Call to Mercy

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I received this information from a friend by email. According to the email, "Asia Bibi received the Death Penalty for insulting Islam…Blasphemy." This occurred in Pakistan.

On June 19^th, 2009 she was arrested and taken from her family, which included 5 children. According to the email, on January 4th, 2011 she was given a trial under Sharia Law and convicted of blasphemy and then sentenced to DEATH by hanging. According to Wikipedia, she was sentenced in November of 2010.

According to the email that I received, all she did was to make the following statement: "Our Christ sacrificed his life on the cross for our sins. Our Christ is alive." This is additionally reported on a number of websites, including Call for Mercy and Persecution.com.

However, additional research reveals that she was purported to make inflammatory statements against the Prophet Muhammad. The following is a direct quote from the Huffington Post: "According to CNN, the women alleged that Bibi said, 'the Quran is fake and your prophet remained in bed for one month before his death because he had worms in his ears and mouth. He married Khadija just for money and after looting her kicked her out of the house.'"

All the facts are not clear. What is clear is that this is a Christian woman who does not deserve to die because of what she said. Whether she was convicted for making an affirmative statement about Christ or making a derogatory statement about the Prophet Muhammad, she should not be put to death. Either way, as a Christian community, we are called to support mercy for this woman.

According to Wikipedia, the Pope has even asked for clemency in this case.

Won't you please take a little time out of your day and go to Call for Mercy to sign the Petition for Asia Bibi?


Amen.