A Crime Worthy of Death

The video below is a German news report about the plight of Egyptian Muslims who have converted to Christianity. It’s an urgent reminder of why we need to make the world safe for apostasy. Many thanks to JLH for the translation and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:



A full transcript is below the jump.
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00:00   Maher El Gohary and his fourteen year-old daughter today in front of the state court building in Cairo
00:09   They want to gain the right to leave Egypt.
00:11   They say the police, as harassment, have refused them permission.
00:15   “Since we converted to Christianity, our future is ruined.
00:21   We are discriminated against. I do not believe that we will receive justice.”
00:24   Although they converted to Christianity years ago, they are still officially Muslims,
00:31   because the authorities refuse to enter the change of religion in their identification papers,
00:38   although that would be permissible according to the constitution.
00:40   The Goharys live clandestinely in Cairo. Maher’s daughter was forced
00:46   to attend Islamic instruction and because she is officially a Muslim,
00:49   she can never marry a Christian.
00:52   Moreover, they fear for their lives. “We will run, under threat.
01:00   Radical sheikhs have called for our blood to be shed.
01:03   We are afraid of the uneducated people on the street.”
01:07   In fact, apostasy in the eyes of many fanatics, is a crime worthy of death.
01:15   Condemnation by the sheikhs can be interpreted as a death order.
01:20   One of their spokesmen, Jussuf Al-Badri, whose fatwas…
01:24   — religious opinions — are especially feared by converts.
01:28   “God has commanded us to kill those who leave Islam.”
01:34   According to Badri, conversion to Christianity is a fatal sin.
01:40   Bishoy Boulos, too, has converted to Christianity.
01:44   According to his Pass, he is still a Muslim
01:47   Bishoy blames the sheikhs, but also the government.
01:50   “The sheikhs have called for me to be killed, …
01:53   … my house has been set on fire, I have been shot at,
01:57   If they kill us, the government will not punish the murderers.”
02:01   According to information from the Coptic Church,
02:04   hundreds want to convert from Islam to Christianity,
02:08   but the government refused recognition and is fomenting a climate of fear.
02:13   “The interior minister himself wrote in a letter that was published in a newspaper:
02:19   Converts are to be killed.”
02:22   However, anyone who wishes to moves from Christianity to Islam is very welcome.
02:25   Recognition and entry in the Pass (of the new status) are immediate.