About the ‘Moon God’ point that has been raised in some of the comments, I’d like to point out that it was started by someone called Robert Morey. Here’s an excellent article which refutes his book , The Moon-god Allah in the Archeology of the Middle East.

http://www.beautifulislam.com/christianity/robert_moreys_moon_god_myth.htm

Just proves how ignorant one has to be of our religion to believe such a myth.

Peter
MA in Mythology.

After wading through too many articles, listening to the conference call, and numbing my brain with videos, I have the impression that all or some members of the Bary family are undocumented (i.e., illegal immigrants) and that Rifqa came up with a great scam to use the stupidity and ignorance of Christian Islamophobes in order to avoid returning (or being deported) to Sri Lanka.

Below are some videos and her recent conference call. I have to admit bafflement at the comparisons of Rifqa to Esther unless there is some sort of subconscious awareness among the Christian Islamophobes that Rifqa has consciously plotted to deceive them.

[To read the entire article, click here.]

I have no doubt that this girl will one day come to regret all of this. She may or may not come back to Islam, but she will most definitely come to regret this slander as she matures and finds herself. Right now she is just like a parrot, repeating everything that is taught to her and made to sound “cool” and “acceptable”. I am sure she simply had a hard time being a young Muslim girl in this society, and surely despite having already been “integrated” into the American way of life, she must have had some restrictions as a Muslim, regardless of the level of Islam practiced in her household, that were bothering her and which she wanted to get rid of to “fully” feel like an “American”. Trust me, I have known born Muslims whose parents did not teach them much of Islam. These were girls who were young and impressionable and wanted to fit in, some even accepting Christianity but not because they believed in it or knew much about it, simply because their friends were Christian (however non-practicing) and it seemed “cool” and “modern” to these girls to be like everyone else around them, in every aspect possible. They later came to regret their choices and some of them are now very devout Muslims masha’Allah.
Please let us not put the blame on the parents, for a few reasons: Firstly, the girl is a sane adult, according to Islam. Her “choices” are her own burden. Secondly, while I agree that parents must teach their children, we do not know whether or not her parents have or haven’t. yes, they obviously allowed her to be a cheerleader etc, BUT we do not know that they themselves are knowledgeable enough about their religion. Many non-practicing Muslim parents love their deen, the little that they know about it, and many allow their children to participate in unislamic activities but this doesn’t mean they do not dislike it. Sometimes the children are so rebelious and parents, especially here in the West, have a hard time discplining them, so they allow them to do that which is “less harmful” in their eyes, hoping they will pass the stage as they mature. There are many possible scenarios, but we can’t blame people whom we do not know. This girl really makes me upset, yes I’m upset that she is not using her own brain to make her own choices (this is VERY obvious), but what upsets me even more is that this is the type of a teenager that has no limits in pursuing whatever she wishes to achieve. And if it means slander, hurt and pain to her parents, this girl doesn’t care. She is 17, not 7!!! At 17, one knows right from wrong, even if they are an airhead(which is definitely is, just watching her makes me wanna shake her). Ergh.

FBI should free the girl and deliver her in the custody of her parents under the supervision of the State of Ohio.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/215100/?gt1=43002

“Our investigation has provided no clear evidence of criminal activity,” said the state report.

Also someone mentioned the story of Noah and his son, I think the following quote from the story suggests Bary was hardly Noah (AS):

The girl had told investigators her father never saw her in her school cheerleading outfit because she feared his disapproval. But investigators stated in the report they saw pictures of the girl in her cheerleading uniform prominently displayed in the living room of the Bary’s Ohio home.