“We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death.” – Judge Abbas Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Khartoum district of Haj Yousef, Sudan
Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag has been found guilty of apostasy, renouncing her Islam faith and becoming a Christian. She has also been found guilty of adultery since her marriage to a Christian is not recognized. She is 27, married to Daniel Wani, an American citizen from South Sudan, has a 20 month old son named Martin who is also imprisoned with her and she is nine months pregnant. Her husband has been refused visitation for both her and their son.
Before Mariam is hanged, she will endure 100 lashes, the sentence given for adultery.
Mohamed Ghilan, an expert in Islamic jurisprudence, told Al Jazeera, “Even in the context of war, women were historically excluded from punishment, Ghilan said. “Women could not be executed because of the vehement declaration of the prophet not to harm women.”
How could this happen?
On Al Jazeera the issue is debated as if it actually makes sense to charge and incarcerate a child, let alone a woman whose only crime was getting married. Now she is forced to show that she was raised a Christian and didn’t commit apostasy. The comments are limited to men. Here is one who appears to have a judicial argument.
The Lonely Conservative asks, “Where’s the Outrage?” The question is a good one. Where was the outrage in the Congo when thousands of women were raped and tortured? Where is the outrage in India where women are continually raped simply because they wish to assert some form of independence. Why is rape not a hate crime in the U.S. and attacks on individuals because of their race and sexual orientation are? Why is there no outrage? Could we handle it?