MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Romanov.)
A local Shariah court in Afghanistan, a country that has gotten rid of its former radical Taliban regime and held democratic elections recognized in the West, may pass a death sentence on 40-year-old Afghan Abdul Rahman for converting to Christianity.
Rahman is preparing for the ordeal in a land of "moderate Islam," according to President Hamid Karzai, and this in the 21st century.
Karzai is doing his best to justify the court's position. He said that radical Islam had come to the country with Western assistance in reply to secular intervention. Sadly, Karzai is absolutely right. Former Soviet and Western leaders are partly to blame for his country's problems.
However, the point at issue now is not obscure historical lessons, but the life of a man. The Afghan president does not want to intervene on his behalf. It has been stated officially that the Afghan government will give the court the right to decide the fate of the Christian convert.
Formally, Karzai is right again. According to the democratic postulates, the judicial branch of government is independent and does not have to take presidential orders. But democracy also stipulates the freedom of religion, which means that Afghanistan will have to choose between independent courts and the right to worship.
This situation, though seemingly paradoxical, is not extraordinary, as no printed rules can cover everything life has in store for us. There is only one normal way out of such deadlocks: to resort to common sense. In this case, it means that the Afghan court is making a tragic and criminal error. No matter what the Shariah or Christian laws say, no global religion should retrace its steps to the fires of the Inquisition and other "blessings" of the Middle Ages.
The West has spoken up in defense of Rahman, which is not surprising. What is surprising is that not a single voice has been raised in the man's defense in the Islamic world, not even in the countries that are regarded as the most moderate. By keeping silent, moderate Islam is cutting its own throat, because silence will unavoidably cause many people to associate it with the most fanatic and militant forms of Islam.
If reasonable Islam wants to keep the world's respect, it must protect the unlucky Afghan, and the sooner the better for Abdul and Islam. Otherwise, we will be forced to say, "the beard does not define a philosopher", as he old Roman proverb warns.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
