Martyred

PRESIDENT Bush’s repeated assertions about the peaceful nature of Islam were briefly interrupted when the State Department issued the annual report required by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. This year, as in the past, our Muslim-world partners in the coalition against terrorism were prominently featured among the most violent, most intolerant regimes in the world. Religious minorities are persecuted in over 20 states where Islam is the official or dominant religion. The million Christians who have fled the Muslim world in the past five years were hardly seeking sanctuary from the peaceful face of Islam.

With shocking regularity, human-rights groups report the death of Christians at the hands of Muslim militants in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. In Pakistan, Islam has been the official religion since 1973, and over the years, the State Department has urged our ally to repeal section 295(c) of the penal code. This is the section that stipulates the death penalty or life in prison for blaspheming Mohammed, and the State Department notes that it “contributes to inter-religious tension, intimidation, fear, and violence.” A Christian Pakistani, Ayub Masih, was jailed five years ago on a blasphemy charge, and he has now filed his final appeal against the death sentence imposed on him. Masih is alleged to have said, “If you want to know the truth about Islam, read Salman Rushdie.” An accusation by a Muslim neighbor was enough to secure the blasphemy conviction. Under Pakistan’s “Hudood ordinances,” the legal testimony of religious minorities is accorded half the weight of Muslims’. The testimony of a non- Muslim woman is halved again.

About the Author

Kate O'Beirne

PRESIDENT Bush’s repeated assertions about the peaceful nature of Islam were briefly interrupted when the State Department issued the annual report required by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. This year, as in the past, our Muslim-world partners in the coalition against terrorism were prominently featured among the most violent, most intolerant regimes in the world. Religious minorities are persecuted in over 20 states where Islam is the official or dominant religion. The million Christians who have fled the Muslim world in the past five years were hardly seeking sanctuary from the peaceful face of Islam.

With shocking regularity, human-rights groups report the death of Christians at the hands of Muslim militants in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. In Pakistan, Islam has been the official religion since 1973, and over the years, the State Department has urged our ally to repeal section 295(c) of the penal code. This is the section that stipulates the death penalty or life in prison for blaspheming Mohammed, and the State Department notes that it “contributes to inter-religious tension, intimidation, fear, and violence.” A Christian Pakistani, Ayub Masih, was jailed five years ago on a blasphemy charge, and he has now filed his final appeal against the death sentence imposed on him. Masih is alleged to have said, “If you want to know the truth about Islam, read Salman Rushdie.” An accusation by a Muslim neighbor was enough to secure the blasphemy conviction. Under Pakistan’s “Hudood ordinances,” the legal testimony of religious minorities is accorded half the weight of Muslims’. The testimony of a non- Muslim woman is halved again.