Human Rights: Does Islam Have Room for Religious Liberty?

In the wake of the Persian Gulf War, the U.S. and allied nations have looked to the Middle East as a site for building President Bush’s “new world order.” Yet international religious liberty watchdog groups have criticized the Bush administration for its failure publicly to include attention to human rights and religious liberty in that effort. Of most concern are the vast restrictions that most predominantly Muslim countries place on Christians and other religious minorities. According to many observers, the key question is whether Islam is compatible with religious pluralism.

Patrick Sookhdeo, director of the International Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity, located in Great Britain, has his doubts, particularly on the issue of conversion. Speaking at a Washington, D.C., conference on religious liberty and Islam, Sookhdeo said, “It is intrinsic within the very nature of Islam in its classical formation that a Muslim may not choose to embrace another faith.”

Sookhdeo, who is also on the Missions Commission of the World Evangelical Fellowship, cited widely held and practiced Muslim traditions that the “apostate” be executed. “Given the historical difficulties in defining precisely who is a Muslim, apostasy is being used as the basis of the suppression of any idea, person, or group which dissents from established authority,” he said.

Sookhdeo made his remarks at a one-day meeting sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), the National Association of Evangelicals, Catholic University of America, and the Trinitarians, a Catholic human-rights organization. More than 100 people attended the conference, held in the Senate office building on Capitol Hill, which brought together scholars, theologians, and politicians to discuss Islam and religious liberty.

Question Of Conversion

Sayyid Mohammad Syeed, director of Academic Outreach at the International Institute of Islamic Thought near Washington, D.C., took issue with Sookhdeo. “According to classical understanding of the Qur’an, [conversion] should be allowed,” he said, although he admitted there are different views within Islam about this.

Syeed denied that non-Muslims have been “singled out for persecution or prosecution.” “Muslims have suffered along with non-Muslims,” he said, criticizing the overall human-rights records of many Islamic nations.

Sayyid Hussein Nasr, professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, cautioned Christians in the West against judging the entire world by their standards. Sitting on Capitol Hill, “one thinks the values of American society are absolute and must be global,” he said.

Nasr emphasized that Islamic views of Christians are often colored by “a silent, third partner: the secularized, Western world,” which is perceived as a threat to the Islamic world and way of life. “Minorities have problems everywhere, and the Islamic world is not last on the list,” he said.

While the conference dealt mostly with theological, philosophical, and academic discussions, practical issues also emerged, IRD executive director Kent Hill highlighted Christian human-rights concerns at the beginning of the meeting, commenting that “some who could have made an important contribution to this conference are not present today because of a fear of what the consequences of their participation may have been.”

Citing security concerns, the IRD later declined to elaborate for CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

An aide to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) raised the plight of the three Egyptian converts who were held without charges in a Cairo prison (see World Scene, p. 48).

Rep. Paul Henry (R-Mich.), while urging the West to examine its own attitudes, had a warning for the Islamic world. Various congressional panels are “looking deeply” into the allegations of human-rights abuses in Muslim countries, he said. “In Congress, this is an issue, even if it isn’t for the administration.”

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Voting with Your Checkbook: What Every Christian Should Know about Boycotts

Classic & Contemporary Excerpts from August 19, 1991

A Response: Taking off the Blinders

A Response: Provoking the Establishment

A Response: Tarring Christian Evolutionists

Book Feature: A Professor Takes Darwin to Court: A New Book Mounts a Credible Challenge to Evolution’s Sweeping Claims

Anything but Boredom!: Half the Sins of Humankind Are Caused by the Fear of Boredom. But Boredom Can Be the Path to Holiness as Well

Parental Choice: Will Vouchers Solve the School Crisis?

Lost in the Mystical Myths

Ministry: Giving Black Families a Boost

Taking on TV’s Bad Boys

When Sportcasters Fumble

Editorial

Really Good Sex

Love ‘By Blood’ in a Uganda Prison

Not Quite Prime Time

Letters

A Methodist in Whom There Is No Guile

Religion, Abortion Key Issues in Court Nomination

Moscow: Graham School Bridges Soviet Church Divisions

Albania: First Evangelistic Campaign in 50 Years

Orthodox Suspend Ties with NCC, Episcopal Church

Religion, Abortion Key Issues in Nomination

Canadian Scholars Form Association

News from the North American Scene: August 19, 1991

General Convention: Episcopalians Fail to Resolve Sexuality Issues

World Scene: August 19, 1991

Religious Leaders Join Scientists in Ecological Concerns

Gulf War Slows Holy Land Digs

TBN Bid for Station Stalled by Complaints

‘Biker Pastor’ Hits Rough Road

Deflating the Gender Myths

Armageddon: The View from Andromeda

View issue

Our Latest

Public Theology Project

Russell Moore’s Favorite Books of 2024

The top 10 picks of CT’s editor in chief range from dystopian fiction to philosophy, with a dose of Sabbath poems, Inklings, and country music.

My Book Sales Stink. But I’m Glad I Took the Publishing Plunge.

Even though the experience bruised my ego, God redeemed it in surprising ways.

Latino Christians Deserve a Straight Answer on Immigration

The Russell Moore Show

A Conversation with Peggy Noonan

The Pulitzer Prize winner ponders who we are and what we may become.

A Better Trans Conversation

As the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on youth gender medicine, Christians must prepare to speak with love while holding fast to biblical truth.

Ethics Aren’t Graded on a Curve

President Joe Biden’s pardon of Hunter Biden was wrong, and no amount of bad behavior from Donald Trump changes that fact.

News

UK Christians Lament Landmark Vote to Legalize Assisted Dying 

Pro-life faith leaders say Parliament’s proposed bill fails to protect the vulnerable and fear it will “create more suffering and chaos.”

Strike Up the Band: Sixpence None the Richer Goes Back on Tour

With its perennial hit “Kiss Me” still in our ears and on our playlists, the Christian band reunites with nothing to prove.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube