Will Morocco Inflict the Death Penalty for Apostasy?

Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney’s latest article was published today at the American Thinker. Some excerpts are below:

Will Morocco Inflict the Death Penalty for Apostasy?
by Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney

The Supreme Ulema Council of Morocco plans to issue a fatwa decreeing the death penalty for apostasy, according to Moroccan news website Lakome. This council, which consists of religious Muslim scholars (ulema) appointed by the Ministry of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs, is considered the highest religious government institution in Morocco.

Lakome reports that this information was made public earlier this week by the Moroccan daily newspaper Akhbar Al Youm. The Council recently voiced its opinion on freedom of religion, claiming that the death penalty should be applied to Moroccan Muslims who convert from Islam. According to another Moroccan website Medias24, this issue was discussed all day long this past Tuesday on Moroccan radio.

Both Lakome and Medias24 reported that this fatwa was requested by and sent to the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights of Morocco, led by Mahjoub El Haiba. However, Mr. El Haiba denies having received any fatwa or notices on apostasy. The Supreme Ulema Council is led by secular King Mohammed Vl of Morocco, a country recognized as being one of the most moderate of Muslim countries.

At present, there is no death penalty for apostasy in Morocco….not yet. Islam is the state religion, according to Article 3 of the 2011 Moroccan Constitution. Therefore, it should not come as a shock when apostasy or anything that runs counter to Islam, aka Sharia Law, is punished.

The Western notion of human rights and freedom of religion cannot be guaranteed in a country that declares Islam as the official religion, and in a country that ensures the King “sees to the respect for Islam“ as per Article 41 of the Moroccan Constitution. Laws that do not conform to Sharia cannot be upheld forever in a country like Morocco that has accepted the Cairo Declaration, which places Sharia Law above all other systems of law.

Read the rest at the American Thinker.

Previous posts by Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney:

2012   Nov   29   One-Sided Indoctrination in Montreal Schools
2013   Mar   13   Education in Egypt, Shariah Style — Islamic Teachers Beat Children
        24   Human Rights Abuses Today — Shariah Style