title: Lin Biao

text: For several decades, Lin's name and image were censored within China, but in recent years a balanced image of Lin has reappeared in popular culture: surviving aides and family members have published memoirs about their experience with Lin; scholars have explored most surviving evidence relevant to his life and death, and have gained exposure within the official Chinese media; movies set before 1949 have made reference to Lin; and Lin's name has re-appeared in Chinese history textbooks, recognizing his contributions to the victory of the Red Army. Within modern China, Lin is regarded as one of the Red Army's best military strategists. In 2007, a big portrait of Lin was added to the Chinese Military Museum in Beijing, included in a display of the "Ten Marshals", a group considered to be the founders of China's armed forces.


title: Solid Snake

text: During the "Metal Gear Solid" games, the character has been voiced by voice actor Akio Ōtsuka in the Japanese version and by Canadian actor David Hayter in the English version. He also appeared in "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" and "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". Considered to be one of the most iconic protagonists in video game history, Snake has been acclaimed by critics, with his personality and both Ōtsuka's and Hayter's voice acting being noted as primary factors of the character's appeal.


title: Solid Snake

text: In the early games, Solid Snake's visual appearances were references to popular actors. He was given his own consistent design in "Metal Gear Solid". He also establishes Philanthropy, an anti-Metal Gear organization carrying the motto "To let the world be", with his friend Otacon. In "", he has access to different disguises to make him look like other characters, as well as his younger self.


title: Solid Snake

text: Snake possesses an IQ of 180 and is fluent in six languages. Solid Snake has been on the battlefield for most of his life, and says that it is the only place he feels truly alive. He is a hardened veteran, burying his emotions within himself during missions, every one of which has different motives. He is also immediately shown as a loner, often with no intentions of taking orders from anyone anymore and he shows no sign of longing for the army or the country he was part of. However, along with these traits he has a more human side, being flirtatious, self-sacrificing and with a strong belief that even on a battlefield friendship and love can flourish, and that violence is not glorious. Snake's perceived stance on violence may be a case of denial, as Snake's enemies and at least one of his allies have claimed that he enjoys killing, and label him as more evil than the people he has killed. When he is not on duty, he acts as a musher.


title: Solid Snake

text: "Metal Gear" (released in 1987) introduces Snake, a rookie recruit of the elite special forces unit FOXHOUND. Snake is sent by FOXHOUND leader Big Boss into the rogue nation Outer Heaven to rescue missing teammate Gray Fox and discover who or what the "Metal Gear" is, mentioned in Fox's last transmission. As his mission progresses, Snake finds out that he has been set up; Big Boss's phantom intended to use the experimental, nuclear-armed TX-55 Metal Gear to establish Outer Heaven as a nuclear power. After destroying the Metal Gear, Snake confronts and defeats Big Boss's phantom.


title: Solid Snake

text: The sequel "" (initially released only in Japan in 1990) sees Solid Snake called up to infiltrate a heavily fortified enemy base in Zanzibar Land. Zanzibar Land has aggravated an international oil crisis and declared themselves a nuclear power by kidnapping Dr. Kio Marv after the creation of a bio-engineered algae that produces an oil substitute, and the Metal Gear original designer Dr. Pettrovich Madnar. Snake infiltrates the base and discovers that Pettrovich as well as Fox has defected to Zanzibar Land, and that Zanzibar Land is led by Big Boss. Snake destroys Metal Gear D, and defeats both Fox and Big Boss.


title: Solid Snake

text: "Metal Gear Solid" and its sees Solid Snake pulled out of retirement by Colonel Roy Campbell in a mission to deal with the "Sons of Big Boss" who, under Liquid Snake's leadership, seized an isolated American nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island. Snake's mission is to retrieve two hostages (Donald Anderson and Kenneth Baker). Despite both Anderson's and Baker's deaths, Snake infiltrates and learns about Metal Gear REX after meeting up with rookie soldier Meryl Silverburgh and REX's engineer Hal Emmerich, and having confrontations with the Cyborg Ninja.


title: Solid Snake

text: As the game progresses, Snake confronts and defeats each member of the corrupt faction of FOXHOUND (consisting of Revolver Ocelot, Decoy Octopus, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, and the Genome Soldiers), is able to destroy REX, and personally confronts Liquid. During their fight, it is revealed that Solid and Liquid are twin brothers, artificially conceived from Big Boss's genes during the "Les Enfants Terribles" government project designed to create the perfect soldier, in which one brother was genetically modified to be superior over the other. Liquid harbors a strong resentment towards Snake since Solid was given their father's dominant "soldier genes" and Liquid was cast aside. After a grueling series of battles, Liquid dies from the FOXDIE virus that was previously implanted into Snake by Naomi Hunter in order to wipe out FOXHOUND and the Genome soldiers without risking any damage to REX and the Genome soldiers for retrieval. In the end, it is revealed that Liquid got Big Boss's superior "soldier genes" while Solid was actually the inferior one. The game's ending reveals his real name is .


title: Solid Snake

text: "" shows Solid Snake as the playable character during the game's extensive prologue sequence in which he is sent by Otacon's anti-proliferation organization Philanthropy to infiltrate a cargo tanker and photograph Metal Gear RAY. During the operation, however, RAY is hijacked and the tanker destroyed, with Snake apparently dead and framed for the deed. During the game's main portion, Solidus Snake steals Snake's identity, and leads the "Sons of Liberty" (consisting of Revolver Ocelot, Fortune, Fatman, Vamp and Olga Gurlukovich) while Snake himself uses the pseudonym as a non-playable character who assists rookie agent Raiden through the remote offshore Big Shell facility and in taking down Solidus and RAY while also learning about the Patriots.


title: Solid Snake

text: The PlayStation 3 game "" features an aged incarnation of the character that is once again the protagonist identified as during the game. Thanks to Otacon and Sunny, he wears a sneaking suit outfitted with "Octocamo" technology, which allows him to blend with his environment, as well as a face mask which alters his appearance. Snake is once again enlisted by his old friend Roy Campbell to assassinate Liquid Ocelot, CEO of a giant mother company that are trying to take control of the Patriots' AIs.


title: Solid Snake

text: During his final mission, he also learns from Naomi Hunter that his life has been artificially shortened as part of the cloning process so that his genes can't be used as a weapon in later research. As a result, Snake has the physical appearance of an elderly man, despite being only forty-two years old. Snake and his allies are forced to destroy the Patriots' AI and fight through Ocelot's forces until Snake defeats Liquid's doppelgänger in hand-to-hand combat. Learning that his DNA contains a mutated FOXDIE virus that might trigger an epidemic, Snake tries to commit suicide, however, he is approached by Big Boss telling Snake that he still has a chance to live "not as a snake but as a man", making up with his father.


title: Solid Snake

text: After Big Boss's death from a new FOXDIE strain, David decides to live out the remainder of his life in peace, vowing that he will live long enough to see what the future holds for the new world he has helped create.


title: Solid Snake

text: The "Metal Gear Solid" prequels alludes to Solid Snake's existence; "" has him briefly alluded in a prophetic vision as Naked Snake's "son [that] will save the world" (after either Liquid or Solidus as Big Boss's "son [that] will bring the world to ruin"), and "" shows Kazuhira Miller mentioning the "twin sons" that are two years old at the time.


title: Solid Snake

text: Solid Snake is featured/mentioned in "" and "". The unlockable bonus mission "Déjà Vu" on the PlayStation platform and later Xbox platform of "Ground Zeroes" in which Naked Snake must re-enact situations from the original "Metal Gear Solid" game and answer a series of trivia questions after fulfilling the mission. If all the questions are answered correctly on the Normal difficulty setting, the mission can be replayed with his low-polygon model from "Metal Gear Solid" in place of his father's standard character model. "The Phantom Pain" also shows that his low-polygon model from "Metal Gear Solid" can be an alternate outfit for Venom Snake after transferring the save data from "Ground Zeroes". David is also alluded to in association with Eli during a conversation between Big Boss and Revolver Ocelot.


title: Solid Snake

text: Solid Snake also serves as the protagonist in "Snake's Revenge", a sequel to the original "Metal Gear" for the NES released for the western market in 1990 and developed without Kojima's involvement. Set three years after the events of the Outer Heaven incident, "Snake's Revenge" has Snake leading a team of FOX HOUND operatives as they infiltrate an undisclosed enemy base where the Metal Gear weapon is being mass-produced. Snake is addressed by the military rank of Lieutenant and starts the game already equipped with a handgun and a combat knife, in contrast to the first game, where Snake had to procure all of his weapons on-site.


title: Solid Snake

text: After the success of the original "Metal Gear Solid", KCEJ produced a trilogy of "Metal Gear" spin-offs for portable platforms set in a parallel universe outside the main Kojima-directed series. All three of these portable games were directed by Shinta Nojiri. The first of these is "" (released outside Japan as "Metal Gear Solid"), in which Solid Snake must infiltrate a rebuilt Outer Heaven (now called Galuade) to defeat a FOXHOUND-like team of rogue agents called Black Chamber and destroy a stolen Metal Gear prototype, Gander. Although the actual in-game artwork of "Ghost Babel" was done by Ikuya Nakamura, Yoji Shinkawa provided the promotional art like he did with the original "Metal Gear Solid". In the second of these titles, "Metal Gear Acid", Snake must retrieve "Pythagoras" from the Lobito Physics and Research Laboratory, in order to satisfy hijackers who have kidnapped presidential candidate Viggo Hach. This mission is complicated by La Clown, an expert mimic who impersonates Snake's contact Teliko, and subtle brainwashing that nearly convinces him that he is Hans Davis, a ruthless scientist that worked at the Lobito facility. He overcomes both and contacts the real Teliko, then destroys the latest model of Metal Gear, Metal Gear KODOQUE. "Metal Gear Acid 2" features a main character who is not the real version, but a clone created from tissue samples of the man from the original "Metal Gear Acid", following the events of the Lobito Island mission; the Solid Snake from the original "Acid" is implied to be dead in the sequel.


title: Solid Snake

text: The character appears in his Old Snake form as a playable character in "", a stand-alone expansion to the "Portable Ops" focusing on online play. In "", the VR Missions DLC add-on for the game's Japanese version includes a new weapon that can be used by Raiden known as the "Hebidamashi", a talking wooden sword which speaks with Solid Snake's voice (as portrayed by Akio Ōtsuka); the weapon was never made available for the English version.


