INTERNATIONAL
Jordan Annuls Christian
Convert’s Marriage
By leaving Islam,
‘apostate’ loses right
because he ‘has no
creed,’ court rules.
By Peter Lamprecht
ISTANBUL, June 9
(Compass Direct News) –
A Jordanian Islamic law
court has annulled the
marriage of a former
Muslim because of his
conversion to
Christianity.
The North Amman Sharia
Court in April dissolved
the marriage of Mohammad
Abbad, on trial for
apostasy, or leaving
Islam.
The 40-year-old convert
fled Jordan with his
wife and two young
children in March after
another Christian
convert’s relatives
attacked Abbad’s family
in their home and his
father demanded custody
of Abbad’s children.
“Marriage depends on the
creed [religion], and
the apostate has no
creed,” a May 22 court
document stated,
detailing reasons for
the April 22 annulment.
According to the
document, Judge Faysal
Khreisat had “proven the
veracity of [Abbad’s]
apostasy.”
Jordan’s penal code does
not outlaw apostasy, and
the country’s
constitution guarantees
freedom of religion, as
does the International
Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights that
was given force of law
in the country in June
2006.
But Islam, Jordan’s
official religion,
forbids conversion to
another faith. Jordanian
sharia (Islamic
law) courts that rule on
family law have
convicted converts of
apostasy, stripping them
of all legal rights.
“I can’t win this case
as long as I insist that
I converted to
Christianity,” Abbad
wrote after arriving in
a European country where
he has applied for
asylum.
Abbad and his
10-year-old son were
violently attacked in
their home on March 23,
when relatives of
another convert, staying
with Abbad, stormed the
house. Abbad suffered
injuries to his head and
chest and bleeding in
his right eye, according
to medical reports from
Jordan University
Hospital.
When Abbad went to the
police station the same
day to file a complaint
he found his father
there, demanding custody
of Abbad’s son and
11-year-old daughter.
Testifying before
Khreisat the next day
(March 24), Abbad
refused to convert back
to Islam. According to
court records, Khreisat
ordered Abbad to be
jailed in Amman’s
Jweideh Prison for one
week for “contempt of
court.”
Due to his injuries
Abbad fainted while on
his way to the jail,
prompting police to send
him to a hospital where
he spent the night
handcuffed to his bed.
After a relative posted
bail for him on March
25, lawyers advised
Abbad to leave Jordan,
saying he had no hope of
winning the case and
could lose custody of
his children.
In November 2006 an
Amman sharia court
convicted a Muslim
convert to Christianity
of apostasy, stripping
him of his legal rights,
annulling his marriage
and opening the way for
someone else to be given
legal care of his
children. The convert
and his family received
refugee status and were
resettled in the U.S.
According to advocacy
group Middle East
Concern, at least three
other converts to
Christianity have been
charged with apostasy in
Jordan since then.
Jordan’s historical
Christian community –
Orthodox, Catholics and
a smaller number of
Protestants – make up
around 4 percent of the
population.
The exact number of
Muslim converts to
Christianity in Jordan
is unknown. Many choose
to maintain a low
profile in order to
avoid harassment.
Provided by Assist News
Service
