In today’s The Australian Caroline Overton writes about high profile Saudi asylum seeker, Armin Navabi – (see attached article). In her page-long opinion piece, Overton considers Navabi’s brave, but provocative statements about the plight of what she describes as the worlds most oppressed people – those who renounce Islam.

Overton also reports Navabi’s claim that western media has chosen to largely ignore the issue of her apostasy and to present her case as highlighting the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia.

Navabi further claims that interpreters have deliberately minimised her statements regarding the perils of renouncing Islam and the dire straits in which apostates, such as Navabi, find themselves. She argues that the politically correct reluctance to criticise Islam ignores the death sentence or other severe penalties penalty, that await anyone who renounces Islam.

Naturally, liberal Muslims living in the west see her condemnation of Islam as undeserved and at best only applicable to culturally determined misinterpretations of Islam.

So is her criticism of Islam justified?

It is an undeniable fact that all Muslim-majority societies, and many Muslims living in the west, take a literal interpretation of the Qur’an directive that apostates be put to death, (even if they do not necessarily completely follow this directive). Consequently, it would appear to be overly convenient to dismiss those acting on this directive for misrepresenting Islam. Nor is it fair to say that such a draconian interpretation is only held by those who do not understand the teachings of Islam, as many Islamic scholars worldwide favour such a literal interpretation.

However, it must be stressed that Christians have little reason to feel smug, as a literal interpretation of the Bible would see similar barbaric penalties imposed on adulterers, disobedient children and wives, and even men who decline to impegrate their widowed sisters’ in  law.

What appears to distinguish religions that our society approves of, from those that we fear and criticise, is that the former have chosen to interpret their religious teachings in line with our contemporary social values. Thus, while most Christian churches have adapted their teachings accordingly,  most Islamic societies have resisted making such changes. Hence the call for an Islamic reformation.

   

So, is it justifiable to criticise Islam, as Navabi does? 

Just as a moderate Christian in Australia would be outraged at Christianity being blamed for the bombing of an abortion clinic by a fundamentalist Christian activist in the US, so a moderate Muslim living in Australia may challenge Navabi for blaming Islam for the penalty that would await her if Saudi Arabia were to enforce their apostasy law.

Ultimately, what this case should be telling us, is that before we’re tempted to rush into condemning some religions while making uninformed positive findings about others, we need to remind ourselves that all  traditional religions have been responsible for imposing, what we now regard as barbaric and cruel rules and norms. This is particularly pertinent in the case of Islam and its close association with Arab countries and other third world African and Asian countries, where social reforms are not in step with those in the western world. 

Consequently, the views of those who continue to adopt  such traditional or strictly literal interpretations of the  scriptures at the core of their faiths, cannot be dismissed as not Muslim or Christian simply because their interpretation  of their faiths’ doctrines are no longer acceptable to western society.  It is therefore to be expected that these  ‘condemned’ interpretation of sacred texts remain entrenched in countries where cultural norms and customs dictate such interpretations.   

Historically, the progress of human rights has required religions to give up or alter their practices and beliefs. There is no reason to stop now. But in doing so let’s be sufficiently informed to recognise that just as there are many kinds of Christianity, so there are many different interpretations of Islam.