Congratulations to Irfan Yusuf for "telling it like it is". The status of women needs a lot of attention as the case of Mukhtaran Bibi, a rape victim turned human-rights campaigner shows. To his credit President Musharraf arranged for compensation to be paid when her case first came up, but her passport was taken away and she "disappeared when she was invited to visit the U.S.A. Fortunately there was such an uproar from the International community that she was released after being intimidated and threatened.
However she is courageous and will continue with her campaign. Some say that on average a woman is raped every two hours in Pakistan and two women a day die in "honour" killings. Keep up the good work Irfan.

Irfan Yusuf,
Great letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Irfan. Thanks for highlighting these grose human injustiices.

In a recent article written by Babette Francis on religious vilification in Pakistan and the blasphemy law Article 295 section B offences against the Koran and C offences of insults against the prophet in word, writing, deed or visible representations including direct or indirect insinuations if found guilty - maximum penalty death. She quotes the Justice and Peace Commission of Pakistan's Catholic Bishops listing 647 persons convicted of "blasphemy" imprisoned and 20 convicted 'blasphemers have received the death penalty.

Irfan !!
thankyou. When people speak truth, they will be embraced and applauded. This from 'me' who has spoken 'not a few words' in relation to Islam elsewhere.
My passion is based on the very things you raise. How Islam is 'translated' by political and clerical interests in countries where Islam 'rules' -from the Sharia.

FYI I also would condemn any 'political theocratic' approach to Christianity in our own land if it ever tried to legislate 'belief'. I prefer the 'new hearts make new societies' approach. This is not to neglect our political/social responsibilities as Christians in a democracy though, as we have legitimate interests and rights also.

I emphasise that you are always free to criticize and point out any matter which concerns you re the Christian faith, I just ask that you always tie it back to the fundamentals of Christ and his teaching and that of the Apostles. Anything wider than this is like the same problems witnessed by early Islam after the 4 'rightly guided caliphs' as noted in Islamic historical writings where the subsequent caliphs took more of a 'royalty' approach and distanced themselves from the people, unlike the first 4 who were companions of the prophet. I still have things to say about them, but those things are historical.

p.s. I am aware of, and condemn in the name of God almighty, the abuses of fellow man done 'in the name of' Christ by those of various times who used His name as a launching pad for their own political agenda's. How wonderful it would be if we could all take the attitude of Zachaeus a tax collector who had grown rich from exploiting his position to defraud the oppressed Jews of Jesus day who said to Jesus "Lord, those I defrauded I restore to them fourfold"
Jesus responded "Today, salvation has come to this household"

Can we imagine how our society would be if we lived this ? How could we translate this attitude into our relations with indigenous Australians ? We are all 'Tax Collectors' in one sense.

Irfan,

Congratulations on an excellent article.
I can only recall the great scholar Imam Abdu who visited Europe early last century and his famous quote: " in the west, I have seen Islam but no muslims...back here, I see muslims but no Islam".

It is sad to see great thinkers, scholars and reformists calls being ignored yet again (similar thing happened in Egypt).

Islamic reform need to happen within and today goverments of muslim countries have to be careful about their place at the cross roads of history: will they be the great reformists who enabled Islamic culture to contribute to human progress for centuries to come or will they go down in the history recycling bin.

AK