Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy, has had her conviction and sentence upheld by Pakistan’s high court.
There will be a witness outside the Pakistan High Commission in London on Friday 31st October 2014 from 2pm – 4pm. See directions below.
Asia Bibi, also known as Aasiya Noreen, was found guilty in 2010 of making derogatory comments about the Prophet Muhammad during an argument with a Muslim woman.
The BBC reports that the Lahore High Court rejected her appeal against the sentence passed by a lower court. Her lawyers have vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court.
The appeal was rejected despite fatal flaws in the trial which are summarised in this excellent report from Asif Aqeel.
One problem with the entire process is that any judge allowing Asia Bibi to walk free will endanger his own life. Justice Arif Bhatti, who acquitted two Christians in a 1995 blasphemy case, was killed in his office in 1997.
Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer who intended to present a petition for mercy on Asia’s behalf, was killed by his own police guard on 4th January 2011. Two months later, the only Christian member of the cabinet, Shahbaz Bhatti, was killed for supporting Asia and seeking to reform Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which often are used to settle personal scores and put pressure on religious minorities.
Wikipedia has summed up the altercation which led to her arrest like this:
‘In June 2009, Asia Bibi was harvesting falsa berries with a group of other farmhands in a field in Sheikhupura. She was asked at one point to fetch water from a nearby well; she complied but stopped to take a drink with an old metal cup she had found lying next to the well. A neighbor, who had been involved in a running feud with her family about alleged property damage, saw her and angrily told her that it was forbidden for a Christian to drink the same water as a Muslim, and some of the other workers considered her to be unclean because she was a Christian. Some arguments ensued. Asia Bibi recounts that when they made derogatory statements about her religion, she responded, “I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save mankind?”
‘Later, some of the workers complained to a cleric that she had insulted Muhammad. A mob came to her house, beating her and members of her family before she was rescued by the police. The police initiated an investigation about her remarks, resulting in her arrest under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code. She was imprisoned for over a year before being formally charged.’
Asia Bibi’s sentence in 2010 sparked global condemnation – but she is still in jail.
1John 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
WITNESS Friday 31st October 2014
On Friday 31st October 2014, there will be a witness from 2pm to 4pm again outside the Pakistan High Commission, 34-36 Lowndes Square, London SW1X 9JN (nearest tube, Knightsbridge). Please pray for a good attendance.
I pray that Asia will be set free.I pray for a good turn out tomorrow.
Seems we have a similar situation to Meriam Ibrahim .
When will our politicians accept the fact and state as such that Islam is NOT a religion of peace but a promoter of hatred and intolerance instilling an element of false pride in it’s adherants .
A bit short notice but i pray the LORD will give me the courage and strength to stand with her .
What an example she sets for us all like Merium has done in that to speak the truth whatever the cost .
Well, you always have to be careful about breaking a country’s laws, however unpalatable they are to you. We still have a law of blasphemy in this country, which used to be considered specific to Christianity or even to the Church of England, and was taken more seriously than it is now .
It’s much the same, isn’t it , with homosexuality ? There has been an outcry recently about how a homosexual English gentleman, and even his young Moroccan friend, were treated when caught, but homosexuality is illegal in Morocco. It used to be illegal in England, and people like Alan Turing suffered as a result.
Of course, people will say that homosexuality is forbidden by the Bible, but Christianity isn’t. That would be a little disingenuous, and would get you nowhere at all in Pakistan.
Funnily enough, we do have a blasphemy law in this country, but it isn’t the one you refer to. That was abolished. The blasphemy law we have now is that no-one may say anything in opposition to sodomy.
The historic blasphemy laws in England and Wales were of course never so draconian or applied so maliciously as the laws in Pakistan, where they are wheeled out whenever a Christian is having any sort of argument with a Muslim.
But we were saddened by their abolition in the same act of Parliament which brought in the homosexual hate-speech law – the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. As I hinted above, our politicians swapped one blasphemy law for another.