title: Solid Snake

text: Outside video games, Solid Snake appeared in the "Metal Gear Solid" audio drama that focuses on his missions following the battle from Shadow Moses. He also appears in Alex Garner's comic book adaptations of "Metal Gear Solid" and "Metal Gear Solid 2". Raymond Benson's novelizations of these two games also feature Solid Snake; Benson's adaptation of the character frequently focuses on the comical aspects of his characterization. He also appears in Project Itoh's novelization from "Metal Gear Solid 4" where his actions are told from Hal Emmerich's point of view.


title: Solid Snake

text: Solid Snake has appeared in a number of other games, including other Konami games. Hideo Kojima makes a habit of referencing his previous work. In the Kojima-produced "" (and ""), Snake appears as an unnamed character who sells items to the player. Konami's "Evolution Skateboarding" features Snake and Raiden as hidden characters, as well as two stages set in the Big Shell (the skateboarding minigame in "" is a demo of "Evolution Skateboarding" composed exclusively of these elements). Solid Snake also appears in both halves of a crossover between the "Metal Gear" and "Ape Escape" franchises: the "Ape Escape" monkeys appear with Solid Snake in the "Snake vs. Monkey" minigame featured in "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater". In turn, Snake appears in the corresponding "Metal Gear Solid" minigame featured in "Ape Escape 3", where he is rescued by Pipo Snake (Snake's character design in this minigame is taken directly from Naked Snake's).


title: Solid Snake

text: He has also appeared in several cross-company fighting games. In "DreamMix TV World Fighters", Solid Snake appears as a playable character alongside other Konami, Hudson Soft and Takara characters such as Bomberman and Optimus Prime. Similarly, in "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", the third installment from the popular fighting game series "Super Smash Bros.", Solid Snake appeared as a playable fighter alongside Sega character Sonic the Hedgehog and a variety of characters from Nintendo franchises such as "Mario", "The Legend of Zelda", and "Donkey Kong". "Brawl" Director Masahiro Sakurai has stated that Snake was included under Kojima's request, and that he had talked to Sakurai about adding Snake to the roster of the previous game "Super Smash Bros. Melee", which did not materialize due to the game being too far into production. Snake returned as a playable fighter in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate", after being absent in "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U". In addition, Snake has appeared as a playable character in other Konami crossover titles, such as "New International Track & Field" and "Super Bomberman R".


title: Solid Snake

text: Old Snake has appeared in the Japanese version of "Scribblenauts", having been published by Konami in that region. Customizations in Media Molecule's "LittleBigPlanet" for the PlayStation 3 allow the player character, Sackboy, to take on the appearance of Old Snake. One of the robots in "Astro's Playroom" and one of the Villagers in "An Egg's Guide to Minecraft" each take on the appearance of Solid Snake using his signature cardboard box, the latter voiced by Dan Lloyd. In December 2020, Paul W. Anderson stated that his 2020 film "Monster Hunter" had been based on a 2010 "" crossover event with "Monster Hunter Freedom Unite", in which a military squad briefly faced monsters from the "Monster Hunter" series, with Snake's equivalent in the narrative, US Army Ranger Artemis, being portrayed by Milla Jovovich.


title: Solid Snake

text: Solid Snake was apparently named after the fictional special forces operative Snake Plissken, Kurt Russell's character in "Escape from New York". However, Kojima revealed in March 2014 that the character's name origins were something else. According to Kojima, he was given the "Snake" name because snakes are a symbol of stealth. Additionally, the "Solid" part of his code-name was given to give the opposite impression of a soft image. Kojima has compared Snake's personality with Lupin III of Monkey Punch's "Lupin III" franchise, stating that in ""MGS", Snake became this sharp-tongued, Lupin III-like guy who flirted with women and told lots of jokes". His real name David is a tribute to the film "" that has a character with the same name (and coincidentally shared with his English voice actor David Hayter). Kojima later described Snake's role in the original "Metal Gear" as the "player's presence", contrasting the defined personality acquired in "Metal Gear Solid".


title: Solid Snake

text: In addition to expanding Solid Snake's backstory, as the first "Metal Gear" game to feature voice acting, "Metal Gear Solid" established his characteristic voice and appearance.


title: Solid Snake

text: Various scenes from the games relate Solid Snake's ideals with Hideo Kojima's. During "Metal Gear Solid 2", Snake encourages Raiden to trust himself in making his own choices with the former representing the veteran developer and the latter the younger staff who are to decide whether a sequel to the series would be made without Kojima. In "Metal Gear Solid 4", Snake tries to protect the next generation by stopping Ocelot which represented Kojima working with the staff to avoid bugs from occurring within the game. Kojima introduced the cloning origins of Snake to "Metal Gear Solid" in order to provide Snake with an adversary who would be his equal, since the story, being a continuation of the original MSX2 games, established Snake as an experienced soldier. Kojima explained that his decision to introduce a new playable character in Snake's place for "Metal Gear Solid 2" was done in order to develop Snake from another character's perspective, but also to avoid treating Snake as a rookie by having a new character be instructed via Codec instead. Snake was written to act as father figure not only to protect those he cares but also leave a message for the future generation despite his imminent death. As a pacifist message, Snake's stress increases when killing enemies. Snake and Otacon were meant to die in the game, with Kojima being inspired by the movie "Sacco & Vanzetti" in regards to how the duo use death as a penalty for how they are criminals rather than heroes. While the novel retained this idea, the ending in the game was changed with Snake and Otacon surviving. According to Ryan Payton of Konami at the time, "Metal Gear Solid 4" is the final canonical "Metal Gear" game to feature Solid Snake as the main character. Kojima himself stated that the series will continue. Despite previously stating that he does not want the character to be handled by anyone else, in an interview with French gaming magazine IG


title: Solid Snake

text: Much as "Metal Gear" began as a pastiche of action movies of the time with Solid Snake as a pastiche of contemporary action movie heroes. On the cover artwork of the original "Metal Gear" game, he resembles Kyle Reese, as played by Michael Biehn in "The Terminator" (although Kojima claims to have no involvement in the production of the game's packaging illustration), and the in-game portrait of "" resembles Mel Gibson.


title: Solid Snake

text: Yoji Shinkawa's Solid Snake design, characterized by his navy blue bandanna and "sneaking suit", would serve as the template for all future incarnations in later "Metal Gear" games. According to Shinkawa, Snake's physique in "Metal Gear Solid" was based on that of action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, while his facial appearance inspired by actor Christopher Walken. Shinkawa described his rendition of Solid Snake from "Metal Gear Solid" as a "middle ground" between the younger Snake who was in the cover artwork of the first "Metal Gear" and the middle-aged Snake from the MSX2 version of "Metal Gear 2". For the initial events from the Big Shell chapter from "Metal Gear Solid 2", Snake's visual appearance was sightly modified with his hair being more blonde, and his appearance somewhat resembling the Man with No Name (as portrayed by Clint Eastwood). Snake was one of the characters easiest to draw by Shinkawa as he notes that his appearance is consistent despite suffering minor changes across the games.


title: Solid Snake

text: By the time "Metal Gear Solid 4" started development, Kojima told Shinkawa about his idea of making Snake look elderly, which surprised the designer. Once Shinkawa showed his artwork of Old Snake to the staff, they were all also surprised by the idea of playing as an old version of the character. However, they were satisfied with the end product as the staff began to like the character. In "Metal Gear Solid 4", one of Kojima's endings would have had Snake and Otacon turn themselves in for breaking the law, and subsequently they would be convicted and executed. However, comments from Kojima's staff who were disappointed with his death resulted in the character's survival. In "Metal Gear Solid 4", Old Snake is modelled after Lee Van Cleef who appeared in "Escape from New York".


title: Solid Snake

text: In the games, Solid Snake has been voiced by Akio Ōtsuka in the Japanese version, and by David Hayter in the English adaptations. When working in "Captain Planet", Hayter met the casting director of this show was Kris Zimmerman, who would later also be the voice over director for "Metal Gear" games. When debuting in "Metal Gear Solid", Hayter was impressed by the game's cutscenes and the amount of dialogue. One of Snake's lines that Hayter liked was "I just didn't expect a world-class designer of military technology to be so… cute." when Snake interacts with Mei Ling, believing it showed a more fun side of him. Solid Snake's English voice was inspired by Hayter's experience with Japan's storytelling, resulting in minor changes for the script. Hayter himself felt shocked when "Sons of Liberty" was released as the narrative focused more on newcomer Raiden rather than him. Although there were no news about Snake's future role in "Metal Gear", the actor believes "Guns of the Patriots" gave the character a proper closure. One of Snake's final scenes in this game bothered Hayter as during the ending the character hesitates to kill himself despite having killed multiple enemies in fights. Nevertheless, Hayter stated that he "loves" the character he was given to portray.


title: Solid Snake

text: Other than the aforementioned voice actors, Solid Snake has also been dubbed in four different languages for the European localization of "Metal Gear Solid"; in French by Emmanuel Bonami, in German by Stephan Grothgar, in Italian by Alessandro Ricci, and in Spanish by Alfonso Vallés.


title: Solid Snake

text: Solid Snake's character was very well received by gaming media. "Retro Gamer" included him in the section "top ten forces of good" in their 2004 list of top 50 retro game heroes. In 2005, "Electronic Gaming Monthly" listed Solid Snake as number one as the top ten video game characters of all time. Solid Snake appeared in multiple GameFAQs "Character Battle" contests, and was runner-up in three: the "Character Battle V" in 2006, the "Character Battle VII" in 2008, and the "Character Battle IX" in 2013. In an Oricon poll from 2008, his character was voted as the most popular video game character in Japan, tying with Nintendo's Pikachu. In a "Famitsu" poll in 2010, Solid Snake was voted by readers as the most popular video game character. His character was amongst the last 16 contestants on the greatest video game hero on GameSpot contest held in 2009, and lost out to Gordon Freeman on a tiebreaker. In the "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition" from 2011, Solid Snake was voted as the fourth most popular video game character. In 2011, "Empire" ranked Solid Snake as the 19th greatest video game character, adding that "beginning as an action pastiche, he swiftly evolved into his very own character". In 2007, ScrewAttack ranked him as the sixth "coolest" character in video games. 1UP.com listed him second in the list of top video game smokers, while GamesRadar placed him at the top of their 2009 list of manliest men in video game history. "Complex" ranked him as fourth on the list of top "pervs" in games in 2012 and as the seventh greatest soldier in video games in 2013. In 2021, Chris Morgan for "Yardbarker" described Snake as one of "the most memorable characters from old school Nintendo games".


