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| | Rifqa’s conversion (C) has become a something of a new crusade by evangelical Christians. | CAIRO — The custody battle between Christian evangelicals and a Muslim family over a runaway teenage girl who converted to Christianity is blemishing the image of the Islamic faith and fuelling hatred against the Muslim community in the United States. "We feel frustrated because this is a family problem of a certain family,” Imam Tariq Rasheed, director of the Islamic Centre of Orlando, told the Orlando Sentinel on Monday, August 31. “The way it has been portrayed is defaming Islam and giving a way, way negative picture of our religion." Rifqa Mohamed Bary, 17, left her Muslim family in Ohio in July and went to Orlando, where she converted to Christianity. The teen, of a Sri Lankan origin who now lives with a pastor and his family, says she fears returning to her family because of her conversion. Her father says that his daughter can practice Christianity and only wants her to return home. The case has become something of a new crusade by evangelical Christians and attracted the interest of evangelicals, who view it as a test of religious liberty. Christian activists are lobbying to allow the girl to remain in Florida, citing instances of “honour killings”. A Florida judge says the teen will remain in foster care until a Sept. 3 hearing. Confusion Muslim leaders ridiculed claims by Christian activists that the Qur’an exhorts killing of converted followers. "There is not a single verse in the holy Qur’an that stops a person from exercising the freedom of choosing his or her religion,” Imam Rasheed said. “There is nothing about a punishment if you change your religion." Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, assistant professor of religion at the University of Florida, agrees. He said non-Muslims often confuse “honour killings” with a Qur’anic verse that calls for capital punishment for those leaving the religion. He stressed that that law is applied by a court, not by individuals or family members. "They assume the law and the Qur’an are synonymous, and they are not," Simmons said. "The Qur’an is not a law book," he said. Simmon believes that the teenage girl may be herself confused about the difference between capital punishment under Islamic law and “honour killings”. The controversy, coupled with moves by an evangelical church in Gainesville to post a sign reading "Islam is of the Devil" and have school children wear T-shirts with that message, is fuelling anti-Muslim sentiments and feeding Islamophobia across the country. "This plays into an irrational sense of fear among people who aren't familiar with the tenets of the faith," Simmons said. "What is shameful in this entire ordeal is the way in which those who should know better, and who profess quite different values otherwise, are willing to repeat stereotypes and fuel fires of ignorance and violence." | 