Sorry for the mistake, I was six years out of date. A better example would have been Malta, where some 500 people a year are charged with public blasphemy.
But this brings to mind a very serious point. Countries develop at different rates, and some other countries will always be behind the leaders (or may never acknowledge that they are “leaders”). The UK introduced universal voting rights for women , regardless of age, race, or status, 35 years later than New Zealand. It is absurd to expect a country like Afghanistan to be converted to European or Australasian views of women overnight.
Thus there are countries all over the world which are inclined to resist American ready-made concepts of what constitutes desirable democracy, religion, and consumerism.
It is a great pity that with Western-style freedom comes Western-style depravity which rightly alienates so many people in what we might, a shade patronisingly, refer to as ‘less developed’ countries in the world. It is also a great pity that such depravity is associated, in the Muslim mind at least, with Christianity.
Whilst Asia Bibi’s case deserves full support from Christians, I would say that the foundation of said support should be one of the right of religious freedom rather than one of supporting a persecuted ‘Christian’. Asia Bibi is a Roman Catholic, as was the woman in the Sudan, Meriam Ibrahim, who recently came to the attention of the world under the banner of being a ‘Christian’.
I make no statement regarding whether or not these two women are truly born again [ because I don’t know ] but only that the organisation they belong to does not truly deserve the name of being a Christian church. That’s why there was a Reformation. Therefore, I believe that those who are truly Christian should refrain from identifying those who still remain within the Roman Catholic system as being a ‘Christian’ and from naming them as ‘brethren’, persecuted or otherwise.
I thought the Reformation started over the mendacious sale of entirely unscriptural ‘indulgences’.
Christian Voice defends the Protestant settlement of the United Kingdom and we are well aware of the history of our nation.
Equally, it is thought-provoking that Muslims and atheists can’t seem to tell the difference between Catholic and Protestant individuals and churches. They are happy to persecute both.
Turning to the case in point, Asia Bibi made a confession before her Muslim antagonists which any Protestant would be blessed to have uttered.
Similarly, Meriam Ibrahim’s witness in jail honoured her Lord.
So we cannot really blame them that the Catholics reached their ancestors’ villages before the Protestants. Both are obvious Christians, even if their church is not as good as ours. At least, that’s how I see it. And I’ll make another point. The internet has brought a degree of disputation between Christians along numerous fault-lines into the public square. Too often, I believe, that gives heart to the enemies of the Gospel and dishonours our Lord who prayed that we would be in that unity which commands a blessing.
Just a few points by way of reply, Stephen.
You wrote,’I thought the Reformation started over the mendacious sale of entirely unscriptural ‘indulgences’. That’s true but I don’t see how that contradicts my statement, ‘ the organisation they belong to does not truly deserve the name of being a Christian church. That’s why there was a Reformation.’
You wrote, ‘Both are obvious Christians, even if their church is not as good as ours,’ whereas I wrote, ‘‘I make no statement regarding whether or not these two women are truly born again [ because I don’t know ]’’.
Is it possible you, Stephen, can be so sure that the Christ these two women uphold is the same Christ as is revealed in the Bible? Perhaps you can. I reserve my judgement but, even if you are right, I still don’t see how that would affect my view of their ‘church’. If these women are born again then it’s despite their ‘church’s’ teaching and not because of it.
The second half of your statement that, ‘’Both are obvious Christians, even if their church is not as good as ours’ is contrasted with the Westminster Confession of Faith, article 25, which says that,
V. ’’The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated, as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan.
VI. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God’’
The Westminster Confession was written by a gathering of eminent British theologians who met at Westminster in London for several years from 1643, assisted by a number of treaty commissioners from the Church of Scotland. Their conclusions carry weight, in my view.
