As pointed out in the first three paragraphs, the penalty according to the Shia and also according to the Sunni is death for apostates. Even according to the blasphemy laws of Pakistan , penalty for defilement is death, and apostasy is the defilement of the holy name of the Prophet Mohammed. This is the interpretation of the blasphemy laws by clerics and courts.

To point out dangers for an apostate from Islam, the cases of Tahir Iqbal and Raheela Khanam have been selected for this study.

Tahir Iqbal was thirty-five year old when he died on the 19th of July in 1992 in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore , Panjab under suspicious circumstances. He was under detention for nineteen months.

Tahir Iqbal, an air force engineer, retired early due to an illness. He studied Christianity and consequently due to his convictions became Christian in 1988. He lived at Nishat Colony in Lahore Cantt. In addition to his pension, he made money by repairing radio and watches. He used to give free tuition to the children of his locality.

Mohammad Ali, the Imam (Islamic priest) of the local mosque, filed a complaint against him. The complaint was that Tahir Iqbal was an apostate and that he had defiled a copy of the holy Koran by underlining some verses and writing on the margin. It was also reported in the media that local clerics issued a fatwa against Iqbal. They said that he became an apostate, an infidel, whom Muslims have a duty to kill.

Iqbal’s defense lawyer contended that the copy of the Koran that Iqbal possessed was in English whereas according to legal precedent only Arabic version of the Koran can be considered as holy. As per the Amnesty International report of July 1994 :

From December 1990 to May 1991, no lawyer was willing to defend Tahir Iqbal. Therefore, the non-governmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan provided him legal assistance. An application for bail was turned down in July 1991 by the Sessions Court Judge, stating that "since conversion from Islam into Christianity is itself a cognizable offence involving serious implications, I do not consider the petitioner entitled to the concession of bail." A further bail application to the Lahore High Court, which referred to Tahir Iqbal’ s physical condition, and the fact that apostasy is not listed as a criminal offence in the Pakistan Penal Code, was turned down with the same argument.

During hearings, Muslim clerics shouted slogans and threatened the defense lawyer. The presiding judge reprimanded them for interfering in the court proceedings but was then himself threatened and finally transferred to another court. The Imam (Islamic priest) of the Badshahi mosque in Lahore publicly declared that an apostate like Tahir Iqbal should be killed.

During his trial, Tahir Iqbal was held in a cell without water, electricity and toilet facilities. After protests by his lawyer and the Christian community, he was transferred back to a regular cell, but during the hot months of April and May 1992, he was again without water or electricity.

Due to threats from his warden, Tahir Iqbal feared that he would be murdered in jail. He expressed this apprehension to his lawyer during his last court hearing on the 13th of July 1992, and also wrote to the Prime Minister and other authorities about his fears but no measures were taken to ensure his safety. Tahir Iqbal died on 19 July 1992. His body was found on the 20th of July by jail wardens. Members of the Christian minority voiced concern that Tahir Iqbal may have been poisoned. At the last court hearing, Tahir Iqbal had been in good health.

On the 20th of July 1992, the magistrate who received the notification of Tahir Iqbal’s death, ordered a postmortem and held a preliminary inquiry at Kot Lakhpat jail. Wardens were questioned, as was the jail medical officer, who said that Tahir Iqbal had been brought to him with a high temperature. He was vomiting blood. Four fellow prisoners also confirmed to Tahir Iqbal’s lawyer that he had started vomiting blood. The magistrate reportedly ordered a police inspector to take the body for the postmortem.

In a nutshell, the postmortem was never done on his body. His dead body was handed to his stepmother who was a Muslim and was buried according to the Islamic rites. The case against Tahir Iqbal was registered on the 7th of December of 1990 on the application of Peerzada Ali Ahmad Chishti. Tahir Iqbal was baptized in the United Pentecostal Church , Lahore , by Rev. Nazir Lal.

The second case that points out the dangers for an apostate is about Raheela Khanam. She was shot dead by her own elder brother on July 16, 1997. The killer accepted this act saying he performed his religious duty. This case of apostasy has caused tragedy in the lives of several persons. The apostate, Raheela Khanam, was killed by the hands that rocked her cradle. Not only they killed their own daughter, they also got hold of her girl friend Saleema Kauser who introduced her to Christianity. She was very badly sexually abused while in police custody. She has almost vegetated now and she is still in hiding. They also tortured the mother, father and older sister of Saleema Kauser, tying them all with iron chains to a tree. They tortured Pastor Arthur because he told the twenty-two year old Muslim girl about Christianity when she approached him. The police broke his ribs and tortured also his son. They had to escape from Pakistan . The fundamentalists also possessed forcibly their church property and tortured their relatives. For the tragedies that this apostasy have caused , refer to my document titled Escape of the Arthurs from Pakistan .

Non-Muslims who accept Islam and come back to their previous religion for one reason or the other cannot do so. There is the story of Kungri Masihi, a Christian. Even minors who are induced with gifts to accept Islam could not escape fatwa. The episode of Seema and Khushia that appeared in the Reader’s Digest of January 2000 on pages 152 and 153 prove it.

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