Pakistani Christian sentenced to death for 'blasphemous texts'

In July, a man accused of blasphemy was shot dead in a courtroom
in the northwestern city of Peshawar

Asif Pervaiz, 37, who has been in custody since 2013, given the death penalty for sending 'blasphemous' text messages.

Islamabad, Pakistan - A court within the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has sentenced a Christian man to death for having committed "blasphemy", his lawyer says, in the latest case of Pakistan's strict religious laws being applied against minorities.

Asif Pervaiz, 37, has been in custody since 2013 when he was accused of sending "blasphemous" text messages to a former supervisor at work, lawyer Saif-ul-Malook told Al Jazeera.

The court rejected his testimony wherein he denied the charges and sentenced him to death on Tuesday.

"The complainant was a supervisor during a hosiery factory where Asif was working under him," said Malook.

"He denied the allegations and said that this man was trying to induce him to convert to Islam."

Speaking in his own defense in court earlier in the trial, Pervaiz claimed the supervisor confronted him after he quit work on the factory, and when he refused to convert he was accused of having sent blasphemous text messages to the person.

Blasphemy laws

Muhammad Saeed Khokher, the complainant within the case, denies wanting to convert Parvaiz, according to his lawyer, Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry.

"He has taken this defense after the actual fact because he had no other clear defense," Chaudhry told Al Jazeera. "That's why he accused him of trying to convert him."

Chaudhry said there are other Christian employees at the factory, but none have accused Khokher of proselytizing.

Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws prescribe a compulsory execution for the crime of insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad, and strict penalties for other infractions like insulting Islam, the holy Quran, or certain holy people.

There is currently a minimum of 80 people in prison in Pakistan for the crime of "blasphemy", with a minimum of half them facing life sentences or the execution, in line with the United State's Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Those accused under the laws are mainly Muslim, during a rustic where 98 percent of the population follows Islam, but the laws disproportionately target members of minorities like Christians and Hindus.

Aasia Bibi case

In one of the foremost high-profile blasphemy cases within the country's history, the Supreme Court ruled in October 2018 that a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, had been framed in her case during which the laws had inadequate oversight for false accusations.

Those accusations can have deadly consequences. Since 1990, a minimum of 77 people is killed in relation to blasphemy allegations, according to an Al Jazeera tally.

Those killed have included people accused of blasphemy, their members of the family, lawyers, and judges who have acquitted those accused of the crime. Bibi fled Pakistan in 2019 as a result of threats against her life.

The latest such murder occurred in July when a man accused of blasphemy was shot six times in a courtroom during a hearing in his case.

His murderer was apprehended and was garlanded with roses by far-right supporters during subsequent court appearances.

This month has seen a sharp spike in blasphemy cases being registered in Pakistan, particularly in the most populous province of Punjab. Many of these cases have targeted the country's sizeable Shi'ite minority, which forms roughly 15 percent of the population.

Since a series of large-scale sit-in protests on the matter of blasphemy in 2017, political parties have increasingly been including messaging on blasphemy in their platforms.

The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, formed by firebrand scholar Khadim Hussain Rizvi before the 2018 polls, campaigned on a platform supported the defense of the blasphemy laws.

While it won few seats, it garnered the fourth-highest share of the countrywide popular vote by one party.

Sudan Agrees with Rebels to Remove Islam as State Religion

Lieutenant general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of Sudan holds up a pen before signing a peace deal with rebel groups on August 31.

Peace deals include bold pledges on religious freedom. But much work remains for the transitional government after three decades under Bashir’s strict sharia.

In signing successive peace deals with entrenched rebel movements last week, Sudan drew upon the legacy of Thomas Jefferson.

“The constitution should be based on the principle of ‘separation of religion and state,’” read the text of an agreement between the North African nation’s joint military-civilian transitional council and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM–N).

“The state shall not establish an official religion.”

The declaration of principles further cements Sudan’s efforts to undo the 30-year system of strict sharia law under President Omar al-Bashir, during which Islam was the religion of the state.

The agreement was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, four days after a more inclusive peace deal was signed with a coalition of rebel groups in the Sudan Revolutionary Front in Juba, South Sudan.

The Juba agreement established a national commission for religious freedom, which guarantees the rights of Christian communities in Sudan’s southern regions.

