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Sunday, October 15, 2006

 

'Girl’s conversion results in mother’s death'

Reposted with permission from ASSIST News Service.
'Girl’s conversion results in mother’s death'
By Elizabeth Kendal.
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service

October 13th - (ANS) A shocking killing on the east coast of Australia, in Queensland's popular Gold Coast region, illuminates the great and urgent need for rigorous, open debate on what Western religious liberty means for Muslim immigrants, and what Islam's rejection of apostasy means for Christians in terms of convert care.

On the evening of Monday 9 October, Kaihana Hussain, the teenage daughter of Muslim immigrants, told her parents that she was converting from Islam to Christianity. Her father responded with unrestrained fury. Neighbours heard "blood curdling" and "terrifying" screams and cries of "Help me, help me, they're trying to kill me", but they were unsure which apartment the screams were coming from, and the voices were unfamiliar.

After a short time, Kaihana came running out of the family's apartment, dressed only in her underwear, her clothes torn off, blood splattered over her severely scratched and cut body.

All that is known at this stage is that after her father began to attack her, Kaihana's mother, Yasmin (41, and a strict and devout Muslim), intervened to aid and protect her daughter.

What police found when they entered the apartment was Yasmin bleeding severely from a fatal knife wound to the chest, and her husband, Kaihana's father, Dr Muhammad Hussain (49) also bleeding from a potentially fatal knife wound to the chest. Blood was splattered on walls, floors and doorways throughout the three-bedroom luxury apartment. Yasmin died at the scene and Dr Hussain is presently hospitalised in an induced coma, in a critical condition. Police have confirmed that Kaihana is not a suspect in their deaths.

The Herald Sun reports: "Dr Hussain completed his medical training at the Chittagong Medical College in Bangladesh in 1982. In 2001, he completed a masters in family medicine in Australia and four years later was granted a fellowship by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners." (Link 1)

After migrating to Australia, the family settled in Adelaide, South Australia. They sent their daughter to the local non-denominational Christian school because of its high academic, and no doubt moral, standards.

It appears that Kaihana was profoundly influenced by this exposure to Christianity. The Australian newspaper reports that the family's recent move from Adelaide, South Australia, to the Gold Coast, Queensland, was prompted by Dr Hussain's fear that Kaihana's Muslim faith was being threatened by her education. (Link 2)

Dr Hussain moved to the Gold Coast in September and Yasmin and Kaihana joined him on the weekend of 7-8 October, just after Kaihana's 17th birthday, and only days before Kaihana told her parents she was committed to converting to Christianity.The Herald Sun reported on 11 October, "A Muslim source told The Gold Coast Bulletin last night that Dr Hussain arrived a month ago to take up a position as a GP and prepare for his family to join him.

"'From what we understand the daughter decided to tell her father of her radical plan to convert to Christianity which, in the eyes of most Muslims, is totally unacceptable and to be honest, sadly, many would react as he has done,' said the source.

"'It is the Islamic way that if a son or daughter does or plans to do something that is unacceptable or wrong for a Muslim then it is the mother who is automatically at fault and will bear the brunt of the blame."' (Link 1)

Links
1) HERALD SUN. Islam row behind mum's death. 11 October 2006.
See also
THE AUSTRALIAN NEWS. Mother killed after teen rejects Islam
By Annabelle McDonald and Jeremy Roberts. 12 October 2006

2) Elite school rejects honour killing link
by Jeremy Roberts and Annabelle McDonald. 13 October 2006

Elizabeth Kendal is the Principal Researcher and Writer for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) www.worldevangelical.org/.

Elizabeth can be contacted by e-mail at rl-research@crossnet.org.au.

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Bosun's comments: After researching various passages of the Qur'an and other interpretations of Mohammad's words, I am completely confused on what is or is not acceptable in Islam. The imam Husain has certainly clouded the Apostasy issue by saying that the Qur'an and Mohammed's words should not be taken literally. If I am confused it is certainly possible that the doctor was also confused.

Perhaps the doctor's confusion regarding his faith and his fear of being rejected by his extended family members in Bangladesh and his Muslim society caused him to take the life of his wife and attempted murder of his daughter.

Muhammadanism.org has a different interpretation about the penalty of Apostasy

"...the statement of Allah's Apostle,'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'"(Sahih al-Bukhari vol. 9, No. 57 p. 45)
Muhammadanism.org's summary: In Shari’ah law, the penalty for a Muslim who departs from Islam is death. Quotations from Islamic legal sources are presented, so a person can read for himself the Islamic texts where capital punishment is prescribed as the appropriate punishment for the crime of apostasy. A Muslim's fear of being rejected by family and society and possibly murdered is a deterrent against conversion from Islam. Source: Questions on Apostasy or Riddah
One has to wonder if the imam Husain committed blasphemy for saying that the practice of Riddah was taken out of context? Will the radicalized Islamos issue a fatwah condemning Husain?

Islam needs to go through a period of enlightenment and has to accept the other religions before it enters the 21st century. Otherwise it will remain a 10th century religion. Until the period of enlightenment, we can expect to see honor killings and other acts of violence committed by those who interpret the the words of Mohammad literally. Perhaps for them there is no other way other than blind obedience and the sword.

Technorati tags: Islam in the News ... Honour Killings ... Religious Feud ... Ritual killing ... Muslim ... Christianity ... International News ... World News and Politics ... Koran ... Australian News ... Muslim Religious Killing ... Convert ... Apostasy ... Riddah ... Islamofacism ... Islamist ... Qur'an.



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