Islam is the only world religion which demands that people who leave it should be killed. As a graduate of Al-Azhar university, Ms Al-Imam is an expert in Sharia law. She knows this. Also, Ms Al-Imam’s decision to sing this song with her children would have been done in the full knowledge that, even if she escapes with her life, she is liable to lose custody of her children. Moreover, as an apostate from Islam, Ms Al-Imam has become a legal non-person
by Mark Durie, The Iconoclast, July 10, 2010
This is an extraordinarily courageous YouTube video of Nagla Al-Imam, an Egyptian attorney and prominent human rights activist, who has recently converted from Islam to Christ. In this video she sings a spiritual song together with her two children, asking Christ to hold their hands and strengthen them as they go through the high waves of persecution.
Ms Al-Imam posted this video after she was reportedly bashed by the Egyptian security forces: the bruises are clearly visible on her face, and she can barely open her mouth to sing: perhaps her jaw was broken in the assault.
According to Islamic law, any Muslim who leaves Islam loses custody of their children. The children are to be placed in the custody of a Muslim relative. This is one of the points made in apostasy fatwas (rulings) issued by the Chief Scholar of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute, His Excellency Shaykh Sa‘id Hijjawi, during the time when he was Grand Mufti of Jordan (from 1992-2007). (The Aal al-Bayt Institute was the sponsor of the Common Word letter to the Christian world.)
Islam is the only world religion which demands that people who leave it should be killed. As a graduate of Al-Azhar university, Ms Al-Imam is an expert in Sharia law. She knows this. Also, Ms Al-Imam’s decision to sing this song with her children would have been done in the full knowledge that, even if she escapes with her life, she is liable to lose custody of her children. Moreover, as an apostate from Islam, Ms Al-Imam has become a legal non-person. She may well be unable to act in her own defense in a court of law, and has most likely lost any capacity to earn her living as a lawyer.
Ms Al-Imam would have been fully aware of the risk of losing her children when she converted to Christianity. This video has a similar function to the tattooed cross on the wrists of Coptic Christians: it is a declaration of faith in Christ no matter what may happen. The fact that her children are singing in this video shows that they share their mother’s Christian faith. She is, I believe, asking the world to pay attention to their fate, and has established a visible witness to the children in the future, should they be taken from her and forced to re-accept Islam.
Nagla Al-Imam has declared on the internet that she will not flee, but is determined to stay in Egypt. (See article by Nonie Darwish from August 2009).
You can sign a petition on line here for the support of the freedom of religion in the Muslim world. Your voice will count in removing the suffering of those who suffer for choosing to follow their conscience by leaving Islam. Please take a moment to sign this petition and pass this message on to others who may be willing to sign.