You wrote that, ‘… it is thought-provoking that Muslims and atheists can’t seem to tell the difference between Catholic and Protestant individuals and churches. They are happy to persecute both”
I’m not sure what you are implying by that statement. Atheistic Communists in Russia and China have killed millions because of contrasting ‘beliefs’. Shia Muslims kill and persecute Sunni Muslims and vice versa, as well as other religious adherents. Does that mean that those killed merit something from the true God for their sacrifice? It’s a tragic state of affairs to be persecuted and killed, no doubt, but I don’t believe that sincerity of belief and willingness to die for that belief carries any merit with God with regard to salvation.
You also wrote, Stephen, ‘So we cannot really blame them that the Catholics reached their ancestors’ villages before the Protestants.’ Who is ‘blaming’ anybody? In fact, according to tradition, the Apostle Thomas is credited with taking the gospel to India. Does that mean that if the gospel message was later corrupted by whomever, that it means that everyone who confesses their best idea of Christ is automatically to be assumed to be a child of God?
According to that standard, Stephen, every New Ager who trusts in the cosmic ‘Christ’, every Roman Catholic who trusts in Christ, [plus Mary and his own righteousness], every ‘liberal’ theologian who believes in an ‘existential’ Christ, every Mormon, who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God through sexual union, all these and more, must be regarded as born again Christians, and especially if they are prepared to suffer for their belief.
Many Jehovah’s Witnesses, so called, suffered dreadfully in concentration camps during the 2nd World War. Are they to be considered born again Christians even though their organisation teaches that Christ was a created being?
Finally, whether or not these kinds of discussions degenerate on the internet, or elsewhere, into something undignified surely that doesn’t mean that a Christian shouldn’t stand up for the truth of the scripture, as he or she understands it?
After all, isn’t that something you attempt do on this website?
Hi Mark,
One has to agree with the Westminster Confession that churches can become degenerate. They are falling over themselves today to become aligned with modern politically-correct prejudices acquiescing to everything from sodomy to abortion.
It is also beyond dispute that the head of the church is Jesus Christ and no denominational or state leader.
One could also argue, not that they did, for they simply declared it, that the popes of the 17th century had an antichrist spirit. To maintain that this state of affairs continues today requires a particular historicist interpretation of scripture which is deeply held in many quarters.
Roman Catholics are persecuted by atheists and Muslims alike for their faith in Jesus Christ. Despite that church, and many others, holding views which I might disagree with that is the bottom line.
Just to clear up a few misconceptions, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not even accept the necessity to be born again, and identify Jesus with the Archangel Michael, denying Colossians 2:9: ‘For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily’. Mormons also stumble at that verse, as do New Agers, whose ‘Christ-spirit’ is nothing whatsoever to do with the Christian understanding that God became flesh and dwelt among us.
Finally, I was not saying that disputations between Christians can degenerate on the internet. I was saying they should not be there at all.
On this website we stand up for the truth against the onslaught against it from Islam and Atheism, because that is where the battle lines are drawn today.
A good point. But then can you really blame a peasant who was born in a village in Italy rather than a village in Denmark ? Can you really blame a peasant who was born in a village in Pakistan never reached by Catholics or Protestants at all, or a village in India never reached by Muslims or Christians at all ?
That concern is what has driven the missionary effort down the centuries – and still drives it.
The words of the Apostle Paul:
Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Rom 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
It has also been spurred by a desire to see the return of the Lord Jesus, who said:
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
But in the end, there is a simple command to evangelise and to disciple from his lips to his people in every generation:
Matt 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Matt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
By the way, Muslims are not Christians.
I know that very well, Stephen. My”village in India never reached by Muslims or Christians at all” would still be Hindu, in most cases. So they would have no concept of their being just one god (unless they were very philosophically minded Hindus, which villagers wouldn’t be ).
Rox, Muslims are not Christians. To be a Muslim is to be as far from redemption as to be a Hindu. Or a non-believer like you. But at least you have heard the Gospel, so you have no excuse at all. It is said that people write stronger than they talk, but I should like to think I would tell you that to your face if we were to meet. Which, of course, if you came to one of our events, is a possibility.