Sudan’s population of 45 million is roughly 91 percent Muslim and 6 percent, Christian. Open Doors ranks Sudan at No. 7 among the 50 nations where it is hardest to be a Christian.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) interpreted the agreement even more widely: to protect the rights of all Sudanese people to practice their religion of choice.

With a stronghold in the southern Nuba Mountains within the South Kordofan region, an area with a significant Christian population, the SPLM–N held out of the initial peace deal specifically because it did not guarantee the separation of religion and state.

“There are no equal citizenship rights, there’s no distribution of wealth, there’s no equal development in the country,” one rebel leader told South Sudan in Focus.

“There’s no equality between black and Arab, and Muslim and Christian.”

But now including most of the major rebel movements in the western Darfur region and the Sudanese south, the democratic transition can continue with national unity.

Following months of popular protests, Sudan’s military overthrew Bashir in April 2019. An interim constitution—which notably omitted reference to sharia law as the primary source of legislation—was signed in August 2019, establishing a ceasefire and a six-month window to achieve peace.

Negotiations began in late 2019, and the February 2020 deadline was extended.

Autonomy is granted to the southern regions of the Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Darfur, which had been split into five regions, will be reunified under its own governor with a special revenue-sharing agreement.

Rebel parties will receive 35 percent of government ministries, and 75 seats in the upcoming 300-member transitional parliament. Individual militants will be incorporated into the national army.

Sudan is currently led by an 11-member Sovereign Council, with one member a Coptic Christian. Currently headed by a military figure, a civilian will take the helm halfway through the three-year transition ending in 2022, with new elections.

Since the conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003, about 300,000 were killed with 2.7 million displaced from their homes. Thousands more were killed in the south since fighting began in 2011.

The civilian prime minister has already implemented significant changes.

In September 2019, Sudan and the United Nations agreed to open human rights offices in marginalized areas with significant religious minorities.

In December 2019, the public order law—used to punish individuals, especially women, in non-conformity with sharia law—was repealed.

And in July 2020, the Miscellaneous Amendments Act repealed the apostasy law, ended flogging for blasphemy, banned female genital mutilation (FGM), and permitted non-Muslims to drink alcohol.

The government additionally disbanded church councils used to control Christian congregations, declared Christmas a national holiday, and stated it is working on a uniform law for all religious worship.

But there is still much to do.

USCIRF noted that promised compensation claims for churches destroyed or confiscated during Bashir’s reign have been held up by bureaucracy. It called for full repeal of the blasphemy law, which still stipulates six-month imprisonment. And much work is necessary to reform remaining Islamist imprints in the judiciary and Ministry of Education.

Despite earlier hopes, Christianity will not be introduced for the first time in the national school curriculum. One pastor has complained that compulsory Islamic education sometimes results in the forced conversion of Christians to Islam.

And following the July repeal of sharia-based measures, thousands of Sudanese rallied against the “apostasy government.”

Sudan has witnessed several failed peace deals in the past, and significant hurdles toward full religious freedom remain.

But Christian leaders are hopeful.

“People here prefer to be cautious,” said Tombe Trille, Catholic bishop of El Obeid, capital of northern Kordofan, to the Vatican’s news agency. “But it is very important that a signature has finally been reached.

“We are all very happy.”

Article Source Link

Israelis Excited to Visit United Arab Emirates

Israel Tourism Minister Assaf Zamir

One of the “fruits” from the Israel-UAE peace deal should be bilateral tourism.

“We are looking forward to the arrival of UAE citizens in Israel and the day we can fly to visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We will not limit the number of tourists from the UAE. The peace agreement creates enormous potential for the Israeli economy and tourism, and we will do everything we can to promote cooperation between the two countries.”

This is what Israel Tourism Minister Assaf Zamir (pictured) said in an interview with UAE journalist Fahd al-Amiri.

Zamir added: “The two countries are geographically close to each other. It’s only a 3-hour flight between Israel and the Emirates. Israelis also like to travel to new destinations… and the amazing achievements we hear about the UAE make [many Israelis] excited to go there.”

The Minister mentioned in the interview that the main Arab countries Israeli citizens can visit are Egypt and Jordan. And there, too, Israelis go only in small numbers of about 200,000 tourists a year. Many more Israelis visit Asian countries, such as India and Thailand.

Segments from the interview:

Can tourists from the UAE visit Jerusalem?

