From: sethr@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (seth.r.rosenthal)
Subject: Re: PROMINENT IRANIAN BAHA'I EXECUTED
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 14:18:37 GMT
Followup-To: talk.politics.mideast
Summary: Islamic tolerance in Islamic Palestine?

In article <1992Apr14.135627.6297@fmg.bt.co.uk>, ghbr@fmg.bt.co.uk (Hossein Bagherzadeh Rafsanjani) writes:
> 
> There is a distinction in Islamic, and in particular Shi'a, jurisprudence
> between pre and post Islamic beliefs and also between someone born inside a
> religious belief and someone who acquires one.  
> 
> Islam, on its own birth, accepted existing religions but regarded them as
> elapsed.  But then, faced with the resistance of adherents of those faiths to
> convert to Islam, made a concession and allowed them to continue in their
> beliefs with some restriction in the Islamic society.  But any religion born
> after Islam, especially in its own realm, is regarded as a heresy and so is
> unacceptable as a religion.  In view of the Islamic theologists, to do
> otherwise is an admission of inadecquacy of Islam.  They regard Islam as the
> last and most perfect religion for all time.  The ones coming before it were
> imperfect.  The one coming after it make Islam look imperfect by implication.
> That is something very hard to accept by an Islamic theologian.  The result is
> persecution and murder on a grand scale as Baha'is have witnessed in Iran and
> other folowers of similar beliefs in other Moslem countries.
> 
> But there is another feature which is more strange (and anti-human) and is
> common in respect of ALL non-Islamic religions.  That is: A person born out of
> Islamic wed-lock has virtually no right to convert to any other religion.
> Again, the "rationale" behind it is that such an action is a proclamation that
> the other religion is somehow better than Islam.  If you are born with that
> belief you may be forgiven.  But if you have experienced Islam, how dare you
> declare a deficiency in Islam by converting to some other religion?  This has
> been the ground for executing a number of Christians in Iran who by their very
> name were obvious to have been born as Moslems!  Two of such executions are
> Hassan Dehghaani Tafti (a Bishop In Tehran/Esfahan) and Hossein Soodmand (in
> Mashhad).  A convert to Baha'i faith can hardly expect a better treatment.
> 
> Indeed, the treatment of someone who is born as Moslem and then is converted to
> some other religion is very severe indeed in Shi'a (I am not sure of other
> Islamic sects' positions on this): such a person is condemned to death and no
> repentence is allowed (mortadd-e fetri)!  This is in contrast with someone who
> first converts from another religion to Islam and then changes her/his mind and
> goes back to the old religion (mortadd-e melli).  The action of both is
> regarded as a capital offence and punished by death.  But in the second case,
> repentance is allowed and the death threat may be lifted.  However, there is no
> way out for the one who is born in a Moslem family.  S/HE HAS TO DIE.  Period.
> 

I would like to thank Hossein for answering some of the questions often
repeated on the net, ignored at least by Anisa,
that is:

1) Could a Muslim convert to Judaism in Islamic Palestine?

2) Could the child of a Muslim and a Jew be brought up Jewish
in Islamic Palestine?

3) Can a synagogue be built taller than a mosque in Islamic Palestine?

....

We also know the chances of restoring Judaism to the descendants
of the Jews of Meshed who were forced converted to Islam
in the 19th century.

Thanks for being honest with us.

	Seth Rosenthal

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own not my employers'.

Newsgroups: alt.discrimination,alt.news-media,soc.culture.iranian,soc.rights.human,talk.politics.mideast,talk.religion.misc