title: Solid Snake

text: Critics have commented on his traits and appearance, often praising Solid Snake for his appealing personality. Solid Snake's endurance in the face of extreme punishment was even made the focus of a comedy article in the satirical newspaper "The Onion". In 2013, Rich Knight and Gus Turner from "Complex" ranked him as the ninth best video game mascot, adding that he represents "deep, human emotion that other characters fail to match." IGN also remarked their rivalry, saying "Few rivalries in games have spanned as massive and confusing a timeline as Solid Snake and Liquid Snake".


title: Solid Snake

text: Solid Snake's "Metal Gear Solid 2" design was at the bottom of the worst game character makeovers list by "GamePro", condemning his conversion in hairstyle in comparison to his "Metal Gear Solid" design, and was also at the top of IGN's list of the worst video game haircuts. Before "", the character was thought to be the game's protagonist because of his physical resemblances with Naked Snake. However, later previews speculated how was it impossible for Solid Snake to be in the game's settings, leading to the conclusion it was a young incarnation of his father. A comparison between Solid Snake's and Big Boss's characters was made by IGN in article "Stars Thunderdome: Snake vs. Big Boss."


title: Solid Snake

text: The character's appearance in "Metal Gear Solid 4" has received mostly positive opinions. Before it was released, various speculations were made regarding his role. As he was the only one who suffered from a drastic change in appearance, IGN commented that the most famous rumor was the one of his body deteriorating across the game. Moreover, since it had been announced it would be his last appearance, IGN and GamesRadar wondered whether the character would die during the game and if Raiden would replace him following his death. GamesRadar commented that his character was one of the few gaming characters that aged across video games. "GamePro" also listed Old Snake as one of the biggest surprises from the game, as the character was found interesting in contrast to pessimistic thoughts they had before the game's release. GameDaily listed the "old hero" as one of their list of top video game archetypes, using the old version of the character as an example of this. "PLAY" gave praise to his moustache considering how highly detailed it is, and represents the change from Solid Snake's character. On the other hand, 1UP.com placed Old Snake third in their 2009 list of most gracelessly aging characters as it gave negative messages about aging. In 2013, "Complex" included Old Snake among the ten video game characters who look like sex offenders, but "La Nueva España" included him among the top ten sexiest video game characters of both genders.


title: Solid Snake

text: GameDaily made Solid Snake top their "Smash Bros." characters list, while "PLAY" listed him as one of the characters they wanted to be playable in "Mortal Kombat". The character customization in "Soulcalibur IV" that allowed to create Solid Snake was listed by UGO as one of the best ones from the series owing to his popularity within gamers. Gavin Jasper of "Den of Geek" ranked Solid Snake as 12th of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" characters, and stated that "bringing Snake in "Smash Bros." was an act of pure dominance." Jeremy Parish of "Polygon" ranked 73 fighters from "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" "from garbage to glorious", listing Solid Snake as 18th, stating that "The legendary super-soldier Solid Snake remains one of gaming's greatest and most tragic figures." People expressed some disappointment on "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" when Solid Snake wears a skintight stealth suit, and the rendition being completely changed. Leaving the character's butt being reduced. "HobbyConsolas" named Snake as third of their "The 30 best heroes of the last 30 years."


title: Solid Snake

text: Akio Otsuka's and David Hayter's performances as Solid Snake's voice actors has received praise. Ōtsuka remembers being surprised during his debut as a result of the large amount of dialogue Solid Snake was given. Hayter's performance was called one of the greatest in gaming as well as one of the character's most recognizable traits. In 2013, "Game Informer" ranked Hayter's role as Solid Snake as the seventh most memorable character voice in video games for "a portrayal that's considered to be a real classic in the history of video game voice acting".


title: Solid Snake

text: In the "Tekken 7" Evo 2019 finals, the character was used to have a chat with developer Katsuhiro Harada. The organizers of Evo stated this was a joke as many fans believed it was a hint for a possible usage of the character as downloadable content. David Hayter complained about this joke as Evo did not consult Konami or him when using the audio.


title: San Marino national football team

text: The San Marino national football team () represents San Marino in men's international association football competitions. The team is controlled by the San Marino Football Federation and represents the smallest population of any UEFA member.


title: San Marino national football team

text: The first official match played by a San Marino team was a 4–0 defeat in a European Championship qualifier to Switzerland in 1990. Previously, a San Marino side played an unofficial match against the Canadian U-23 team in 1986, losing 1–0. Since making their competitive debut, San Marino have competed in the qualifiers of every European Championship and World Cup, but have never won a match in either competition. They have only ever won once, defeating Liechtenstein 1–0 in a friendly match on 28 April 2004.


title: San Marino national football team

text: Until November 2014, San Marino were tied in last place in the FIFA World Rankings, a run that lasted since the rankings were given a new calculation methodology. They were tied for last with Bhutan (208th) in the October 2014 rankings, but a 0–0 draw with Estonia in the Euro 2016 qualifiers ended their tenure at the bottom of the rankings. San Marino scored their first away goal in fourteen years against another Baltic side, Lithuania, in the same qualifying phase. When the ranking methodology got revised again, the team fell back to the bottom following a 1–0 loss to Moldova in the Nations League.


title: San Marino national football team

text: San Marino's national team is sometimes considered the worst national side in the history of the sport, as they have only ever won once and conceded an average of 4.2 goals per match, although as a member of UEFA, they face stronger competition than many other low-ranked sides.


title: San Marino national football team

text: Though the San Marino Football Federation was formed in 1931, the federation did not establish a national team until 1986, when a team representing the Federation played the Canadian U-23 team in an unofficial international, which ended in a 1–0 defeat. San Marino gained affiliation to FIFA and UEFA in 1988, allowing the team to participate in major championships. Prior to this, Sammarinese players had been considered Italian in international football contexts.


title: San Marino national football team

text: San Marino's first match in a FIFA-sanctioned competition was against Switzerland on 14 November 1990 in a qualifier for the 1992 European Championships. San Marino lost 4–0 and would go on to lose all eight of their other qualifiers. The team particularly struggled in away matches, losing all of them by at least four goals. San Marino scored only one goal, which was a penalty in a 3–1 defeat at home by Romania, and conceded 33 goals in total.


title: San Marino national football team

text: For their first World Cup qualifying campaign, San Marino were drawn in a group with England, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Turkey. The opening match resulted in a 10–0 hammering at the hands of Norway. The return match was less one-sided, finishing 2–0 to the Norwegians. A 4–1 defeat in Turkey saw San Marino score their first World Cup goal and a 0–0 draw against the same opposition on 10 March 1993 gave them their first-ever point. In their final qualifier against England, Davide Gualtieri scored the then-fastest goal in World Cup qualifying history after 8.3 seconds, though San Marino went on to lose 7–1. San Marino finished the campaign with one point and conceded 46 goals in 10 matches.


title: San Marino national football team

text: The team's qualification campaign for Euro 1996 followed a similar pattern to that of the previous European championships as they lost every match. A match away to Finland gave San Marino their first goal away from home in the European championship qualifiers, but the team lost 4–1. Their only other goal came in a 3–1 home defeat by the Faroe Islands; the two wins over San Marino were the only points gained by the Faroe Islands in the group. In the first match, a 3–0 score in Toftir, is the Faroe Islands record competitive win.


title: San Marino national football team

text: Even by Sammarinese standards, qualification for the 1998 World Cup was disappointing. Losing every match by three goals or more, San Marino failed to score a single goal. This is the only World Cup qualifying tournament in which they have failed to score. Qualification for Euro 2000 again resulted in defeats in every match. The closest San Marino got to gaining a point was against Cyprus, a 1–0 defeat on 18 November 1998.


title: San Marino national football team

text: In April 2001, San Marino gained their first ever away point, drawing 1–1 with Latvia in Riga. The team ended the 2002 World Cup qualifying group with a new best of three goals, though one of these came in a 10–1 defeat by Belgium. In Euro 2004 qualifying, San Marino lost all eight matches, failing to score. The closest result was a 1–0 home defeat by Latvia, with the winner scored in the last minute. Latvia went on to qualify for the final tournament.


title: San Marino national football team

text: In April 2004, San Marino gained their first win after more than 70 attempts, a 1–0 victory over Liechtenstein in a friendly on 28 April 2004 courtesy of a fifth-minute goal by Andy Selva. The match was Martin Andermatt's debut as Liechtenstein manager. Results during qualification for the 2006 World Cup followed a similar vein to previous qualifying groups. Matches were generally one-sided defeats, with the exception of single goal defeats at home by Lithuania and Belgium.


title: San Marino national football team

text: San Marino's opening Euro 2008 qualifying match resulted in a record 13–0 defeat at home by Germany on 6 September 2006. They scored only twice and conceded fifty-seven goals in losing all twelve matches, although the home matches against Ireland, Cyprus and Wales were each lost by a single goal.


title: San Marino national football team

text: In the qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup, they lost all ten matches played and failed to qualify. They conceded 47 goals in those fixtures, including 10 in a defeat by Poland, which became Poland's highest scoring victory of all time, and scored just once, in a 3–1 defeat by Slovakia. The Euro 2012 Qualifiers started in a similar way, the first nine matches all being defeats with an aggregate of 49 goals conceded and none scored, their best result being a one-goal loss to Finland at home, with the worst being a heavy 11–0 loss to the Netherlands, which became the Netherlands' highest scoring victory of all time and San Marino's worst-ever away defeat. This was then followed up by two lighter defeats, a 5–0 home loss against Sweden, before completing the campaign with a 4–0 away loss to Moldova.


title: San Marino national football team

text: On 10 September 2013, Alessandro Della Valle scored San Marino's first competitive goal in five years. With the score 1–0 to Poland in the Stadio Olimpico, Della Valle headed in a free kick in the 22nd minute, beating goalkeeper Artur Boruc at his front post. Poland then regained the lead a minute later and eventually won 5–1. It was the first international goal of any kind scored by San Marino since the national team lost 3–2 at home to Malta in 2012.


title: San Marino national football team

text: On 15 November 2014, San Marino drew 0–0 at home against Estonia. It was the first time in ten years that the team hadn't lost a match, ending a 61–match losing streak, and securing the country's first ever point in a European Championship qualifier.


title: San Marino national football team

text: On 16 November 2019, Filippo Berardi scored a goal in a 3–1 loss to Kazakhstan in a Euro 2020 qualifying match, which was the first goal for San Marino in two years (5–1 vs. Azerbaijan on 4 September 2017) and their first home goal in six years (5–1 vs. Poland on 10 September 2013).


title: San Marino national football team

text: On 13 October 2020, San Marino recorded their 4th competitive draw and their first since 2014, after their Nations League match with Liechtenstein ended 0–0. A month later they made history by holding Gibraltar to a goalless draw, surviving with 10 men after Davide Simoncini was sent off. This heralded several firsts for them: the first major tournament in which they had gained more than one point, the first time they had gained more than one point in a calendar year and the first time that they had gone unbeaten without conceding a single goal in two consecutive competitive matches.


title: San Marino national football team

text: On 7 December 2020, San Marino was drawn into Group I for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, an opportunity to pick up one or more points and/or get a historic first win in official competition as it would meet Andorra, the lowest placed team in the 5-pot, among its five opponents and which it had faced only once before in a friendly match. However, the team failed to get a single point and lost all their matches, including a 0–10 home loss against England and with a record of one goal scored, at home against Poland in a 1–7 loss, against 46 conceded.


title: San Marino national football team

text: On 28 March 2022, San Marino played the first official match in its history against a non-European team in a friendly match against Cape Verde played on neutral venue in Spain, the result being a 2–0 loss. San Marino then took on a 2nd African side with a much lower standard than the previous one, the 198th ranked Seychelles, whom they host in a friendly at Stadio Olimpico on September 21, 2022. San Marino ended an 18-game losing streak with a goalless draw, but disappointed overall, failing to capitalize on their chances and win at home against an opponent within its reach, who played defensively in a 4-5-1 formation. The 2022–2023 edition of the UEFA Nations League sees the selection again in Group B of League D composed of 3 teams, but it loses its 4 games without scoring a goal. As a result, San Marino is the only European team that has not yet managed to score a goal in 3 participations.


title: San Marino national football team

text: San Marino play home matches at the San Marino Stadium, a municipally owned stadium in Serravalle which also hosts the matches of club side San Marino Calcio. It has a capacity of 7,000. Crowds are low but there is always a fan group called "Brigata Mai 1 Gioia", mainly composed of Italians from Emilia-Romagna. On occasion travelling supporters outnumber the Sammarinese support. For example, in the fixture against the Republic of Ireland in February 2007, 2,500 of the 3,294 crowd were Irish supporters.


title: San Marino national football team

text: San Marino have played three "home" matches outside their borders. For World Cup qualifiers against England and the Netherlands in 1993 the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara in Bologna was used and for UEFA Nations League match against Liechtenstein in 2020 at the Stadio Romeo Neri in Rimini.


title: San Marino national football team

text: San Marino has the smallest population of any UEFA country. As of 2 June 2022, the republic has never won a competitive fixture. A 2004 1–0 friendly win against Liechtenstein remains their sole victory.


title: San Marino national football team

text: The national side is mainly composed of amateur players. Only a small number of players are at least semi-professionals, as many hold second jobs outside of the sport. Their 13–0 defeat at home by Germany is a European Championship record and they have conceded ten goals on four other separate occasions.


title: San Marino national football team

text: In the FIFA World Rankings, San Marino traditionally have the lowest rank of any UEFA country. Since the creation of FIFA rankings in 1992, San Marino's average position has been 176th.


title: San Marino national football team

text: In 2001, Latvia manager Gary Johnson resigned after failing to beat San Marino in a World Cup qualifier. The Republic of Ireland's 2–1 win over San Marino in February 2007 (from a last-second goal) resulted in scathing press criticism for the Irish team.


title: San Marino national football team

text: San Marino held the record for the fastest goal in FIFA World Cup qualifying history for 22 years when they stunned England with a goal after only 8.3 seconds in 1993. England went on to win the match 7–1. San Marino do however still hold the record as far as scoring against professional opponents is concerned, as Belgium's Christian Benteke scored against Gibraltar.


title: San Marino national football team

text: San Marino set a European record when they went over 20 matches without scoring between October 2008 and August 2012. On 8 September 2015, San Marino scored its first away goal in 14 years when Matteo Vitaioli scored against Lithuania in Euro 2016 qualification.


title: San Marino national football team

text: An interesting result of San Marino's weaknesses is that many people see them as football's biggest underdogs; as a result, they have gained a substantial following online from across the world. This is fairly evident on Twitter with many fan accounts dedicated to following the team.


title: San Marino national football team

text: The following players have been called up within the last 12 months and are still eligible to represent.


title: Megalith

text: A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.


title: Megalith

text: The word was first used in 1849 by the British antiquarian Algernon Herbert in reference to Stonehenge and derives from the Ancient Greek words "mega" for great and "lithos" for stone. Most extant megaliths were erected between the Neolithic period (although earlier Mesolithic examples are known) through the Chalcolithic period and into the Bronze Age.


title: Megalith

text: At that time, the beliefs that developed were dynamism and animism, because Indonesia experienced the megalithic age or the great stone age in 2100 to 4000 BC. So that humans ancient tribe worship certain objects that are considered to have supernatural powers. Some relics of the megalithic era are menhirs (stone monuments) and dolmens (stone tables).


title: Megalith

text: While "megalith" is often used to describe a single piece of stone, it also can be used to denote one or more rocks hewn in definite shapes for special purposes. It has been used to describe structures built by people from many parts of the world living in many different periods. The most widely known megaliths are not tombs.


title: Megalith

text: At a number of sites in southeastern Turkey, ceremonial complexes with large T-shaped megalithic orthostats, dating from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN, 9600–7000 cal BC), have been discovered.


title: Megalith

text: At the most famous of these sites, Göbekli Tepe, parts of the oldest level (III) have been C14-dated as far back as to the mid-10th millennium BC (cal). On this level, 20 great stone circles (up to 20 meters in diameter) with standing stones up to 7 meters high have been identified. At least 5 of these circles have so far (as of 2019) been excavated. Many of the standing stones are richly ornamented with carved reliefs of "[b]ears, boars, snakes, foxes, wildcats, aurochs, gazelle, quadruped reptiles, birds, spiders, insects, quadrupeds, scorpions" and other animals; in addition, some of the stones are carved in low profile with stylized human features (arms, hands, loincloths, but "no heads").


title: Megalith

text: On the younger level (II) rectangular structures with smaller megaliths have been excavated. In the surrounding area, several village sites incorporating elements similar to those of Göbekli Tepe have been identified. Four of these have Göbekli Tepe's characteristic T-shaped standing stones, though only one of them, Nevalı Çori, has so far been excavated. At Göbekli Tepe itself, no traces of habitation have so far been found, nor any trace of agriculture or cultivated plants, though bones of wild animals and traces of wild edible plants, along with many grinding stones, have been unearthed. It is thus assumed that these structures (which have been characterized as the first known ceremonial architecture) were erected by hunter-gatherers.


title: Megalith

text: Göbekli Tepe's oldest structures are about 7,000 years older than the Stonehenge megaliths, although it is doubtful that any of the European megalithic traditions (see below) are derived from them.


title: Megalith

text: Dolmens and standing stones have been found in large areas of the Middle East starting at the Turkish border in the north of Syria close to Aleppo, southwards down to Yemen. They can be encountered in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The largest concentration can be found in southern Syria and along the Jordan Rift Valley; these are threatened with destruction. They date from the late Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age. Megaliths have also been found on Kharg Island and Pirazmian in Iran, at Barda Balka in Iraq.


title: Megalith

text: A semicircular arrangement of megaliths was found in Israel at Atlit Yam, a site that is now under the sea. It is a very early example, dating from the 7th millennium BC.


title: Megalith

text: The most concentrated occurrence of dolmens in particular is in a large area on both sides of the Jordan Rift Valley, with greater predominance on the eastern side. They occur first and foremost on the Golan Heights, the Hauran, and in Jordan, which probably has the largest concentration of dolmen in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, only very few dolmen have been identified so far in the Hejaz. They seem, however, to re-emerge in Yemen in small numbers, and thus could indicate a continuous tradition related to those of Somalia and Ethiopia.


title: Megalith

text: The standing stone has a very ancient tradition in the Middle East, dating back from Mesopotamian times. Although not always 'megalithic' in the true sense, they occur throughout the area and can reach 5 metres or more in some cases (such as at Ader in Jordan). This phenomenon can also be traced through many passages from the Old Testament, such as those related to Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, who poured oil over a stone that he erected after his famous dream in which angels climbed to heaven (Genesis 28:10-22). Jacob is also described as putting up stones at other occasions, whereas Moses erected twelve pillars symbolizing the tribes of Israel. The tradition of venerating standing stones continued in Nabatean times.


title: Megalith

text: The most common type of megalithic construction in Europe is the portal tomb—a chamber consisting of upright stones (orthostats) with one or more large flat capstones forming a roof. Many portal tombs have been found to contain human remains, but it is debated if their primary function was use as burial sites. The megalithic structures in the northwest of France are believed to be the oldest in Europe based on radiocarbon dating. Though generally known as "dolmens", the term most accepted by archaeologists is "portal tomb". Local names for portal tombs exist in multiple locations, such as "anta" in Galicia and Portugal, "stazzone" in Sardinia, "hunebed" in the Netherlands, "Hünengrab" in Germany, "dysse" in Denmark, and "cromlech" in Wales. It is assumed that most portal tombs were originally covered by earthen mounds.


