Die Welt

26.02.02

Una donna condannata alla lapidazione.

L�arcivescovo cattolico di Lagos si dice pronto a morire al posto di Safiya � Di Alan Posener

Prima che Ges� nascesse Maria era fidanzata con Giuseppe e rest� incinta prima del matrimonio.

Il Vangelo di Matteo parla del segreto dell�incarnazione in una maniera davvero sobria:. �Ecco come avvenne la nascita di Ges� Cristo: sua madre Maria, essendo promessa sposa di Giuseppe, prima che andassero a vivere insieme si trov� incinta per opera dello Spirito Santo. Giuseppe suo sposo, che era giusto e non voleva ripudiarla, decise di licenziarla in segreto." Se infatti Giuseppe avesse ripudiato Maria, lei sarebbe stata sottoposta alla legge. Invece  poich� era un uomo buono e giusto, prefer� abbandonare Maria ed assumersi lui la colpa, prima che gli apparisse un angelo. Ma anche Giuseppe ci appare oggi come un angelo.

2003 anni dopo, Safiya Husaini viene condannata a morte per lapidazione da un tribunale islamico in Nigeria. Lei � incinta e la Sharia proibisce il rapporto sessuale fuori del matrimonio. Anche qui appare un angelo. I' arcivescovo cattolico di Lagos si dichiara pronto a morire al posto di Safiya.

"Chi tra noi � senza peccato, scagli la prima pietra!" Cosi risponde il figlio di Maria a chi gli chiede come vada punita l�adultera. La legge non pu� essere cieca. L' arcivescovo indica al mondo questo messaggio cristiano con il suo grande gesto.

Come andr� a finire?

(Traduzione - Comunit� di Sant'Egidio)

Die Welt

26.02.02

Eine Frau wird gesteinigt

Der katholische Erzbischof von Lagos ist bereit, an Safiyas Stelle zu sterben - Kommentar

Von Alan Posener

"Mit der Geburt Jesu Christi war es so: Maria, seine Mutter, war mit Josef verlobt; noch bevor sie zusammengekommen waren, zeigte sich, dass sie ein Kind erwartete..." So sachlich erz�hlt Matth�us vom Geheimnis der Menschwerdung. "Josef, der gerecht war und sie nicht blo�stellen wollte, beschloss, sich in aller Stille von ihr zu trennen." H�tte er Maria der Untreue bezichtigt, das Gesetz h�tte ihre Steinigung verlangt. Indem er sie verl�sst, nimmt er die Schuld auf sich. Diesem Mann muss ein Engel erscheinen.

2003 Jahre sp�ter wird die Witwe Safiya Husaini von einem islamischen Gericht in Nigeria zum Tod durch Steinigung verurteilt. Sie ist schwanger, und die Scharia verbietet den au�erehelichen Geschlechtsverkehr. Auch hier erscheint ein Engel. Der katholische Erzbischof von Lagos ist bereit, an Safiyas Stelle zu sterben.

"Wer von euch ohne S�nde ist, der werfe den ersten Stein!" So antwortete Marias Sohn auf die Frage, wie die Ehebrecherin zu bestrafen sei. Das Gesetz ist nichts ohne die Gnade, die Selbstgerechtigkeit ist blind. Auf diese christliche Botschaft weist der Erzbischof mit seiner gro�en Geste hin. Ob sie ankommt?

African Church Information Service -

04/03/02

NIGERIA: Archbishop Offers to Die in Place of Convicted Woman

A Nigerian Catholic archbishop has voluntarily offered to die in place of a Muslim woman who has been condemned to death by stoning by an Islamic court for the crime of adultery.Dr Anthony Olubunmi Okogie, the Catholic archbishop of the Lagos Archdiocese in south-western Nigeria, offered to pay the sentence recently imposed on the woman in the northern state of Sokoto in a case which has created an international outcry. The man has been allowed to go free.The woman, Safiya Hussaini Tungar-tudu, is appealing the conviction; the next hearing has been set for March 18.In a statement released to the news media by the archdiocese earlier late February, Okogie explained that he decided to make the offer as a protest of the Nigerian Catholic Church against the Islamic Sharia legal system.The archbishop accused the system of deliberately persecuting Christians and the poor of northern Nigeria. He called on religious leaders vested with responsibility for administering and interpreting the Islamic legal code to do so in the fear of God and with humility, taking human considerations into account.The archbishop warned the nation's political leaders that unless checked, policies in certain Nigerian states could isolate the entire nation from the international community.The archbishop accused the system of deliberately persecuting Christians and the poor of northern Nigeria. He called on religious leaders vested with responsibility for administering and interpreting the Islamic legal code to do so in the fear of God and with humility, taking human considerations into account.Under the strict Sharia law applied in Sokoto, adultery carries a mandatory death sentence.Hussaini, a nursing mother whose 1-year-old baby girl is at the centre of the case, was convicted of having had an illicit sexual affair with a man out of wedlock.Her lawyers were preparing to appeal the verdict on the grounds that Hussaini was raped. But Hussaini, who is divorced, has since claimed that her former husband is the father of the child, which would not be an offence under Sharia law.Bello Sanyinnawal, the judge who convicted Hussaini, said the criteria for adultery on the part of a man were very specific.Speaking of Hussaini's case, Sanyinnawal said: "The man had to be freed for lack of evidence. Under the Sharia law, for the man to be convicted, there must be 4 male witnesses who saw them at the same time having sex.Either that or the man himself confesses to the act. These 2 instances were lacking."The judge said that the sentence passed on Hussaini, if carried out, would ensure her access to paradise. "She will be saved on the day of judgement.The manner of her death now will save her from a terrible ordeal on judgement day. She may be admitted in the good heaven."Abdulkadir Imam Ibrahim, a legal practitioner, has filed an appeal on her behalf at the Sokoto State Sharia Court of Appeal and asked for a stay of execution of the death sentence pending the appeal."I can't predict anything now, but surely, we will examine very critically whether there were procedural or legal errors in the judgement delivered", he said from Sokoto City.Mallam Hussaini Tungar, Hussaini's father, said in an interview in Tungar-Tudu that he had appealed to both the state of Sokoto and the federal government not to kill his daughter: "I don't want my daughter to be stoned to death. Allah is forgiving. Let them forgive her."