“We want all tourist sites to be open without restrictions to tourists coming from the Emirates, both religiously oriented sites and non-religious. In general, I think all Israel will be open to the Emirate tourists.”

How will direct flights of airlines between the two countries attract more tourists?

“… mainly because … that makes it easier for the tourist to fly and travel between the countries.”

How does Israel see the tourism industry of the Emirates?

“I think Israeli tourists are excited to visit your country because we know that your country is a hospitable country and welcomes tourists from all over the world. In addition to the great beaches and restaurants you have, the unique culture attracts crowds to your country from everywhere.”

What tourism products will the State of Israel offer to tourists from the United Arab Emirates?

“The religious sites all over the country and chiefly the city of Jerusalem… not only the religious sites but also the cultural sites and other historical sites in Israel. In addition, we offer tourists diverse culinary experiences; the city of Tel Aviv and its wonderful restaurants and beaches; Eilat and desert attractions; the Negev, also the Upper Galilee and beautiful Mount Hermon covered in snow.”

Abdullah al-Mohiri, owner of the Golden Eagle Travel and Tourism Agency in Ras al-Khaimah, UAE said that peace and prosperity are two sides of the same coin, and one cannot be achieved without the other. Abdullah expects that the peace agreement will contribute to cooperation with the Israeli side and to the prosperity of all economic spheres, especially tourism, by virtue of being linked to stability in the region.”

On our side, tourism agents in Israel are eagerly awaiting the moment the peace agreement will enter into force. On the one hand, the agents think that many Emirate tourists will want to come to the holy sites in Israel and especially to Jerusalem. On the other hand, they think that the demand of Israelis to fly to Dubai and Abu Dhabi will outweigh the demand to fly to Turkey or Greece.

Even Arafat’s Wife Accepts Israel-UAE Normalization

Speaking to Israeli media, Arafat’s widow says she knows secrets that could bring down the Palestinian Authority

The Palestinian Authority is finding itself increasingly isolated in its fierce opposition to the announced normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Only Iran and Turkey have joined the Palestinians in loudly opposing this move toward peace.

In fact, even the widow of none other than Yasser Arafat, the man who made a career of trying to destroy Israel, has publicly accepted this dramatic development or at least is telling other Palestinians to stop opposing it.

After fellow Palestinians reacted to the news by publicly burning UAE flags and pictures of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, Suha Arafat took to Instagram to apologize to the Emiratis and their leader:

“I want to apologize, in the name of the honorable Palestinian people, to the Emirati people and their leadership for the desecration and burning of the UAE flag in Jerusalem and Palestine and for insulting the symbols of the beloved UAE country. These is not our morals, nor our customs, nor our traditions. The difference in opinion does not spoil the friendship. I tell our people to read history well to know how the UAE, past, and present, supported the Palestinian people and the cause. I apologize to the people and leadership of the Emirates for any harm done by any Palestinian to this generous and kind people who have always welcomed us.”

Now she’s under fire from Palestinians who see her, too, as a “traitor.”

“There are instructions to turn me into a traitor and these instructions come from the head of the president’s office,” Suha said in an interview last week with Israel’s Kan TV news.

She said the man who is after her is PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s private secretary Intisar Abu Amara, who Suha revealed is quietly controlling the Palestinian Authority behind the scenes.

Arafat’s widow went on to criticize the Palestinian Authority under its current leadership for falling into the trap of opposing the UAE peace deal as if the Palestinians don’t also cooperate with Israel.

“If Yasser Arafat were alive he’d go to Mohammed bin Zayed and [appeal for help in dealing with] Netanyahu,” she explained. “But to go and say an Arab country is a betrayer? Enough with the slogans. We collaborate with Israel, with the Shin Bet, and Mossad. Who are you kidding?”

Suha concluded the interview with Israeli media by threatening to expose deep, dark secrets about the current Palestinian leadership if they don’t back down in their attacks on her.

Red flags raised

That there are secrets dark enough to bring down the Palestinian Authority if exposed to its citizens should raise some pretty big red flags for anyone trying to birth a sovereign Palestinian state under that leadership.

The idea of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is that the Palestinian state it establishes should not only live in peace with Israel but be fully democratic and wholly self-sufficient. A true partner for a better future. If it’s going to end up being a hopelessly corrupt haven for armed gangs that’s entirely dependent on the goodwill of Israel and Jordan to stay afloat, then what’s the point?