If the missionary effort was not only to preach the good news to all of creation but also a desire to see the return of the Lord Jesus, as I’m sure it was, then also the return of God’s people the Jews to the land of Israel should also precede the return of Our Lord. Perhaps this is why settlements are still being built in the ‘disputed territories’, who knows? Which is why I shall be supporting Operation Exodus.
The return of the Jews to Israel is prophesied in Scripture, demanded by Our Father God, and therefore the church is duty-bound to uphold that command. Yet with most churches tacitly if not overtly supporting the Palestinian cause – this is an issue that I will be taking up, as a parliamentary candidate for the next General Election who is pro-Israel.
As a matter of history, the Church which Our Lord Jesus Christ founded is the Catholic (ie universal) Church. The other churches came into being because they broke away from the Catholic Church, the Orthodox in 1054 and the Protestant churches at the time of the Reformation. If there had never been a Catholic Church the other churches could not have come into being, because there would have been no Church to break away from. Neither for that matter would Western Christian civilisation have been able to develop.
It seems to me that the phrase “born again” is being used in a narrow stereotype manner. It is necessary that a Christian should not be one just formally on paper, but should have come to a living faith in Christ. Since Asia Bibi was willing to defend her faith publicly in a hostile society, that is surely a proof of her living faith. If I were in a situation in which I had to confess my Christian faith or die, I pray that I would be given the strength not to chicken out. Asia Bibi is truly a “martyr”, that is a “witness” for Christ.
As a Catholic Christian I am interested to read articles on Christian Voice. At least there are some Protestants who witness against such evils as abortion and homosexualism and have not just gone along with the sexual revolution, which is systematically destroying Western society, and whose protaganists want to export to the rest of the world.
Maybe it was the catholic church rather than the Catholic Church our gracious Lord founded? But thanks for your good wishes, David. We do what we can in standing against Secularism and Islam by the grace of God.
BTW, I don’t want a big discussion on denominations and eschatology, so further comments on this particular thread will have to be very Christlike, witty, constructive and brief, tempered with grace and seasoned with salt to be published. Have I set the bar high enough?
As the word “Catholic”, in Greek or Latin, was not applied to any Christians before 107AD , it doesn’t really make sense to claim that Jesus founded the Catholic church.
Not until the end of the 2nd century was the word being used to mean members of the main church as opposed to heretics, and what I am calling the main church was not split between a Greek branch and a Latin branch until much later.
You might say that the church in 107 was still the same one that Jesus founded, but I wonder if it was. Paul made quite a few changes which are recorded in the Bible, and it continued developing after him.
I am just trying to put forward some basic historical facts here without wit or being tempered with grace, but in such a neutral way that I hope it will be allowed.
I know it is fashionable to say so these days, but the reality is the Apostle Paul did not change anything that the Lord Jesus had put in place. Yes, he argued the Jewish ceremonial law did not apply to Gentiles, but that position was adopted by the Jerusalem Church Council as a whole. He explained a lot, especially to the new Gentile churches, but if you can quote me any actual changes to the doctrine put forward by the Lord Jesus, I’ll be interested to see them.
David Prentis says that there would be no Christian civilisation without Christianity, but that is a bit obvious. It doesn’t mean that there would not be a European civilisation. The Greeks and the Romans developed notable examples before Christianity, and it is widely believed that a rather dull period in Europe improved after a renaissance of basically pagan Greek and Roman influences. While Europe was relatively dull, there were flourishing civilisations in China and India, in the Muslim world, and elsewhere.
Christianity sets a high value on human life. That is absent in pagan cultures like that of the Greeks, the Romans, the Aztecs and Incas, the pre-Christian Britons, today’s Hindus and Muslims, to name a few. Yes, without Christianity we should have a civilisation, but you wouldn’t like it. Or would you? We are gradually moving into a post-Christian culture, which bears enough resemblances to that of Sodom and Gomorrah to lead me to suggest we are on the verge of living in the days of Lot. Like the proverbial frog in the warming water, few notice it. It is hard to see the wood when you are amongst the trees, I guess.
