Teen Christian convert to stay in Florida
Judge
determines he'll keep jurisdiction, sets next hearing for September
Posted: August 21, 2009
5:29 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
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A judge in
Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, an honor student and cheerleader, was raised in a
Muslim family in
But Bary, a native of
Bary sought refuge with a church group in
John Stemberg, an attorney representing the teen, said, "What occurred
today was an amazing victory for Rifqa and an amazing victory for religious
liberty and freedom in
"The court is going to allow at least for the time period, for Rifqa to
stay in
In the
"She made a statement in open court that she loved her parents very
dearly, but she also feared for her life. She did not want to go home. The
judge did the right thing, acted in the best interests of my client," he
continued. "She was shaking but she was very honest, and her statement was
from her heart. She professed her faith in Christ."
"SHE WILL NOT BE SENT TO
"Judge Dawson says 'at first blush' it appears his court has
jurisdiction in this custody matter, since no
The judge set the next hearing for Sept. 3 at 2:30 p.m., at which time a
dependency petition will be argued.
Geller reported the girl's friends had accompanied her to the school
counselor after they noticed bruises covering her arms and legs that allegedly resulted
from beatings by her father and brother.
"The middle school, in a serious dereliction of duty, did not report
these beatings to child welfare services," Geller reported. "Beatings
were random, violent, unprovoked. Take, for example, when Rifqa and her father
Mohamed were driving in the car. He would force her to wear the hijab (head
covering), which she hated. In her discomfort she would slouch down,
embarrassed, and her father would haul off and sock her in the face so that she
never forgot to sit up straight in her costume. The beatings were regular and
so much a part of the landscape of Rifqa's life, she
became inured to them …"
Geller said
the teen's case "is a public relations nightmare for Islamist groups,
as her plea validates everything that scholars such as Ibn Warraq, Robert
Spencer, Dr. Andrew Bostom, Wafa Sultan, etc., have written and said."
Sultan, a Syrian-born psychiatrist, human rights activist and author, wrote
on JihadWatch.org
that the case "highlights the danger of creeping jihad in the Western
world.
"This is not only because of the imminent danger the teenage girl may
face right here in the U.S., had the court decided to have her return to her
parents' home, but also because of the mainstream media's weak response to the
severity of this case.
"I was born and raised as a Muslim in
"My life is also threatened, not only by my own extended family, but by
countless men who consider themselves devout Muslims. Under Shariah, if a
Muslim leaves Islam or converts to another religion he/she is an 'apostate,' to
be killed. Under Shariah every Muslim has the right to kill such an apostate
without any questions asked," she warned.
The United Nations tabulates about 5,000 such "honor killings"
annually around the world, and they have been documented even in the
According to a new report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Udas was a
female vocalist in
Some officials said her death was the result of the actions of Islamic
militants, but the Radio Liberty report said her husband told reporters his
wife was killed – allegedly by her brothers – for breaking family tradition.
Udas, in her 30s and the mother of two, recently had divorced and remarried.
The report said her brothers, Alamgir and Ismail, disapproved of her divorce,
her remarriage and her artistic career.
And in the
Muzzammil Hassan, 44, previously had been honored by the controversial
Council on American-Islamic Relations, the self-described Muslim civil rights
group that boasts of its influence on
Hassan and his wife, Aasiya Hassan, 37, founded Bridges TV in November 2004.
They described it as a satellite news and opinion channel aimed at portraying
Muslims in a positive light following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Hassan was accused of cutting off his wife's head at his
The Christian teen turned to pastors Blake and Beverly Lorenz of Global Revolution Church in
Stemberger filed a petition for
adjudication of dependency on Aug 18.
Blake Lorenz embraced the emotional teen as she told her story in the
following video posted on YouTube:
"I'm a Christian, and my parents are Muslim. They are extremely
devout," she said. "They threatened to kill me. … You guys wouldn't
understand. Islam is very different than you guys think. They have to kill me.
My blood is now halal, which means that because I am now a Christian, I'm from
a Muslim background, it's an honor. If they love God more than me, they have to
do this. I'm fighting for my life. ..."
Asked what her father, Mohamed Bary, told her, she replied, "He said he
would kill me. Or he'd have me sent back to
She said she left a note for her parents before she ran away: "I said,
'I refuse to deny Jesus. He is my Lord and Savior. I pray you find his
forgiveness and mercy, and I love you both dearly.' I wrote that, but they
never showed it to the police officers."