title: Megalith

text: The second-most-common tomb type is the passage grave. It normally consists of a square, circular, or cruciform chamber with a slabbed or corbelled roof, accessed by a long, straight passageway, with the whole structure covered by a circular mound of earth. Sometimes it is also surrounded by an external stone kerb. Prominent examples include the sites of Brú na Bóinne and Carrowmore in Ireland, Maes Howe in Orkney, and Gavrinis in France.


title: Megalith

text: The third tomb type is a diverse group known as gallery graves. These are axially arranged chambers placed under elongated mounds. The Irish court tombs, British long barrows, and German "Steinkisten" belong to this group.


title: Megalith

text: Standing stones, or menhirs as they are known in France, are very common throughout Europe, where some 50,000 examples have been noted. Some of these are thought to have an astronomical function as a marker or foresight. In some areas, long and complex "alignments" of such stones exist, the largest known example being located at Carnac in Brittany, France.


title: Megalith

text: In parts of Britain and Ireland a relatively common type of megalithic construction is the stone circle, of which examples include Stonehenge, Avebury, Ring of Brodgar and Beltany. These, too, display evidence of astronomical alignments, both solar and lunar. Stonehenge, for example, is famous for its solstice alignment. Examples of stone circles are also found in the rest of Europe. The circle at Lough Gur, near Limerick in Ireland has been dated to the Beaker period, approximately contemporaneous with Stonehenge. The stone circles are assumed to be of later date than the tombs, straddling the Neolithic and the Bronze Ages.


title: Megalith

text: Megalithic tombs are aboveground burial chambers, built of large stone slabs (megaliths) laid on edge and covered with earth or other, smaller stones. They are a type of chamber tomb, and the term is used to describe the structures built across Atlantic Europe, the Mediterranean, and neighbouring regions, mostly during the Neolithic period, by Neolithic farming communities. They differ from the contemporary long barrows through their structural use of stone.


title: Megalith

text: There is a huge variety of megalithic tombs. The free-standing single chamber dolmens and portal dolmens found in Brittany, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Wales, and elsewhere consist of a large flat stone supported by three, four, or more standing stones. They were covered by a stone cairn or earth barrow.


title: Megalith

text: In Italy, dolmens can be found especially in Sardinia. There are more than 100 dolmen dating to the Neolithic (3500–2700 BC) and the most famous is called "Dolmen di Sa Coveccada" (near Mores). During the Bronze Age, the Nuragic civilization built c. 800 Giants' grave, a type of megalithic gallery grave that can be found throughout Sardinia with different structures. The earliest megalithic tombs in Sardinia are the circular graves of the so-called Arzachena culture, also found in Corsica, southern France and eastern Spain.


title: Megalith

text: Dolmens are also in Apulia and in Sicily. In this latter region, they are small structures located in Mura Pregne (Palermo), Sciacca (Agrigento), Monte Bubbonia (Caltanissetta), Butera (Caltanissetta), Cava Lazzaro (Siracusa), Cava dei Servi (Ragusa), Avola (Siracusa), and Argimusco in Montalbano Elicona (Messina). Dating to the Early Bronze Age (2200–1800 BC), the prehistoric Sicilian buildings were covered by a circular mound of earth. In the dolmen of Cava dei Servi, archaeologists found numerous human bone fragments and some splinters of Castelluccian ceramics (Early Bronze Age) which confirmed the burial purpose of the artefact.


title: Megalith

text: Examples with outer areas, not used for burial, are also known. The Court Cairns of southwest Scotland and northern Ireland, the Severn-Cotswold tombs of southwest England and the transepted gallery graves of the Loire region in France share many internal features, although the links between them are not yet fully understood. That they often have antechambers or forecourts is thought to imply a desire on the part of the builders to emphasize a special ritual or physical separation of the dead from the living.


title: Megalith

text: Megalithic tombs appear to have been used by communities for the long-term deposition of the remains of their dead, and some seem to have undergone alteration and enlargement. The organization and effort required to erect these large stones suggest that the societies concerned placed great emphasis on the proper treatment of their dead. The ritual significance of the tombs is supported by the presence of pre-historic art carved into the stones at some sites. Hearths and deposits of pottery and animal bone found by archaeologists around some tombs also implies that some form of burial feast or sacrificial rites took place there.


title: Megalith

text: Further examples of megalithic tombs include the stalled cairn at Midhowe in Orkney and the passage grave at Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey. There are also extensive grave sites with up to 60 megaliths at Louisenlund and Gryet on the Danish island of Bornholm.


title: Megalith

text: In association with the megalithic constructions across Europe, there are often large earthworks of various designs—ditches and banks (like the Dorset Cursus), broad terraces, circular enclosures known as henges, and frequently artificial mounds such as Silbury Hill in England and Monte d'Accoddi in Sardinia (the prehistoric step pyramid).


title: Megalith

text: In Europe megaliths are, in general, constructions erected during the Neolithic or late Stone Age and Chalcolithic or Copper Age (4500–1500 BC). The megalithic structures of Malta are believed to be the oldest in Europe. Perhaps the most famous megalithic structure is Stonehenge in England.


title: Megalith

text: In Sardinia, in addition to dolmens, menhirs and circular graves there are also more than 8000 megalithic structure made by a Nuragic civilisation, called Nuraghe: buildings similar to towers (sometimes with really complex structures) made using only rocks. They are often near giant's grave or the other megalithic monuments.


title: Megalith

text: The French Comte de Caylus was the first to describe the Carnac stones. Pierre Jean-Baptiste Legrand d'Aussy introduced the terms "menhir" and "dolmen", both taken from the Breton language, into antiquarian terminology. He mistakenly interpreted megaliths as Gallic tombs. In Britain, the antiquarians Aubrey and Stukeley conducted early research into megaliths. In 1805, Jacques Cambry published a book called "Monuments celtiques, ou recherches sur le culte des Pierres, précédées d'une notice sur les Celtes et sur les Druides, et suivies d'Etymologie celtiques", where he proposed a Celtic stone cult. This unproven connection between druids and megaliths has haunted the public imagination ever since. In Belgium, there are the Wéris megaliths at Wéris, a little town situated in the Ardennes. In the Netherlands, megalithic structures can be found in the northeast of the country, mostly in the province of Drenthe. Knowth is a passage grave of the Brú na Bóinne neolithic complex in Ireland, dating from c. 3500–3000 BC. It contains more than a third of the total number of examples of megalithic art in all Europe, with over 200 decorated stones found during excavations.


title: Megalith

text: Nabta Playa at the southwest corner of the western Egyptian desert was once a large lake in the Nubian Desert, located 500 miles south of modern-day Cairo. By the 5th millennium BC, the peoples in Nabta Playa had fashioned an astronomical device that accurately marks the summer solstice. Findings indicate that the region was occupied only seasonally, likely only in the summer when the local lake filled with water for grazing cattle. There are other megalithic stone circles in the southwestern desert.


title: Megalith

text: At Nabta Playa, located in Egypt and broader region of the Eastern Sahara, there is a megalithic cultural complex (e.g., sacrificed cow burial site, solar calendar, altar) that dates between 4000 BCE and 2000 BCE.


title: Megalith

text: Likely part of Copper Age and Bronze Age cultural traditions of megalith-building, megaliths (e.g., dolmens) were constructed in Mediterranean North Africa.


title: Megalith

text: At Tondidarou, in the Malian Lakes Region, there are megaliths of an anthropomorphic nature (e.g., face, navel, scarifications) that date between 600 CE and 700 CE.


title: Megalith

text: Between 1350 BCE and 1500/1600 CE, Senegambian megaliths (e.g., tumuli) were constructed for the purpose of ancestral reverence.


title: Megalith

text: In the northwestern region of the Central African Republic, there are megaliths that were created for various purposes (e.g., burial, ritual performances).


title: Megalith

text: Between late 3rd millennium BCE and mid-2nd millennium CE, megaliths (e.g., monuments, cairn burials) were constructed in the regions (e.g., Eastern Adamawa, Oubanguian Ridge, Chad/Congo watershed) in Central African Republic and Cameroon, throughout various periods (e.g., Balimbé: 2000 BCE – 1000 BCE; Early Gbabiri: 950 BCE – 200 BCE; Late Gbabiri: 200 BCE – 500 CE; Bouboun: 500 CE – 1600 CE), for various purposes (e.g., ritual practices, territorial marking).


title: Megalith

text: In the Ethiopian Highlands of Harar, the earliest construction of megaliths occurred. From this region and its megalith-building tradition (e.g., dolmens, tumuli with burial chambers organized in cemeteries), the subsequent traditions in other areas of Ethiopia likely developed. In the late 1st millennium BCE, the urban civilization of Axum developed a megalithic stelae-building tradition, which commemorated Axumite royalty and elites, that persisted until the Christian period of Axum. In the Sidamo Province, the megalithic monoliths of the stelae-building cultural tradition were utilized as tombstones in cemeteries (e.g., Arussi, Konso, Sedene, Tiya, Tuto Felo), and have engraved anthropomorphic features (e.g., swords, masks), phallic form, and some of that served as markers of territory. Sidamo Province has the most megaliths in Ethiopia.


title: Megalith

text: In 2nd millennium BCE, Namoratunga (Monolith Circles) megaliths were constructed as burials the eastern Turkana region of northwestern Kenya.


title: Megalith

text: Namoratunga, a group of megaliths dated 300 BC, was used by Cushitic-speaking people as an alignment with star systems tuned to a lunar calendar of 354 days. This site was excavated by B. N. Lynch and L. H. Robins of Michigan State University.


title: Megalith

text: Additionally, Tiya in central Ethiopia has a number of old megaliths. Some of these ancient structures feature engravings, and the area is a World Heritage Site. Megaliths are also found within the Valley of Marvels in the East Hararghe area.


title: Megalith

text: In the mid-2nd millennium CE, the megalithic funerary monuments of Madagascar were constructed amid the emergent period of the Merina Kingdom. Some of the megaliths remain utilized by Malagasy-speakers for funerary practices (e.g., ceremony of turning the dead) in present-day.


