To the editor:

Recently there has been great consternation over the conversion of a Muslim in Afghanistan to become a Christian. Condemnation to death for this reason is NOT a tenet of Islam. What is in this man’s heart is between him and his God.

Each man chooses his own destiny in life and follows his own path. God knows the path before one takes it. However, God has shown mankind the path to him and those who reject it are the losers. Nowhere in the Quran does it call for a person’s death for leaving Islam or becoming a member of another religion. This choice, as everything one does, will be judged on the day of judgment, by God himself.

Every person has the right to recant and ask for forgiveness for any and all sins, especially for sins he can change. If this man is put to death for this reason, how can he be given the right to repent or ask for forgiveness? His sin is that he has wronged his own soul, not committed murder or other violent crimes against mankind. Is Islam so ready to condemn? Absolutely not. Besides, who are the so-called clerics intent on sentencing this man to death? Where do they get their authority?

Muslims believe that Islam is the path to paradise, but the Quran states, “There is no compulsion to this religion.” Putting this man to death is an invention of men and not part of Islamic law.

David Omar,

Lawrence