okay..here's what your dude claims, and following that, Blasphemy Law In Islam
so much for pussyfooting around "rational and logical thought" VS REALITY!!
Post #327 Excerpts From:
Name: Ahmad Kutty
Born in Kerala State, India (1946)
Nationality: Canadian
Now coming to the false notion that everyone who leaves Islam is automatically
killed, I can assure you that this was certainly not the case in many cases.
Even though the penalty for treason was the death penalty (as was the case
in the Law of Moses as well), there was no targeting of people who simply
chose to leave Islam without any implication of treason.
Moreover, it is incorrect to say that everyone who leaves Islam is automatically killed.
Thus, if an apostate causes no harm to the Muslim community and does not call for spreading
hostility towards Islam, he is not to be punished, rather he is to be advised kindly and
wisely to let him know the true image of Islam.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Blasphemy#Blasphemy_in_IslamNEW WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA
Blasphemy in Islam
Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.Blasphemy in Islam constitutes speaking
ill God, of the prophet Muhammad, any other prophet mentioned in the Qur'an, or of any
biblical prophets. The Qu'ran also states—in direct opposition to traditional Christian
tradition—that it is blasphemy to claim that Jesus Christ is the son of God (5.017).
For those who blaspheme by attacking the Qur'an or the Prophet, the Qur'an says that the
punishment shall be "execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from
opposite sides, or exile from the land: That is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy
punishment is theirs in the Hereafter" (Surah Al-Maidah 5:33).
In Muslim countries, blasphemy is still considered a very serious offense and may in
some cases be punishable by death. British author Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic
Verses was seen by many Muslims to contain blasphemies against Islam, and Iranian
leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989, calling for Rushdie's death. More
recently, cartoons published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten were criticized
on the basis that they were blasphemous against Muhammad. The Egyptian government,
under pressure by the parliament, banned the film, The Da Vinci Code, and is to
confiscate the novel for containing blasphemy. In Pakistan and other Islamic nations,
Christians often bear the brunt of the country’s blasphemy laws.
Pakistan
Among Muslim-majority countries, Pakistan has the strictest anti-blasphemy laws.
In 1982, President Zia ul-Haq introduced Section 295B to the Pakistan Penal Code
punishing "defiling the Holy Qur'an" with life imprisonment. In 1986, Section 295C
was introduced, mandating the death penalty for "use of derogatory remarks in
respect of the Holy Prophet."
In 1990, the Federal Shari’ah Court ruled that the penalty should be a mandatory death
sentence, with no right to reprieve or pardon. This is binding, but the government
is yet to formally amend the law, which means that the provision for life sentence
still formally exists, and is used by the government as a concession to critics of
the death penalty. In 2004, the Pakistani parliament approved a law to reduce the
scope of the blasphemy laws. The amendment to the law means that police officials
will have to investigate accusations of blasphemy to ensure that they are well
founded, before presenting criminal charges.
However, the law is allegedly used against political adversaries or personal enemies,
by Muslim fundamentalists against Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs, or for personal
revenge. Especially Ahmadi Muslims are victims of the blasphemy law. They claim
to be Muslims themselves, but under the blasphemy law, they are not allowed to
use Islamic vocabulary or rituals.
The Pakistani Catholic bishops' Justice and Peace Commission complained in July 2005,
that since 1988, some 650 people had been falsely accused and arrested under the
blasphemy law. Moreover, over the same period, some 20 people accused of the same
offense had been killed. As of July 2005, 80 Christians were in prison accused of
blasphemy.
Christians in Pakistan protested Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code as blasphemous,
with the support of Muslims as well. On June 3, 2006, Pakistan banned the film.
Culture Minister Gulab Jamal said: "Islam teaches us to respect all the prophets of
God Almighty and degradation of any prophet is tantamount to defamation of the rest."[3]
Indonesia
Although considered one of the more moderate Muslim nations, Indonesian blasphemy
laws allow a person to be jailed for up to five years. Yet Article 29, b, of
Indonesia's constitution states: "The State guarantees all persons the freedom of
worship, each according to his/her own religion or belief." In July 2006, Lia Aminddin,
the female leader of the Kingdom of Eden sect, was jailed for two years. This sect
was neither Christian nor Muslim, and was based in Jakarta. Aminuddin had preached
her beliefs with impunity for a decade, until she declared that she was the spirit
of the Archangel Gabriel. Islamists from the Indonesian Council of Ulemas surrounded
her compound in Jakarta for two days, in December 2005, until Aminuddin and 48 others
were arrested and charged. The prosecution sought the five-year penalty against
Aminuddin, and launched an appeal against her "lenient" sentence.
Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, the death sentence has been applied for apostasy, though in Saudi Arabia,
the last known execution for apostasy happened in 1992. More generally, such cases are
charged as blasphemy. In Saudi Arabia, blasphemy has been punished with sentences of
decapitation or imprisonment for up to eight years. The latter sentence was imposed
in 2002, on a man who had said he found the Qur'an "boring." On January 7, 2003,
Hail Al Masri, a Yemeni fruit seller living in Jeddah was sentenced to death by
decapitation. His "crime" had been to refuse his roommate's entreaties to engage in
morning prayers. Masri had been sentenced to two years' jail and 600 lashes, but this
had been overturned by a Jeddah court, which had imposed the death penalty.
Topic: convinced rational muslim