title: Megalith

text: Megalithic burials are found in Northeast and Southeast Asia. They are found mainly in the Korean Peninsula. They are also found in the Liaoning, Shandong, and Zhejiang in China, the East Coast of Taiwan, Kyūshū and Shikoku in Japan, Đồng Nai Province in Vietnam and South Asia. Some living megalithic traditions are found on the island of Sumba and Nias in Indonesia. The greatest concentration of megalithic burials is in Korea. Archaeologists estimate that there are 15,000 to 100,000 southern megaliths in the Korean Peninsula. Typical estimates hover around the 30,000 mark for the entire peninsula, which in itself constitutes some 40% of all dolmens worldwide (see Dolmen).


title: Megalith

text: Northeast Asian megalithic traditions originated from Gojoseon, which was in modern-day Manchuria and North Korea. This was prominent within the Liao River basin in particular in the early phases. The practice of erecting megalithic burials spread quickly from the Liao River Basin and into the Korean Peninsula, where the structure of megaliths is geographically and chronologically distinct. The earliest megalithic burials are called "northern" or "table-style" because they feature an above-ground burial chamber formed by heavy stone slabs that form a rectangular cist. An oversized capstone is placed over the stone slab burial chamber, giving the appearance of a table-top. These megalithic burials date to the early part of the Mumun pottery period (c. 1500–850 BC) and are distributed, with a few exceptions, north of the Han River. Few northern-style megaliths in North Korea and Manchuria contain grave goods such as Liaoning bronze daggers, prompting some archaeologists to interpret the burials as the graves of chiefs or preeminent individuals. However, whether a result of grave-robbery or intentional mortuary behaviour, most northern megaliths contain no grave goods.


title: Megalith

text: Southern-style megalithic burials are distributed in the southern Korean Peninsula. It is thought that most of them date to the latter part of the Early Mumun or to the Middle Mumun Period. Southern-style megaliths are typically smaller in scale than northern megaliths. The interment area of southern megaliths has an underground burial chamber made of earth or lined with thin stone slabs. A massive capstone is placed over the interment area and is supported by smaller propping stones. Most of the megalithic burials on the Korean Peninsula are of the southern type.


title: Megalith

text: As with northern megaliths, southern examples contain few, if any, artifacts. However, a small number of megalithic burials contain fine red-burnished pottery, bronze daggers, polished groundstone daggers, and greenstone ornaments. Southern megalithic burials are often found in groups, spread out in lines that are parallel with the direction of streams. Megalithic cemeteries contain burials that are linked together by low stone platforms made from large river cobbles. Broken red-burnished pottery and charred wood found on these platforms has led archaeologists to hypothesize that these platform were sometimes used for ceremonies and rituals. The capstones of many southern megaliths have 'cup-marks' carvings. A small number of capstones have human and dagger representations.


title: Megalith

text: These megaliths are distinguished from other types by the presence of a burial shaft, sometimes up to 4 m in depth, which is lined with large cobbles. A large capstone is placed over the burial shaft without propping stones. Capstone-style megaliths are the most monumental type in the Korean Peninsula, and they are primarily distributed near or on the south coast of Korea. It seems that most of these burials date to the latter part of the Middle Mumun (c. 700–550 BC), and they may have been built into the early part of the Late Mumun. An example is found near modern Changwon at Deokcheon-ni, where a small cemetery contained a capstone burial (No. 1) with a massive, rectangularly shaped, stone and earthen platform. Archaeologists were not able to recover the entire feature, but the low platform was at least 56×18 m in size.


title: Megalith

text: The Indonesian archipelago is the host of Austronesian and Melanesians megalith cultures both past and present. Living megalith cultures can be found on Nias, an isolated island off the western coast of North Sumatra, the Batak people in the interior of North Sumatra, on Sumba island in East Nusa Tenggara and also Toraja people from the interior of South Sulawesi. These megalith cultures remained preserved, isolated and undisturbed well into the late 19th century.


title: Megalith

text: Several megalith sites and structures are also found across Indonesia. Menhirs, dolmens, stone tables, and ancestral stone statues were discovered in various sites in Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands, and New Guinea.


title: Megalith

text: Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi houses ancient megalith relics such as ancestral stone statues, mostly located in the Bada, Besoa and Napu valleys.


title: Megalith

text: Megaliths in South Asia are dated before 3000 BC, with recent findings dated back to 5000 BC in southern India. Megaliths are found in almost all parts of South Asia. There is also a broad time evolution with the megaliths in central India and the upper Indus valley where the oldest megaliths are found, while those in the east are of much later date. A large fraction of these are assumed to be associated with burial or post burial rituals, including memorials for those whose remains may or may not be available. The case-example is that of Brahmagiri, which was excavated by Wheeler (1975) and helped establish the culture sequence in south Indian prehistory. However, there is another distinct class of megaliths that do not seem to be associated with burials.


title: Megalith

text: In South Asia, megaliths of all kinds are noted; these vary from Menhirs, Rock-cut burial, chamber tomb, dolmens, stone alignment, stone circles and anthropomorphic figures. These are broadly classified into two (potentially overlapping) classes (after Moorti, 1994, 2008): "Sepulchral" (containing remains of the dead), or memorial stones where mortal remains along with funerary objects are placed; and "Non-sepulchral" including large patterned placement of stones over a wide area. The 'non-sepulchral' type is associated with astronomy and cosmology in South Asia and in other parts of the world (Menon and Vahia, 2010).


title: Megalith

text: In the context of prehistoric anthropomorphic figures in India, (Rao 1988/1999, Upinder Singh 2008) note that it is unclear what these giant anthropomorphs symbolize. They usually occur in association with megalithic monuments and are located in megalithic burial grounds, and may have been connected with ancestor worship.


title: Megalith

text: Megaliths occur in many parts of Melanesia, mainly in Milne Bay Province, Fiji and Vanuatu. Few excavations has been made and little is known about the structures.


title: Megalith

text: The megalith tomb Otuyam at Kiriwina has been dated to be approximately 2,000 years old which indicates that megaliths are an old custom in Melanesia. However very few megaliths have been dated. The constructions have been used for different rituals. For example, tombs, sacrifices and rituals of fecundity. Dance sites exist next to some megaliths. In some places in Melanesia rituals are continued to be held at the sacred megalith sites. The fact that the beliefs are alive is a reason that most excavations have been stopped at the sites.


title: Megalith

text: Megalithic structures in Micronesia reach their most developed form on the islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae in the Eastern Caroline Islands. On these two islands there was extensive use of prismatic basalt columns to build upland building complexes such as those at Salapwuk on Pohnpei and Menka on Kosrae. These building sites, remote from the ocean, appear to have been abandoned early. Megalithic building then shifted to constructing networks of artificial islands on the coast that supported a multitude of common, royal and religious structures. Dating of the structures is difficult but the complex at Nan Madol on Pohnpei was probably inhabited as early as c. 800, probably as artificial islands, with the more elaborate buildings and religious structures added to the site from 1000 to 1400 AD.


title: Megalith

text: Megaliths were used for a variety of purposes ranging from serving as boundary markers of territory, to a reminder of past events, and to being part of the society's religion. Common motifs including crooks and axes seem to be symbols of political power, much as the crook was a symbol of Egyptian pharaohs. Amongst the indigenous peoples of India, Malaysia, Polynesia, North Africa, North America, and South America, the worship of these stones, or the use of these stones to symbolize a spirit or deity, is a possibility. In the early 20th century, some scholars believed that all megaliths belonged to one global "Megalithic culture" (hyperdiffusionism, e. g. "the Manchester school", by Grafton Elliot Smith and William James Perry), but this has long been disproved by modern dating methods. Nor is it believed any longer that there was a pan-European megalithic culture, although regional cultures existed, even within such small areas as the British Isles. The archaeologist Euan Mackie wrote, "Likewise it cannot be doubted that important regional cultures existed in the Neolithic period and can be defined by different kinds of stone circles and local pottery styles (Ruggles & Barclay 2000: figure 1). No-one has ever been rash enough to claim a nationwide unity of all aspects of Neolithic archaeology!".


title: Megalith

text: Much scholarship over history has suggested that Stone Age peoples moved the large stones on cylindrical wooden rollers. However, there is some disagreement with this theory, specifically as experiments have indicated that this method is impractical on uneven ground. In some contemporary megalith building cultures, such as in Sumba, Indonesia, great emphasis is placed on the social status of moving heavy stones without the relief of rollers. In the majority of documented contemporary megalithic-building communities, the stones have been placed on timber sledges and dragged without rollers.


title: Megalith

text: The types of megalithic structure can be divided into two categories, the "polylithic type" and the "monolithic type". Different megalithic structures include:


title: Megalith

text: The megalithic culture of the Toraja people in the mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia dates back to around 2500–1000 BC.


title: Megalith

text: In West Sumba, Indonesia, the more than 20,000 followers of the Marapu animist religion construct monolithic tombs by hand. Originally built with slave labor, the large tombs of nobles are now built by a class of dependents who are paid either in animals or cash (an amount equal to $0.65–0.90 per day). The tombs are planned long in advance, with families sometimes going into extreme debt to finance the construction. In 1971, one leading family sacrificed 350 buffalo over the course of a year in order to feed the 1,000 people necessary to drag the capstone 3 km from the quarry to the tombsite.


title: Megalith

text: Quarrying the stones for a tomb can take almost a month and typically involves 20-40 laborours, sometimes subcontracted by a relative. It can be months or years before the stones are actually transported to the gravesite, which is done traditionally by hand, using a wooden sled and rollers with the help of many members of the family's clan. Building the sled itself can take several days, and typically males between the ages of 10-60 are assembled to pull the stone from the quarry to the tombsite. Smaller capstones may be moved by a few hundred members of a clan, but larger ones can involve upwards of 2,000 individuals over many days.


title: Megalith

text: Sometimes the stones are draped with woven cloths given as gifts by relatives of the owner. The sidewalls are smaller and usually require fewer participants. The entire process is accompanied by large feasts and ritual singers provided by the owner. Some contemporary practitioners now choose to use large machinery and trucks to move the stones.


title: Megalith

text: Once on site, the stones were traditionally assembled and mortared with a mix of water buffalo dung and ash, but are now more commonly cemented together. Typically, the walls are assembled first, and then the capstone is incrementally elevated to the height of the walls by means of a wood scaffolding which is inserted log by log at alternating ends. Once the capstone is at the correct height beside the walls it is slid into place above the tomb. Alternately, some tombs are constructed by dragging the capstone up a fabricated ramp and then assembling the sidewalls below it, before removing the ramp structure to let the capstone rest upon the walls. Often, but not always, the finished structure is decorated by a professional stone carver with symbolic motifs. The carving alone can at times take over a month to complete.