Bary warned that if she is forced to return to her family in
Asked why she ran away, she said, "I was threatened by my dad. When my
dad found out – I had a Facebook, that's how he found out – and phone calls
from the Muslim community started coming in with e-mails that confronted me.
And I had a laptop and he took that laptop and waved it in the air, and he was
about to beat me with it, and he said, 'If you have this Jesus in your heart,
you're dead to me. You're not my daughter.' And I refused to speak but he said,
'I will kill you. Tell me the truth.' In these words, bad words, cuss words. So
I knew that I had to get away."
Atlas Shrugs reported members of the Muslim community, from Noor Islamic
Cultural Center, warned Bary's father his daughter was an apostate, so the
teenager sought to escape with her life.
Bary said she would sneak out to Christian prayer meetings and hide her
Bible from her parents. After her father confronted her, he forced her to
attend several classes, hoping she would return to Islam. However, several
weeks later, her mother discovered a Christian book that belonged to her.
"I knew right then that it was over for me," she said. "I had
to leave."
The teenager said that in the 150 generations of her family, no one has ever
known Jesus.
"I am the first one," she said. "Imagine the honor in killing
me."
Bary said she wants to remain in
"You talk about religious freedom?" she asked. "No! I don't
have that. I want to be here. I want to worship Jesus freely. I don't want to
die."
Bary's father, a jeweler, called the church a "cult" and claimed
it has brainwashed the girl.
"This is a cult group who kidnapped my daughter and took her
away," Mohamed Bary told WESH 2 News.
He also denied the charges she is making and claims he does not intend to
hurt her.
Fathima Rifqa Bary has been the subject of various media attacks in recent
weeks. Pakistan
Daily reported, "The family maintains that the girls
was into drugs, promiscuous behavior and raunchy messages on Facebook.
She was discussing sex with multiple older married men. When the parents tried
to control her behavior she refused to do so. On her return to the home she
conjured up a story of conversion to Christianity. There are serious
accusations against the church on holding a minor girl in custody against the
will of her guardians and parents. How many more girls will the church
kidnap?"
WND located the following photo of Bary with a boy named Tayee Adrian on
Facebook. Messages left with
Geller points out that the media appear to be focusing primarily on
"the lies and deception of Rifqa Bary's devout Muslim family and their
lawyers" and smearing the pastors for caring for Bary rather than
immediately turning her over to her parents. She also said the Bary family
mosque, Noor Islamic Center, is a hotbed of extremist activity, noting that Patrick
Poole of Ohio Against Terror has reported extensively
on extremist positions of its leaders.
Bary's Aug. 18 petition to the court states:
The child's parents are devout followers of Islam and members of the extreme
Noor Islamic Cultural Center in
Dr. Phyllis Chesler, author of "Are Honor Killings Simply Domestic
Violence?" told Fox News Bary's life will be in danger if she is forced to
return to her parents.
"Anyone who converts from Islam is considered an apostate, and apostasy
is a capital crime," she said. "If she is returned to her family, if
she is lucky, they will isolate her, beat her, threaten her, and if she is not
'presuaded' to return to Islam, they will kill her. They have no choice."
Chesler continued, "She escaped from her family's brutal tyranny and
shamed her family further through public exposure. Muslim girls and women are
killed for far less."
Meanwhile, International
Christian Concern urged
In a statement, ICC said it is concerned about Rifqa because the
However, ICC reveals that a source who spoke with the same investigating
officer said the officer indicated earlier that he has spoken with 20 different
people who warned him that the girl's life was in danger.
"We are extremely concerned about Rifqa," ICC President Jeff King
wrote. "... Based on our extensive international experience with
fundamentalist Islam, we strongly believe that Rifqa's life will be in danger if
DCF decides to send her back to
Fathima Rifqa Bary now has more than 2,000 Facebook fans expressing their
support for the young girl. However, one Facebook group titled, "Rifqa
Bary's father 100% correct" was created by a man in
One member named Mohammed Rizwan writes, "Rifqa, it's not your fault.
Rifqa, please be cool and think about what you are going to and what you will
get from this religion. Rifqa, nothing to worry. Allah with you always if you not close to him, but Allah always
close to you [sic]."
In yet another message likely intended for the girl's father, Rizwan wrote,
"Bary, you are correct. No one can do without Allah order! [sic] Go ahead … We are all together …"