What about Japan, China, and Thailand ? It’s all a bit weird, but people can live reasonable lives in those countries. Things have gone wrong from time to time, but so they have in Germany, Spain, Russia, and almost everywhere from time to time.
Would that be the Japan which sent suicide pilots to bomb US ships, the China which persecutes Christians and Falon Gong and insists on forced abortion and the Thailand where 90 people died and 2,000 were injured in political violence in 2010, where you can be locked up for criticising the monarch and which refuses to be a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention?
Yes, but it was a Christian Germany which developed the Nazi régime, active at the very same time Japan was bombing ships allied against it, and most European countries persecuted the wrong kind of Christians at one time or another. You could be beheaded for criticising Henry VIII , and a great many European monarchs reacted with similar displeasure. From time to time, any country displays gross imperfections.
This is a Shocking case, of persecution,against an Innocent Christian lady, who Stood up for her beliefs in Jesus Christ, She was right when she said” What has your prophet done for Mankind” That is NOT Blasphemy”..Jesus Christ was the son of GOD, and has, and still does everything for the betterment of Mankind whom he Created, and sustains. Where did mohammed come from? It’s always puzzled me. This Dear Lady should be freed immediately. and returned to her Family and loved ones. Thank God I don’t live in a Country, that treats Christians like that.
This Government and every Government should do everything in their power to get Asia Bibi freed immediately. She has been imprisoned far too long, for something she did not do, She did not Blaspheme, She just stood up for her own faith. Liars never win. Good ALWAYS prevails over Evil. God Bless you Asia. We are all Praying for you. <3
It saddens me to see this ” debate ” but no one displaying the courage of their convictions [ apart from Brother stephen ]
Where were British Christians last Saturday ?
Busy earning a living aand serving Mammon ?
It made me feel ashamed to be joined by only about 4 British brothers and sisters [ even the Pakistani delegation was pitifully small ]
It would be great to meet other Christian Voice members at these important demonstations of our love for one another for YESHUA himself said ” you will know my people for the love they have for each other ”
Sadly HIS words ” They profess their love for ME with their lips yet their heartsare far from me ” ring ever louder .
I call upon ALL Christian Voice members to set aside their selfish desires this coming Saturday and join our Pakistani brothers and sisters in sending a message loud and clear to the Pakistani Government that we stand with our persecuted brothers and sisters in Pakistan .
Some of you may have heard the term ” Untouchables ” , well that is the label given our Pakistani Christian brothers and sisters .
I suggest you educated yourselves and then maybe you will feel as passionately as i do if your heart is right with GOD .
I pray that the LORD will soften your hearts and move you to take action.
Love is an ACT NOT a platitude
On a lighter note i was accused of being a workshy benefits scrounger by a passing little old lady
Made my day
” Blessed are you when they curse you and accuse you of all types of crimes for MY NAME’s sake ”
Looking forward to seeing a lot more people outside the Pakistani Embassy than there were outside Downing Street
Thanks, Stephen
I don’t quite see earning a living as serving mammon, but God knows you need food, shelter and raiment and it is commanded to provide for our families. People today, especially Christians, lead busy lives, but if people were jus’ chillin’ or whatever, and within reach, then they should have been there. Every blessing!
I pray often for total believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they will be protected throughout our whole world, but also we know that if they happen to die, they will go to be with their Savior in heaven.
Let all of us who are committed to our God, our Lord Jesus Chris, and the Holy Spirit, be constantly praying for believers in our God to be kept safe, and also that more and more people will begin believing and accepting our God.
It would be nice to hear that she has been freed but you are dealing with fanatics with absolutely no idea of how to act humanely. Mohammed lied, stole and murdered and raped his way to the top wherever he went and urges other muslims to do the same. He is their “ideal man”, that’s the kind of mentality you are dealing with.
Pray for her soul because at least she will find peace which is more than followers of islam will ever achieve.