title: Charles Chaplin Jr.

text: Charles Spencer Chaplin III (May 5, 1925 – March 20, 1968), known professionally as Charles Chaplin Jr., was an American actor. He was the elder son of Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey, and is known for appearing in 1950s films such as "The Beat Generation" and "Fangs of the Wild".


title: Charles Chaplin Jr.

text: Chaplin was born in Beverly Hills, California. He was the elder son of actors Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey. His half-siblings from his father's last marriage to Oona O'Neill are Geraldine, Michael, Josephine, Victoria, Eugene, Jane, Annette, and Christopher. His elder half-brother, Norman, died as an infant.


title: Charles Chaplin Jr.

text: As young children, he and his younger brother, Sydney, were used as pawns in their mother's bitter divorce from Charlie Chaplin, during which a lot of the couple's "dirty linen" was aired in public, sensational divorce hearings. Following the divorce, the brothers were raised by their mother and maternal grandmother until the mid-1930s, when they began to make frequent visits to their father.


title: Charles Chaplin Jr.

text: Chaplin attended the Black-Foxe Military Institute in Hollywood and the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He served in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II.


title: Charles Chaplin Jr.

text: Chaplin acted in 13 films, appearing with his father in "Limelight" (1952). In 1959, he had a role in the film "Girls Town" which featured the son of another famous silent movie comedian, Harold Lloyd Jr. He appeared with his brother Sydney in the play "Ethan Frome" at the Circle Theatre, now named El Centro Theatre. In 1960, he wrote a book about his family life titled "My Father, Charlie Chaplin".


title: Charles Chaplin Jr.

text: Chaplin died of a pulmonary embolism on March 20, 1968, in Santa Monica, California, aged 42. He is buried in the Abbey of the Psalms mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery with his maternal grandmother Lillian Carrillo Curry Grey (1888–1985).


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Apostasy in Islam (, or , ) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. An apostate from Islam is referred to by using the Arabic and Islamic term "murtād" (). It includes not only explicit renunciations of the Islamic faith by converting to another religion or abandoning religion altogether, but also blasphemy or heresy, through any action or utterance which implies unbelief, including those who deny a "fundamental tenet or creed" of Islam.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: While classical Islamic jurisprudence calls for the death penalty of those who refuse to repent of apostasy from Islam, the definition of this act and whether and how it should be punished, are disputed among Islamic scholars and strongly opposed by Muslim and Non-Muslim supporters of the universal human right to freedom of faith.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: As of 2021, there were ten Muslim-majority countries where apostasy from Islam was punishable by death, and another thirteen where there were penal or civil penalties such as jail, fines or loss of child custody. From 1985 to 2006, only four individuals were officially executed for apostasy from Islam and unrelated political crimes by governments, but apostates have suffered from other legal punishments as well as extra-judicial punishments which have been inflicted upon them by vigilantes—imprisonment, the annulment of their marriages, the loss of their rights of inheritance and the loss of custody of their children. Mainly, the loss of life has resulted from killings which have been perpetrated by jihadist and ""takfiri"" insurgents (al-Qaeda, ISIL/ISIS/IS/Daesh, the GIA, and the Taliban).


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Until the late 19th century, the majority of Sunni and Shia jurists held the view that for adult men, apostasy from Islam was a crime as well as a sin, an act of treason which was punishable with the death penalty, often (depending on the school of law) after a waiting period to allow the apostate time to repent and to return to Islam.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: But to protect against abuse, exemption was granted to those who were originally forced to embrace Islam, or who apostasized out of fear, or (according to the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i schools) who repented.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: In addition, early Islamic jurists developed legal standards to limit the imposition of the harsh punishment to apostasy of a political kind, which in a religious society is similar to high treason.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: According to classical Islamic law, an apostate can only be killed if there are two just Muslim eyewitnesses of the apostasy or if the apostate self confesses; according to some schools, both conditions are required. Jurists allowed flexibility in the application of the death penalty, allowing judges to interpret the apostasy law in different ways, sometimes, they leniently interpreted it and at other times, they strictly interpreted it. In the late 19th century, the use of legal criminal penalties for apostasy fell into disuse, although civil penalties were still applied.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: In the contemporary Muslim world, public support for capital punishment varies from 78% in Afghanistan to less than 1% in Kazakhstan; among Islamic jurists, the majority of them continue to regard apostasy as a crime which should be punishable by death.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: (human punishment being inconsistent with Quranic injunctions against compulsion in belief), or should be enforced only if apostasy becomes a mechanism of public disobedience and disorder ("fitna"). Secular critics of Islam argue that the death penalty or other punishment for apostasy in Islam is an issue of freedom of faith and conscience and a violation of universal human rights.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Apostasy is called "irtidād" (which means relapse or regress) or "ridda" in Islamic literature. An apostate is called "murtadd", which means 'one who turns back' from Islam. (Another source—Oxford Islamic Studies Online—defines "murtadd" as "not just any kāfir (non-believer)", but "a particularly heinous type".) "Ridda" can also refer to "secession" in a political context.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: A person born to a Muslim father who later rejects Islam is called a "murtadd fitri", and a person who converted to Islam and later rejects the religion is called a "murtadd milli". "Takfir" ("takfeer") ( "") is the act of one Muslim excommunicating another, declaring them a "kafir", an apostate. The act which precipitates "takfir" is termed "mukaffir".


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: The Quran mentions apostasy in many of its verses, expressing God's anger, impending punishment, and refusal to accept repentance towards those who have left the faith. Traditionally, the verses that are thought to "appear to justify coercion and severe punishment" for apostates (according to Dale F. Eickelman), including the traditional capital punishment, are as follows:


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Other scholars have pointed out that there is no mention in the Quran of the need to force an apostate to return to Islam, nor any specific corporal punishment to apply to apostates in "this" world—let alone commands to kill apostates—either explicitly or implicitly;


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: The classical shariah punishment for apostasy comes from Sahih ("authentic") Hadith rather than the Quran. Writing in the "Encyclopedia of Islam", Heffening holds that contrary to the Qur'an, "in traditions [i.e. hadith], there is little echo of these punishments in the next world... and instead, we have in many traditions a new element, the death penalty.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Other hadith give differing statements about the fate of apostates; that they were spared execution by repenting, by dying of natural causes or by leaving their community (the last case sometimes cited as an example of open apostasy that was left unpunished).


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: The Muwatta of Imam Malik offers a case were Rashidun (rightly guide) Caliph Umar admonishes a Muslim leader for not giving an apostate the opportunity to repent before being executed:


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: The argument has been made (by the Fiqh Council of North America, among others) that the hadiths above — traditionally cited as proof that apostates from Islam should be punished by death — have been misunderstood. In fact (the council argues), the victims were executed for changing their allegiances to the armies fighting the Muslims (i.e. for treason), not for their personal beliefs. As evidence, they point to two hadith, each from a different "authentic" ("sahih") Sunni hadith collection where Muhammad calls for the death of apostates or traitors. The wording of the hadith are almost identical, but in one, the hadith ends with the phrase "one who reverts from Islam and leaves the Muslims", and in the other it ends with "one who goes forth to fight Allah and His Apostle", (in other words, the council argues the hadith were likely reports of the same incident but had different wording because "reverting from Islam" was another way of saying "fighting Allah and His Apostle"):


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Scholars of Islam differ as to what constitutes apostasy in that religion and under what circumstances an apostate is subject to the death penalty.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Al-Shafi'i listed three necessary conditions to pass capital punishment on a Muslim for apostasy in his "Kitab al-Umm". (In the words of Frank Griffel) these are:


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Three centuries later, Al-Ghazali wrote that one group, known as "secret apostates" or "permanent unbelievers" (aka "zandaqa"), should not be given a chance to repent, eliminating Al-Shafi'i's third condition for them although his view was not accepted by his Shafi'i madhhab.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: While identifying someone who publicly converted to another religion as an apostate was straightforward, determining whether a diversion from orthodox doctrine qualified as heresy (or blasphemy) or something permitted by God could be less so. Traditionally, Islamic jurists did not formulate general rules for establishing unbelief, instead, compiled sometimes lengthy lists of statements and actions which in their view implied apostasy or were incompatible with Islamic "theological consensus". Al-Ghazali, for example, devoting "chapters to dealing with takfir and the reasons for which one can be accused of unbelief" in his work on "The Criterion of Distinction between Islam and Clandestine Unbelief".


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Some heretical or blasphemous acts or beliefs listed in classical manuals of jurisprudence and other scholarly works (i.e. works written by Islamic scholars) that allegedly demonstrate apostacy include:


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: While there are numerous requirements for a Muslim to avoid being an apostate, it is also an act of apostasy (in Shafi'i and other fiqh) for a Muslim to accuse or describe another devout Muslim of being an unbeliever, based on the hadith where Muhammad is reported to have said: "If a man says to his brother, 'You are an infidel,' then one of them is right."


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Historian Bernard Lewis writes that in "religious polemic" of early Islamic times, it was common for one scholar to accuse another of apostasy, but attempts to bring an alleged apostate to justice (have them executed) were very rare.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: The tension between desire to cleanse Islam of heresy and fear of inaccurate takfir is suggested in the writings of some of the leading Islamic scholars. Al-Ghazali "is often credited with having persuaded theologians", in his "Fayal al-tafriqa", "that takfir is not a fruitful path and that utmost caution is to taken in applying it", but in other writing, he made sure to condemn as beyond the pale of Islam "philosophers and Ismaili esotericists". Ibn Hazm and Ibn Taymiyyah also "warned against unbridled takfir" while takfiring "specific categories" of theological opponents as "unbelievers". Gilles Kepel writes that "used wrongly or unrestrainedly, this sanction would quickly lead to discord and sedition in the ranks of the faithful. Muslims might resort to mutually excommunicating one another and thus propel the Ummah to complete disaster."


