Meriam Yahya Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian woman whom an Appeal Court freed yesterday, has just been re-arrested at the airport trying to leave Khartoum. She is now in more danger than ever before.
Here’s why.
A man, Al-Samani Al-Hadi, has come forward who claims to be her brother. Meriam denies that he is. Nevertheless, he is claiming that his Islamic family honor has been “tarnished,” that he seeks “retribution,” that “Christians (have) tarnished his Islamic family’s honor through the case.”
It seems that Ibrahim’s presumed family, perhaps only her father’s side (a father who abandoned Meriam and her Christian mother when Meriam was very young), may have been the ones who initially filed a criminal complaint claiming they were “shocked” when they discovered that Meriam had married a Christian.
If this CNN report is true, then outraged family honor is precisely what led to Meriam’s arrest.
Here is her situation: Either the Islamic state, which views marriage to a Christian illegal and “conversion” to Christianity a capital crime, will legally murder her–or her presumed family will do so.
Leaving Islam– becoming an apostate– is a capital crime under Shari’a law. Any Muslim has the right to kill an apostate on sight.
Her so-called “family” claims that the law has not “upheld their rights.” Her “brother,” a man named Al-Samani Al-Hadi had this to say: “This is now an issue of honor. The Christians have tarnished our honor, and we will know how to avenge it.”
Secretary of State John Kerry: Are you listening? President Obama: Please send Air Force One to rescue this endangered woman and her family.