1 of 5

We sit in the dark of a walled garden, surrounded by palm trees and close-trimmed grass; a warm, mid-May breeze doesn't quite dry our thin sheen of sweat. He leans across the table; his shirt, open three buttons, exposes an impressive gold cross. Thin, almost emaciated, Robert Hussein, a former building contractor, moves even closer, both frustration and determination wrenching his face.

"What is my guilt; what is my crime?" he asks.

Unemployed, estranged from his wife and children, Robert Hussein, 45, is a marked man. He has done the unspeakable in the Middle East; he has chosen Christianity over Islam, and the Islamic world seeks its revenge.

"From birth I have been a Muslim. I have known nothing else. [But] if I learn of another path and choose the new one, where have I gone wrong?" Robert frowns again, the wrinkles deepening with anguish: "What is my crime? What have I done? This is my home; this shouldn't be happening here. This is Kuwait."

The warm breeze turns warmer, a foretelling of the blazing summer to come, as Robert fingers his cross and ponders his dilemma.

U.S. government officials as diverse as Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Tom Daschle (D-S.Dak.) want answers, too. They want to know what crime Robert Hussein committed by embracing a different faith. Along with thirty other members of the U.S. Congress, they've directly questioned the Emir of Kuwait, who has failed to offer substantive answers. Two members of the British Parliament, Michael Allson and David Alton, also have expressed a growing interest in the case.

And a complicated case it seems to be, one quickly becoming a focal point for human rights in the Middle East, watched carefully by groups such as the Jubilee Campaign in Great Britain, the Rutherford Institute, and Amnesty International. Robert Hussein has been charged with apostasy, forsaking his religion. Under Kuwait's constitutional law that is not a capital crime; by Islamic law, he should be publicly stoned to death.

Kuwait, a hot, barren country still rebuilding from the Gulf War, has a history of moderate religious tolerance, at least when compared to Saudia Arabia, where tales of the arrest of clandestine Christian congregations are plentiful. The Anglican Church has at least two congregations in Ahmadi, in central Kuwait. The Evangelical Church has a sprawling compound near downtown Kuwait City. And a large Catholic church meets in the same area. According to one source, some 15 percent of Kuwaiti residents claim a faith other than Islam.

But, and this is where Robert Hussein's problems begin, Kuwait is a Muslim state, governed by a mixture of French and Islamic law. Islamists, strategic players in the resistance movement during the war, have grown in political strength. Two types of law exist in Kuwait: constitutional law and Islamic, with the constitution citing Islamic law as the main source but not the only source of law.

next page... |  1 of 5

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Order a gift subscription!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Today's Christian Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help