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), for example, takfired all those who opposed its policy of enslaving members of the Yazidi religion. According to one source, Jamileh Kadivar, the majority of the "27,947 terrorist deaths" ISIL has been responsible for (as of 2020) have been Muslims it regards "as kafir", as ISIL gives fighting alleged apostates a higher priority than fighting self-professed non-Muslims—Jews, Christians, Hindus, etc. An open letter to ISIL by 126 Islamic scholars includes as one of its points of opposition to ISIL: "It is forbidden in Islam to declare people non-Muslim unless he (or she) openly declares disbelief".


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: There is general agreement among Muslims that the takfir and mass killings of alleged apostates perpetrated not only by ISIL but also by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's jihadis were wrong, but there is less unanimity in other cases, such as what to do in a situation where self-professed Muslim(s) — post-modernist academic Nasr Abu Zayd or the Ahmadiyya movement — disagree with their accusers on an important doctrinal point. (Ahmadi quote a Muslim journalist, Abdul-Majeed Salik, claiming that, "all great and eminent Muslims in the history of Islam as well as all the sects in the Muslim world are considered to be disbelievers, apostates, and outside the pale of Islam according to one or the other group of religious leaders".) In the case of the Ahmadiyya—who are accused by mainstream Sunni and Shia of denying the basic tenet of the Finality of Prophethood (Ahmadis state they believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a mahdi and a messiah)—the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has declared in Ordinance XX of the Second Amendment to its Constitution, that Ahmadis are non-Muslims and deprived them of religious rights. Several large riots (1953 Lahore riots, 1974 Anti-Ahmadiyya riots) and a bombing (2010 Ahmadiyya mosques massacre) have killed hundreds of Ahmadis in that country. Whether this is unjust takfir or applying sharia to collective apostasy is disputed.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: The three types (conversion, blasphemy and heresy) of apostasy may overlap—for example some "heretics" were alleged not to be actual self-professed Muslims, but (secret) members of another religion, seeking to destroy Islam from within. (Abdullah ibn Mayun al-Qaddah, for example, "fathered the whole complex development of the Ismaili religion and organisation up to Fatimid times," was accused by his different detractors of being (variously) "a Jew, a Bardesanian and most commonly as an Iranian dualist") In Islamic literature, the term "blasphemy" sometimes also overlaps with ("unbelief"), (depravity), (insult), and (apostasy). Because blasphemy in Islam included rejection of fundamental doctrines, blasphemy has historically been seen as an evidence of rejection of Islam, that is, the religious crime of apostasy. Some jurists believe that blasphemy automatically implies a Muslim has left the fold of Islam. A Muslim may find himself accused of being a blasphemer, and thus an apostate on the basis of one action or utterance.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: In collective apostasy, a self-proclaimed Islamic group/sect are declared to be heretics/apostates. Groups treated as collective apostates include zindiq, sometimes Sufis, and more recently Ahmadis and Bahais. As described above, the difference between legitimate Muslim sects and illegitimate apostate groups can be subtle and Muslims have not agreed on where the line dividing them lies. According to Gianluca Parolin, "collective apostasy has always been declared on a case-by-case basis".


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Among Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and others in Ja'fari fiqh, a distinction is made between "fetri" or "innate" apostates who grew up Muslims and remained Muslim after puberty until converting to another religion, and "national apostates"—essentially people who grew up non-Muslim and converted to Islam. "National apostates" are given a chance to repent, but "innate apostates are not.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Orthodox apostasy fiqh can be problematic for someone who was raised by a non-Muslim (or non-Muslims) but has an absentee Muslim parent, or was raised by an apostate (or apostates) from Islam. A woman born to a Muslim parent is considered an apostate if she marries a non-Muslim, even if her Muslim parent did not raise her and she has always practiced another religion; and whether or not they know anything about Islam, by simply practicing the (new) religion of their parent(s) they become apostates (according to the committee of fatwa scholars at Islamweb.net).


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: In the 19th, 20th and 21 century issues affecting shariʿah on apostasy include modern norms of freedom of religion, the status of members of Baháʼí (considered unbeliever/apostates in Iran) and Ahmadi faiths (considered appostates from Islam in Pakistan and elsewhere), those who "refuse to judge or be judged according to the "shariʿah,"" and more recently the status of Muslims authorities and governments that do not implement classical "shariʿah" law in its completeness.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: There are differences of opinion among Islamic scholars about whether, when and especially how apostasy in Islam should be punished.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: From 11th century onwards, apostasy of Muslims from Islam was forbidden by Islamic law, earlier apostasy law was only applicable if a certain number of witnesses testify which for the most past was impossible. Apostasy was punishable by death and also by civil liabilities such as seizure of property, children, annulment of marriage, loss of inheritance rights. (A subsidiary law, also applied throughout the history of Islam, forbade non-Muslims from proselytizing Muslims to leave Islam and join another religion, because it encouraged Muslims to commit a crime). Starting in the 19th century the legal code of many Muslim states no longer included apostasy as a capital crime, and to compensate some Islamic scholars called for vigilante justice of hisbah to execute the offenders (see Apostasy in Islam#Colonial era and after).


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: In contemporary times the majority of Islamic jurists still regard apostasy as a crime deserving the death penalty, (according to Abdul Rashied Omar), although "a growing body of Islamic jurists" oppose this, (according to Javaid Rehman)


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: as inconsistent with "freedom of religion" as expressed in the Quranic injunctions (-) and ("there is no compulsion in religion"); and a relic of the early Islamic community when apostasy was desertion or treason.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Still others support a "centrist or moderate position" of executing only those whose apostasy is "unambiguously provable" such as if two just Muslim eyewitnesses testify; and/or reserving the death penalty for those who make their apostacy public. According to


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: As mentioned above, there are numerous doctrinal fine points outlined in fiqh manuals whose violation should render the violator an apostate, but there are also hurdles and exacting requirements that spare (self-proclaimed) Muslims conviction for apostasy in classical fiqh.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: One motive for caution is that it is an act of apostasy (in Shafi'i and other fiqh) for a Muslim to accuse or describe another innocent Muslim of being an unbeliever, based on the hadith where Muhammad is reported to have said: "If a man says to his brother, 'You are an infidel,' then one of them is right."


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: According to sharia, to be found guilty the accused must at the time of apostasizing be exercising free will, an adult, and of sound mind, and have refused to repent when given a time period to do so (not all schools include this last requirement). The free will requirement excludes from judgement those who embraced Islam under conditions of duress and then went back to their old religion, or Muslims who converted to another religion involuntarily, either force or as concealment (Taqiyya or Kitman) out of fear of persecution or during war.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Some of these requirements have served as "loopholes" to exonerate apostates (apostasy charges against Abdul Rahman, were dropped on the grounds he was "mentally unfit").


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Traditional Sunni and Shia Islamic fiqhs, or schools of jurisprudence (maḏāhib) agree on some issues—that male apostates should be executed, and that most but not all perpetrators should not be given a chance to repent (the excluded include those who practice magic ("subhar"), treacherous heretics ("zanādiqa", and recidivists"). They disagree on issues such as whether women can be executed, whether apostasy is a violation of "the rights of God", whether apostates who were born Muslim may be spared if they repent, whether conviction requires the accused be a practicing Muslim, or whether it is enough to simply intend to commit apostasy rather than actually doing it.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: In contemporary situations where apostates, (or alleged apostates), have ended up being killed, it is usually not be through the formal criminal justice system, especially when "a country's law does not punish apostasy." It is not uncommon in some countries for "vigilante" Muslims to kill or attempt to kill apostates or alleged apostates (or force them to flee the country). In at least one case, (the high profile execution of Mahmud Muhammad Taha), the victim was legally executed and the government made clear he was being executed for apostasy, but not the technical "legal basis" for his killing was another crime or crimes, namely "heresy, opposing the application of Islamic law, disturbing public security, provoking opposition against the government, and re-establishing a banned political party." When post-modernist professor Nasr Abu Zayd was found to be an apostate by an Egyptian court, it meant only an involuntary divorce from his wife (who did not want to divorce), but it put the proverbial target on his back and he fled to Europe.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: In Islam, apostasy has traditionally had both criminal and civil penalties. In the late 19th century, when the use of criminal penalties for apostasy fell into disuse, civil penalties were still applied. The punishment for the criminal penalties such as murder includes death or prison, while In all madhhabs of Islam, the civil penalties include:


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: The conversion of a Muslim to another faith is often considered a "disgrace" and "scandal" as well as a sin, so in addition to penal and civil penalties, loss of employment, ostracism and proclamations by family members that they are "dead", is not at all "unusual". For those who wish to remain in the Muslim community but who are considered unbelievers by other Muslims, there are also "serious forms of ostracism". These include the refusal of other Muslims to pray together with or behind a person accused of kufr, the denial of the prayer for the dead and burial in a Muslim cemetery, boycott of whatever books they have written, etc.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: "The vast majority of Muslim scholars both past as well as present" consider apostasy "a crime deserving the death penalty", according to Abdul Rashided Omar, writing circa 2007. Some notable contemporary proponents include:


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: The question of whether apostates should be killed, has been "a matter for contentious dispute throughout Islamic history".


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Throughout Islamic history the Muslim community, scholars, and schools of fiqh have agreed that scripture prescribes this penalty; scripture must take precedence over reason or modern norms of human rights, as Islam is the one true religion; "no compulsion in religion" (Q.2:256) does not apply to this punishment; apostasy is "spiritual and cultural" treason; it hardly ever happens and so is not worth talking about.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: Arguments against the death penalty include: that some scholars throughout Islamic history have opposed that punishment for apostasy; that it constitutes a form of compulsion in faith, which the Quran explicitly forbids in Q.2.256 and other verses, and that these override any other scriptural arguments; and especially that the death penalty in hadith and applied by Muhammad was for treasonous/seditious behavior, not for a change in personal belief.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: At least some conservative jurists and preachers have attempted to reconcile following the traditional doctrine of death for apostasy while addressing the principle of freedom of religion. Some of whom argue apostasy should have a lesser penalty than death.


title: Apostasy in Islam

text: At a 2009-human rights conference at Mofid University in Qom, Iran, Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, stated that "if an individual doubts Islam, he does not become the subject of punishment, but if the doubt is openly "expressed", this is not permissible." As one observer (Sadakat Kadri) noted, this "freedom" has the advantage that "state officials could not punish an unmanifested belief even if they wanted to".