Man Claiming to Be Meriam Ibrahim’s Brother Says She Should Recant or Die
In a sit-down interview with CNN’s Nima Elbagir, a Sudanese man named Al-Samani al-Hadi Mohamed Abdullah is claiming that Meriam Ibrahim, the Christian mother awaiting execution for her faith in Sudan, is his younger sister–and that she must be executed if she does not embrace Islam.
“I am the brother of the convicted woman Abrar al-Hadi,” he told the reporter, claiming that “Meriam Ibrahim” (or Mariam Yahya Ibrahim) is not his alleged sister’s true name.
Al-Hadi also had a far more puzzling accusation: that Daniel Wani, Ibrahim’s American Christian husband, had given Ibrahim magic potions to convert her.
Al-Hadi’s laughable accusation ignores the fact that Ibrahim was raised Christian, and is only considered “Muslim” under Sudanese law because her estranged father was Muslim.
Meanwhile, the husband says Al-Hadi didn’t start claiming to be Ibrahim’s brother until the trial, according to CNN.
If Al-Hadi is indeed unrelated to Ibrahim, it may explain his callousness in dealing with her alleged “apostasy.”
“If she repents and returns to our Islamic faith and to the embrace of our family then we are her family and she is ours. We are prepared to hold her dearer than the apples of our eyes. But if she refuses she should be executed,” he told CNN.
When the reporter attempted to appeal to him on the basis of family, Al-Hadi said he would not “indulge” his “humanity” and “emotions” while incurring the “wrath” of Allah.
