Mother's Day was not a happy day for Meriam
Yahia Ibrahim. While her second child is almost
due, the 27-year-old Sudanese doctor now faces
execution for marrying a Christian.
Ibrahim has been imprisoned, along with her 20-
month-old son, in Khartoum since February. She
is married to a South Sudanese Christian with U.S.
citizenship—Daniel Wani—but because her father
was a Muslim, the state does not recognize her
marriage and charged her with adultery and
apostasy in March. Morning Star News (MSN) has
chronicled her case.
On Sunday [May 11], Ibrahim drew a fresh round
of activist attention after a court convicted her
and sentenced her to death for apostasy and 100
lashes for adultery. MSN has the details. Middle
East Concern reports that "there is no known
precedent for such a verdict and sentence being
issued by a Sudanese court against a follower of
Jesus in recent times."
Ibrahim's case represents the increasing
Islamization of Sudan ever since the 2011
secession of predominantly Christian South
Sudan. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has
made it clear that Sudan's political stance going
forward is a "100 per cent Islamic constitution,
without communism or secularism or Western
[influences]."
"Mrs Ibrahim's sentence is the latest and most
significant in a series of repressive acts by the
Sudanese government against religious
minorities," said Christian Solidarity Worldwide
(CSW). "If the sentence is carried out Mrs Ibrahim
will become the first person to be executed for
apostasy under the 1991 penal code, prompting
concerns that the charge may increasingly be
used against anyone who converts from Islam."
CSW reports:
The sentence comes months after the chairman of
the Islamic Centre for Preaching and Comparative
Studies, Ammar Saleh, accused the government of
negligence in addressing apostasy and urged it to
"stand against Christianisation and come up with
a long term solution to the problem." Although
President al Bashir has repeatedly stated that
Sudan's new constitution would be "100%
Islamic" and wholly based on Shari'a law, the new
constitution has yet to be finalised, leaving the
interim constitution in place, which references
Shari'a as a source of law and not as the basis of
the constitution. Since the charges against Mrs
Ibrahim are based on Shari'a law, the interim
constitution still provides for her right to freedom
of religion or belief.
The children of a Muslim father are automatically
considered to be Muslims in Sudan, even though
Ibrahim said she never practiced Islam. Her
Muslim father left the family when she was six
years old, and she was raised by her Christian
mother.
Ibrahim was convicted by the El Haj Yousif Public
Order Court of both crimes, and could be given
100 lashes for adultery and then put to death for
apostasy soon after her baby is born later this
month, according to human rights workers. The
court implied that her sentence could be reduced
or dismissed if she converts to Islam this week.
"Meriam is very weak and tired as the delivery
day gets closer," a Justice Center Sudan worker
told MSN. "The Sudanese authority keeps pushing
Meriam to announce Islamic faith."
"She is psychologically tired," Wani told MSN.
"My wife was never a Muslim. As an American
citizen, I ask the people and government of the
USA to help me."
The U.S. Embassy in Sudan asked him to provide
a DNA test to prove he is the father of his son,
Wani told MSN. Wani would have to meet U.S.
requirements for his children to receive U.S.
citizenship.
CT regularly reports on Sudan—No. 11 on the
World Watch List for severe Christian
persecution—including the Christian crackdown
moving the nation closer to becoming "100
percent" Muslim, as well as the government's
refusal to issue licenses to new churches.
CT has also reported on other Christians facing
death penalties, including Asia Bibi sentenced for
blasphemy in Pakistan, four missionaries who
faced evangelism charges in Benghazi, and
Christian converts who feared execution orders in
Morocco.
http://www.everydaydevotional.com/2014/05/americans-wife-faces-sudan-death.html
