws said that even if his brother is found innocent, their family will never be treated the same.

"When I go out in the street, people don't say hello to me in the way they used to," he said. "They don't ask after my family."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090206/ap_ ... n_on_trial

[tired]

The muslims are so peaceful and loving. Chairman Obama says we are also a muslim nation here. I am going to move to the moon. :loco

[JerryNumbers]

I suppose they will take up arms against others somewhat as the RCC did many years ago.

Seems to me the RCC wanted complete control over the Gospel of Jesus Christ and did not want anyone reading the Bible on their own, but depend on them to tell them what the Bible says. Their were many deaths due to this in that day, is may be so with the Muslim world here in modern time.

[tired]

I believe islam and the RCC have close to the same goal. The RCC did this for centuries and had to stop cause they would have major battles. Islam has the same goal and they are different from the RCC in that they will die for their beliefs where the RCC has a good PR guy who can look tolerant.

[tired]

Catholic cathecism
841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."

[HappyChristian]

Catholic cathecism
841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."

Hmm - interesting! I heard many years ago that Mohammed married a Catholic woman, and that the Catholics were the ones actually behind the Muslim faith. Don't really know how accurate that is, because it originated with Jack Chick and Alberto. Does anyone know anything about that idea?

[tired]

I have read some views on that. I don't know if the RCC started the muslim religion, cause the writers were like conspiracy theorists. I do believe there is always some truth in these theories though. Islam doesn't really want everyone in the world to know what their ultimate goal is. Total islam world, as the RCC wants a total RCC world. I know there will be some new evangelical that will comment that we want an all baptist world. I will beat them to the punch. I don't want an all IFB world, it would be nice but I want as many people as possible to repent and follow Jesus. Denom means nothing.

[John81]

It is noteworthy however just how high of value they place on the accuracy of what they believe to be the God's Word. While many professing Christians will say that any version or translation of the Bible that says it's the Bible is just fine, Muslims reject anything that might even have the hint of being in even the most minor way a translation that's not accurate and doesn't provide the Arabic for comparison.

The Crusades and the wars between Europeans and invading Arabs were actually wars between Islam and Catholcism. These were religious wars far more than they were wars of competing cultures. The RCC wanted to halt the spread of Islam and invaded the Holy Land with the pretense of doing so simply to place the Holy Land in "Christian" hands.

The Muslim invasion of Europe was about the desire for Islam to conquer "Christianity" (Catholicism). The Muslims wanted to conquer Europe for the express purpose of squashing "Christianity" as a part of their aim to bring about an all-Muslim world.

Sadly, while these wars are rather fresh on the minds of Muslims, most Europeans (and those of European decent) know next to nothing of these wars or of their religious importance. Most fail to realize that less than one hundred years ago the Muslim invaders still controlled a sizable portion of Europe. It wasn't until after World War One that this changed. For centuries Isalm attempted to conquer Europe and during much of that time they held large portions of Europe; killing Christians and forcing conversion to Islam in the lands they controlled.

What we are faced with today are Muslims who take their faith seriously and are willing to support their own in the advancement of Islam by any means. Meanwhile, most professing Christians fail to even see this religious war and most live their lives far from how they would if they took their own faith seriously.

We have Western world leaders who look at these issues in a secular manner and therefore they don't understand the true nature of the war or of the motivation of their enemies.

[Kubel]

Reminds me of the Catholics opposition to translating the Bible back in the day.

[John81]

The main difference being the RCC didn't want folks to have access to the Word of God while the Muslims are concerned about their standard of purity for their book.