A Somali Christian convert faced a brutal attack from his Muslim relatives, resulting in severe injuries and separation from his wife and five children.
Mohammad Abdul, 40, was attacked on 5 May on the outskirts of Kismayo, a port city in Somalia’s Lower Juba region, after converting to Christianity on 20 March, Morning Star News reports. According to an anonymous source, who withheld their name for security reasons, Abdul’s relatives took his wife and youngsters while he was recovering from the attack at a medical clinic.
“While Abdul was nursing injuries, the Muslims went back to his house and commenced destroying his house, and the wife and the five children went back with their people,” said the source. “His wife has told him that the Muslims are searching for him, and that due to this fact he shouldn’t return to them.”
According to the Morning Star News service, Abdul sustained a “deep cut on his head” and a “fractured hand” within the assault. For his safety, he relocated to a different city in Somalia.
Abdul converted to Christianity after a Somali pastor living abroad visited him with the gospel in March of this yr. He began praying and studying the Bible together with his family and the visiting Christian leader every evening.
Trouble began when Abdul’s youngest child, five, mentioned these meetings to a neighbour, prompting Abdul’s wife to suggest that the visiting pastor leave for his own safety.
After departing on 11 April, the pastor received updates from Abdul about threatening text messages he had received from his Muslim relatives. “We at the moment are aware that each evening you might be praying within the name of Issa [Jesus] in addition to reading a corrupted book and never reading the Quran, the holy book sent to Muhammad from Allah,” read one message. “If you don’t stop this bad way of conducting religious activities, you then risk your life.”
As his wife distanced herself from Christian prayers resulting from fear, Abdul continued to develop his faith within the gospel alone.
“Two of my children continued sharing with other children the sort of prayers I used to be making,” Abdul explained. “On 2nd May, my younger son arrived crying that he was beaten by some boys after telling them about my reading the Bible and praying.”
The situation escalated on 5 May around 7.30pm when Abdul’s Muslim relatives stormed his house. “They were shouting and yelling that they were searching for my head,” Abdul recounted. “The attackers forcibly entered the home and commenced questioning me for forsaking Islam and joining a foul religion. My wife and youngsters looked shaken.”
Abdul was struck with a pointy knife by one in all his relatives. “The children began wailing and crying in a really loud voice, which confused the attackers,” he said. “I then managed to flee through the rear door, bleeding, and slept at one in all my relative’s home about 5 kilometers away.”
He has appealed for prayers for his family, with whom he stays involved.
Somalia’s structure declares Islam because the state religion and bans the propagation of another faith, mandating that laws align with sharia (Islamic law) principles. Apostasy is punishable by death in line with mainstream Islamic jurisprudence. The extremist group Al Shabaab, affiliated with Al Qaeda, strictly enforces these laws and has killed quite a few non-local people in northern Kenya since 2011.
Somalia ranks 2nd on Christian support group Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it’s most difficult to be a Christian.