Pipe down

Suha Arafat’s rare outspokenness on this issue also reveals the deep concern of Palestinians who are able to look past the propaganda and understand the risk posed by insulting the rich Gulf states.

The UAE in particular does not take kindly to criticism of its leaders.

Israel’s N12 news portal reported that Saudi Arabia had privately warned the Palestinian Authority to restrain its reactions, especially rallies atop the Temple Mount decrying the Israel-UAE deal. Burning UAE flags and referring to the Emirates as “traitors” could do irreparable damage to the Palestinian cause, said the Saudis.

Jordan is said to have issued a similar warning over concern that the Palestinian rallies could be seen as a threat against any Emiratis who take advantage of the new peace with Israel to visit the Temple Mount, which Jordan officially oversees.

But from the Muslim Brotherhood to Saddam Hussein to Iran, the Palestinians have a history of backing the wrong horse and putting themselves on the outs with the rest of the moderate Arab world.

It’s no surprise that they are doing the same thing now.

Today's Prayer Requests

Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. Romans 15:30

You also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:11

Lisa Lee | Prayers for other. Healing for Christopher Sims Reese. Doctors can't do nothing else. But I know God the Doctor who can heal anybody or anything. George Melton Jr. Healing from a stroke. Doctor given up. But Doctor Jesus has the last word. In the mighty name of Jesus. I know he can, will and able to heal them with one touch or one word. If it is the will of God to heal them. I pray that he will heal their weak bodies in the name of the Lord. Prayers for all around the world who are sick that can not get well from this virus Covid-19 or some other illness. God, show your miracle sign of healing for all if it is your will. I love you Jesus. Do your will and not ours. And when it is all said and done down here on earth. Please dear Jesus. Give us a place somewhere around your mansion in the sky(Heaven).

Mike |  I may lose my home, on the verge. Please Pray that a miracle comes my way so I don't become homeless.

Michael | My niece's boyfriend is under going cancer treatment Please pray that God gives him the strength that he needs to go through this and beat this disease

Melissa | Prayer requested for my step dad who had a mini stroke due to stress from his divorce. Prayer for my son who’s lost his way. Prayer for my entire family’s health and for my daughter and husband to be successful in their endeavors. AMEN

MC | know God is not going to bring a save beautiful woman in my life so please pray that I'll stand and serving the Lord by my self....Please pray for me I asked the Lord for the woman I loved and many have said they never returned home!!! So pray that I stand for the Lord alone. Many are on the 50's and 60's and 70's and still praying for the spouse return and no answers from the Lord. Now it my time to live alone as well and serve the Lord!!!

Vijay | Plz pray for a financial miracle in my life

Vicki | Please pray for help for my son Jerry to overcome his addiction to drugs and lead the productive life he was meant to have.

Carol | Praise the Lord , God is good. Please pray for my grand daughter in New Jersey in the USA that she will live a Godly life and put her trust in God.

IFEANYI | Please join me and thank God for life and family and also pray that God should grant me my heart desires and perfect all that concerns me this year

Vijay | Worried about debts heart squeezes plz pray for a financial miracle in my life immediately

Unterius L Carson | After I lost My job, I've been homeless here in Houston since last Saturday; August 22nd and I would like for you to Pray for Me.

Shannon | Please pray for baby Isabelle, she may have the entrovirus. Please pray for my children and grandchildren that they will come to know the Lord as their personal savior.

Pray for all those dealing with covid and the medical professionals taking care of them. Please pray for those with hate in their hearts that they may find forgiveness like Jesus has forgiven them. God bless you all.

UTTAM PRADHAN | pray for us

Joshi Kirubakaran G | I have started a new business - INSPIRE DEGITAL MEDIA SOLUTIONS INDIA. and it will commence from tomorrow on wards. The target is very tough. Please pray for the staff who will work to complete the task.

NG |  Please pray for my father. He has heart failure problem and in hospital. Let God touch him with a healing hand.

UB |  Please pray for God's helpful guidance in my time of searching.

David Fowler | Please pray for open hearts for the lost as we will be in Ohio sharing the gospel this week.

If you have a prayer request, feel free to reach via the contact form or send an email: businessofchrist@gmail.com