The Plight of Rahaf al-Qunun

Eighteen-year-old Rahaf al-Qunan is fighting for her life.  A native of Saudi Arabia, Rahaf fled from her family in Kuwait and flew to Thailand in the hope of being granted asylum in Australia.  Though in truth, Rahaf is willing to go to any country where she can be given a simple right, the right to live.  The reason she lost this right in Saudi Arabia is because she made a simple, yet dangerous choice: she left the Islamic Faith.  

Sharia Law, which is derived straight from the Qur'an and Hadith literature makes the punishment for Apostasy very clear.  There is a consensus by all four schools of Sunni Islamic Jurisprudence (i.e. Maliki, Hanbali, Hanafi, & Shafii as well as classical Shiite jurists that anyone who is considered to be an apostate from Islam must be put to death.  In many cases, when the state does not carry out this law, the members of society will take matters into their own hands.  There have been numerous cases all over the world of Muslims being killed, often by their own families, for leaving the Islamic faith.  A friend of Rahaf who for her safety will not reveal her name revealed testified that Rahaf's faces this fate if she is returned to Saudi Arabi.  She testified that Rahaf's family has continually subjected her to physical and psychological abuse, and that one of her cousin's has been screaming for her blood ever since he found out that Rahaf left the Islamic faith.  

 When the Thai authorities took Rahaf into custody, she posted her plight on social media, telling the world that if she is sent back to Saudi Arabia, her family will torture her, and kill her.  In desperation, she barricaded her self in her room and cried out to the UN, to President Trump, to anyone in the world who would help her.  Fortunately, her cries have been heard, and for the time being the Thai authorities have decided not to deport her and place her under the UNHCR, but her life is still in grave danger.  

 Currently, Saudi Arabia is fighting to get her back.  Although Rahaf is considered a legal adult under the law of most Western Nations, Saudi law forbids women to travel without permission from her male guardians.  When Rahaf landed in Thailand, Saudi officials caught up with her at the airport, confiscated her passport, and attempted to force the Thai officials to release her to their custody.  So far, the Thai government is choosing to follow their conscience and are not going to send her back to a nations where Rahaf fears she will die, but it remains to be seen if she will be granted permanent asylum in a safe nation.  


Sources:

Davidson, Helen.  "Rahaf al-Qunun: Saudi Woman Under UN Protection as Australia Urges Asylum Claim."  The Guardian.  January 07, 2018.  Accessed from  https://www.theguardian.com/world/ 2019/jan/08/rahaf-al-qunun-saudi-woman-under-un-protection-as-australia-urges-asylum-claim.

Knox, Patrick.  "'They Will Kill Me.'  Who is Rahaf al-Qunun, is Her Life in Danger, and Why did the Saudi National Barricade Herself in a Bangkok Hotel?"  The Sun.  January 07, 2018.  Accessed from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8139733/who-rahaf-al-qunun-life-danger-saudi-national-barricade-bangkok-hotel/.

Olarn, Kocha and Nada Altaher.  "Saudi Teenager Who Fled Her Family Allowed to Stay in Thailand For Now."  CNN.  January, 07, 2019.  Accessed from https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/06/asia/saudi-woman-held-intl/index.html.


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