Men Face Death For Quran Translation - Foreign Affairs - Nairaland
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| Men Face Death For Quran Translation by Nobody: 6:40pm On Feb 06, 2009 |
HEADLINES 2 Afghans face death over translation of Quran http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090206/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_translation_on_trial;_ylt=AvG5LrLka32Jvg52J5L_IoMUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTE5OHBycTVxBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bi1tb3N0LXZpZXdlZARzbGsDMmFmZ2hhbnNmYWNl @richyblack, if u could remember in some posts somewhere u said and i rephrase that every religion one way or the other tries to win members to it, well with a situation as this, 2 men trying to spread Islam by translation of the Quran are facing death sentences, do u think they did the right thing or it is only by Jihad Islam must spread>?? |
| Re: Men Face Death For Quran Translation by RichyBlacK(m): 7:01pm On Feb 06, 2009 |
[size=18pt]2 Afghans face death over translation of Quran[/size] By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writer Fri Feb 6, 7:39 am ET 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. [b]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.[/b] 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." |
| Re: Men Face Death For Quran Translation by NegroNtns(m): 7:13pm On Feb 06, 2009 |
If I get the story right he did not seek to revise the Quran. All he has done is print translations in the local language to help facilitate religious understanding amongst the indigenes. This act can be viewed in three ways. Before I give opinion on that I want to say that the threats of execution and violence against the guy is extreme and is not how Islam called for matters of this gravity to be disposed. This is not Islam, this is local habits and customs for honor. Anyone acting below what is considered threshold of honor is subject to public humiliation generally in Afghanistan, man or woman. 1. This translation, prior to distribution and circulation, should have been reviewed by scholars of good standing to ensure that it represents the Quran. Did this happen? 2. Before now, how did the locals learn Quran and how did they practice their religion? What is this guy's status in that community? 3. Political propaganda. Given the touchy issue of foreign military presence and a swath of NGOs, most of whom are sponsored by Christian and Jewish institutions, what are the imapcts to the local practice of any ambition by the foreigners to fund education and thus infiltrate ideologies into scholastic development, both of religious faith and a gateway of cultural assimilation into Western lifestyles? Are there proposals by Westerners and these NGOs to review or create new instruction curriculum for Afghanistan schools? |
| Re: Men Face Death For Quran Translation by RichyBlacK(m): 7:24pm On Feb 06, 2009 |
kaecy5: kaecy5, I'm with you on this one, however, I will not put the blame on Islam (a wonderful religion in my view) but on the timidity of moderates within Islam for allowing foolish extremists to hijack the religion for so long. There are Muslims in Turkey, Morocco and Egypt that won't consider this an issue. Imagine those idiotic mullahs sentencing a man to death for converting to Christianity. How can true Muslims allow fools to run the show in Afghanistan? As far as I'm concerned, the human rights ramifications of these issues carry more weight than any interpretation of any religion! Every individual must have the right to chose whatever religion he/she wants to be part of, and bloodthirsty, ignorant, barbaric mullahs in Afghanistan cannot stop anybody born a Muslim from becoming a Christian if he/she so wishes! On the issue of translation of the Qur'an into other languages, this goes back to the Arab-centric mindset of many Muslims, which I discussed in some other thread. As far back as 1,400 years ago, parts of the Qur'an were translated to Persian (now Farsi). As long as the Arabic version is not altered, there is absolutely nothing wrong in translating the Qur'an into other languages! This foolish reaction by idiotic mullahs to kill people for doing nothing, only shows that these mullahs are afraid of losing their relevance in society. When barbarians are accorded powers, they use death as the means of holding on to that power. They fear becoming irrelevant in a world that is not afraid of them! "In January 2008, a court sentenced a journalism student to death for blasphemy for asking questions about women's rights under Islam." How can Muslims stand by and allow lunatics (so-called mullahs) to display such macabre barbarism? The time has come for the moderates in Islam to fight back and wrestle Islam from the bloodthirsty fangs of the extremists that put Islam in bad light! |
| Re: Men Face Death For Quran Translation by RichyBlacK(m): 7:37pm On Feb 06, 2009 |
Negro_Ntns: I agree. Those mullahs should be tried for human rights violation. No interpretation of any religion, by moderates or extremists, should threaten the fundamental human rights of any human anywhere in the universe! This is my firm conviction! |
| Re: Men Face Death For Quran Translation by NegroNtns(m): 7:55pm On Feb 06, 2009 |
I concur with you Richy. They are sadists behind the mask of religion flaunting authority to dehumanise and subvert vulnerable population to the calls and whims of their animalistic ego. In as much as they use God in vain to perpetrate their sadistic acts of terror against men, women and children, then their place is HELL FIRE! |
| Re: Men Face Death For Quran Translation by omoredia: 10:46am On Mar 17 |
Hehe u wan translate fire? Oga u dey overdo |
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