poliphilo | Misbah Azam

Misbah Azam

A man makes a bid for freedom. It could be a woman, but in this case it happens to be a man. He grew up a Muslim and thinks his life would be better if he became a Christian. It is a move that could get him killed- just as it used to get you killed if you wanted to cross from East Germany to West Germany- or as it still does if you try to cross from North Korea to South Korea.

He didn't really know what he was doing, or how to go about it. He is young, naive, charming, absurdly cheerful. He went to his local church- and made a few contacts. He told them how much he loved being there. Then a member of his own community found out what he was doing.

Is his life really in danger? Oh yes. When asked if he knew the risks he was running he would grin hugely and say, "I don't care".

There are still people out there who think freedom is worth dying for.

He applied for asylum- and at that point more or less disappeared into the system. The System was embarrassed. He wants freedom? How very inconvenient of him. His application was "fast-tracked"- which is a sparky, little governmental phrase for a shoddy and illiberal process- and turned down. The intention is to send him back to the country he came from- a country where changing your religion can get you your throat cut in double-quick time.

I am horrified such things can happen in England.

Horrified and ashamed.

I am sure there are thousands of people in similar circumstances, people the System is embarrassed by and would like to see the back of. I just happen to have met one of them. His name is Misbah Azam.

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I agree with you, it's appalling.

Spread the word.

This is something that is being done in a corner- and the more people who know about it the better.

Anything we can do?

I don't know. I've sent emails to a couple of Bishops and the Guardian. Maybe if you linked to this post or something. I feel this is a bad thing that is being done in a corner- and the more people who know about it the better. :)

when i was a member of 'the Church' there was an associated which helped Muslim become Xns...including the cultural difficulties and immigration issues... not sure if they are still aorund.. but may be worth seeing if you can find them and let them know about your 'friend'. they were multi-denominational too

xxx

I put Misbah in contact with a C of E clergyman (better not to publicise his name) who has a sort of a mission to the Muslim community. He is already on the case. But, yes, I need to poke around some more and see who else is out there I can contact. Thanks.

Thank you for writing this.

If you can think of any way of spreading the word, I'd be grateful :)

*bookmarks for Elsewhere segment*

Thanks.

Do please keep us posted on this situation. I agree, it's appalling, and I hope the people you're getting in contact with can help him. It's criminal to send someone back to a country when you know he will likely be killed.

I will certainly keep updating. I'm actually finding it quite hard to think about anything else right now. :)

And that is why Islam is a problem. A religion that keeps you faithful by killing heretics and apostates cannot be a massively strong religion. It's mediaeval, i.e. it's where Christianity was in 1500.

I wish him luck.

There are Pakistani Christians. I met a Pakistani Baptist family who lived in Slough - but maybe that's why they moved to Slough.

There's even a Pakistani-English Bishop- Nazir Ali of Rochester. He's one of the people I've emailed.

Surely he knew that converting to Christianity would mightily piss off his uncle, which would end up with his sponsorship being withdrawn?
Why should he be given the keys to the city for making such a foolhardy choice?
Why can't he return to his native country and live within the Pakistani Christian community?
I don't get why you're so miffed by this..
If you are so miffed, can't you offer to sponsor him?

Tom

Yes, he knew what he was getting into.

If you don't get why this upsets me I'm not sure I can explain it. It's a gut reaction.

Can I offer to sponsor him? I've no idea. I suspect things have gone way beyond that point. And I imagine I'd need to be guaranteeing him employment. But it's worth looking into.

Perhaps you know more of the details than you have commited to this blog.

I can understand if you're pissed off with his uncle for putting his so-called religion, and his "honour" before his family. I can understand if you're pissed off with Islam in general for brainwashing his uncle into this behaviour. I find both of those upsetting.

However it still remains that if he knew what he was doing and still did it then why should he be given special privileges when it went wrong?

I know that if I drive my car at 150mph I'll likely get nicked for speeding. If i do then it's my responsibility for the consequences. I'm sure if that happened and I appealed to the government for special leniency they'd give me a similarly short shrift.

In any case do we know that he's in danger in Pakistan? Is the Islamic Pope going to be sitting at the airport with a gun? Who's going to know that he's dabbled in Christianity. I'm sure he can avoid the part of the country he hailed from where people might know him.

Tell me if I'm simplifying things here, because I still don't get it.

Tom

I know the guy. That makes a difference. He's not just a statistic.

If you drove a car at 150mph you'd be breaking the law. Azam is doing something that ought to be utterly uncontroversial in a Western liberal democracy- he's choosing to change his religion.

There's no such thing as an Islamic Pope. What he'd be facing if he returned home is a lot of angry relatives- and the threat of personal violence.

Yes and he is probably breaking the law in the eyes of his community, if not UK Common Law, but Sharia law maybe, or at least unwritten cultural laws.

Whatever he has undertaken, he has done so in the knowledge of what would probably happen.

I know there is no Islamic Pope, although Islam is just Christianity with a load of crap tacked on.

Why does he have to return to his relatives? If he is a adult, capable of making life changing decisions then surely he can make his own way in Pakistan and avoid the family that want to harm him.

Everyone seems to think it's horrific, or apalling but have no clear idea of what they are horrified at. Do you have any evidence to suggest that he would be in danger? I'm sure immigration would have done their own homework.

Tom

I'm appalled that a young man who has made himself a pariah in his own community is also being treated as a pariah by the community to which he turned for help.

Do I have evidence that he would be in danger? No, of course not. I'm not sure what form such evidence would take- but I do read the newspapers.

If people hesitate to get involved it's for fear of offending the Muslim community, and all that comes with that.
White westerner's have lost the freedom to get offended of course. If we get offended at the oppressive ways of the Islamic culture - death threats, honour killings, female genital cutting, insisting on their meat being killed in the most awful way, forced marriages of minors as some examples, then we are branded as racists.
I agree that this man should be able to practice his chosen religion, but I don't know what to suggest. You can't get your muslim uncle to sponsor your passage to England then sneak off to the church without causing yourself a lot of trouble. That's the unfortunate situation.

I, like you, am horrifed that such things can happen in "civilized" countries. I have no doubt that there must be similar stories over here as well, especially since Bush, Cheney, and Company threw out any workable concept of American ideals.

Why are you horrified at this civilised country? It's his Uncle that is putting his life at risk, as is always the case, e.g. with honour killings and the like. It's not the UK that is at fault here, it's the so called religion of Islam.

I meant any and all civilized countries that would permit a person to be deported to certain death for what ought to be a non-crime. If his family is very religious it might be his own relatives who put him to death once he arrives at "home". England, the US, any so-called advanced nation ought to not participate in the destruction of an individual who seeks asylum.

What if this "certain death" is not a real likelyhood? People do get political asylum if they deserve it and are in genuine danger. I'm not convinced. It seems illogical to get one's knickers in a twist about this case when the full facts are so conspicuosly absent. Let's be stoic for a change.

Or perhaps you should argue for his uncle to be deported and or jailed for being an accomplice to a religious crime? That would send a message that this civilised country won't tolerate discrimination, whether that be from skinheads or ethnic minorities.

Civilisation is a very thin veneer.

I just happen to have met one of them. His name is Misbah Azam.

I assume you are writing to papers, church representatives, pieces of government; I don't think I have any helpful suggestions, except I hope that someone listens. Keep posting.

Yeah, I'm writing to people who I think might be placed to take an interest or raise a stink. No response yet (that I know of).

Stuff like that happens in the USA, too, and it horrifies me. Our respective bureaucracies need to be stomped on, repeatedly, until they stop that mess.

Amen to that!

Yes.

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