It is not easy for some, if not many, people to be non-Muslims living in a Muslim majority country or in a country with heavy Islamic presence. They face religious persecution and intimidation, civil harassment, loss of fundamental human rights, abduction, torture and rape, forced conversion at gunpoint, murder and other forms of threats.
The majority of the victims have always been Christians. Indeed, it is not easy for them to be Christians in localities hostile to Christianity. In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells his apostles, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” That cross is equivalent to each of the aforementioned sufferings. It is no wonder Christianity is synonymous with suffering and Christians are told to suffer as Islam is being associated with (forced) submission (or conversion perhaps) and terrorism and Muslims (Islamists or jihadists to be specific) are told to torture, rape and kill non-Muslims, most especially Christians and Jews. Thanks to Al Queda!
Islam does not own the monopoly of cruelty and suppression of human rights committed against followers of other religions. Even Christianity has been guilty for the many horrible crimes in its course of history, and they can never contest that. It cannot deny its role in slavery and in the colonization of nations. Christians had displaced Jews and many natives across the world. They had even mistreated other Christians. Bloody religious wars were fought between rival factions within Christianity. Who could ever forget the inhumane Inquisition? Racial discrimination and other forms of human rights abuse had been committed inside of Christianity. Women and gays are not given fair representation in churches. Even members of the clergy have dishonored the name of Christ over its involvement in sex abuse scandals, abuse of authority, corruption and violation of their vows. They have even alienated the people. Christianity will have a lot of explaining before Christ.
However, Christians have been man enough to admit their faults and acknowledge their guilt and weaknesses. The late pope John Paul II had apologized numerous times for the sins committed in the name of Christianity.
Did Mohammad live long enough to repent and apologize for the sins he had committed using the religion he had founded? How does he feel using the religion to fit his own interests? There is no other man like Mohammad who would dare invoke the name of a (murderous) God who claims to be merciful to carry out cold blood murder.
Surah 2:256 of the Koran states that “there is no compulsion in religion” of Islam. If only Muslim hardliners follow this by heart, there wouldn’t be any Christian shot to death for refusing to convert to Islam. Neither would be a Christian girl be abducted and raped and be forced to convert. Christianity had been guilty of forced conversion before and it repented.
However, somewhere in the Koran, we read many disturbing things like:
Surah 9:29 – Fight against such of those whom the Scriptures (meaning the Bible and the Torah) are given (meaning Christians and Jews) who do not embrace the true faith (meaning Islam) until they pay tribute out of hand and are utterly subdued.
Surah 5:51 – Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends (or patrons, depending who you ask). They are friends with one another. Whoever seeks their friendship (or patronage) shall become one of them.
Surah 2:193 – …and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. (This could be the verse in Surah 2 which sounds like “Make war until God’s religion make supreme.”)
Surah 9:5 – When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. (“Idolaters” can be mistaken for Christians, whom the Muslim fundamentalists wrongly accuse of worshipping the Holy Trinity, which they foolishly think of as three separate gods.)
Surah 3:19 – The only true faith in Allah’s sight is Islam.
Surah 9:111 – God has purchased of the faithful their lives and worldly goods, and in return has promised them the Garden of Paradise. They shall fight for His cause, slay and be slain (call for suicide attacks and martyrdom by murder).
Surah 8:12 – Strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies of God and the faithful. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, maim them in every limb.
Surah 9:23 – Believers, do not befriend your fathers or your brothers if they choose unbelief in preference to faith.
Surah 9:41 – Whether unarmed or well-equipped, march on and fight for the cause of God, with your wealth and with your persons.
Surah 8:17 – It was not you, but God who slew them. It was not you who smote them: God smote them so that He might richly reward the faithful.
There are still many disturbing verses that sound anti-non-Muslims or terroristic in nature. I can be accused of taking the texts out of context, but each passage clearly make its point on how to deal with non-Muslims. There are passages I believe that tell Muslims to leave the non-Muslims alone. However, passages like the ones above sound louder than the nuclear bombs Iran is trying to develop.
Christians are currently suffering terrible degrees of hardships and humiliations.
Egyptian Christians currently face religious persecution from Islamic hardliners and civil inferiority from the local officials. Militants are said to kidnap Christian girls, abuse, torture, rape and force them to convert to Islam. They also attack churches. Abroad, Coptic Christians are holding peaceful rallies to address the persecution that is taking place in Egypt. On the other hand too, the national soccer team is only open to players who observe Islam. Non-Muslims need not to apply. So this explains Egypt’s pathetic performance at one game.
In Iran, two Christian women have been imprisoned for their faith since March 2009. They were charged for anti-state activity, propagation of Christianity, and apostasy (i.e. leaving Islam). They were acquitted on the first charge.
Last year too, a Polish engineer was killed by Islamic militants in Pakistan for refusing to convert to Islam.
In Saudi Arabia, migrant non-Muslim workers are told (the perfect term would be ‘pressured’ or ‘forced’) to convert to Islam to keep their jobs, or else face risk losing it. Last year (Jan. 13, 2009), a Saudi blogger was arrested by authorities for blogging about his conversion to Christianity. He was later freed and re-arrested, not allowed to travel abroad and had his blog blocked. Two years ago in the same country, a member of Saudi’s Muslim religious police burned his daughter to death for becoming a Christian.
In Malaysia, two cases should be of note.
There is a law in that country that mandates that anyone born into an ethnic Malaysian family is regarded as a Muslim.
In 1998, Lina Joy, a Malaysian lady of Javanese descent, renounced Islam and became a Christian. She then applied to have her conversion legally recognized by the courts. Though her change of name was recognized, the court refused to recognize her conversion because she did not bear a confirmation document from the Islamic court. Her struggle to be recognized as a Christian became an uphill legal battle for years. In 2007 the Federal Court dismissed her appeal. This lady, wanting to live as a Christian, is forced to hide from public view, fearing for her life. Her case is similar to Abdul Rahman, the Afghan who did the same.
For becoming a Christian, his wife divorced him, his family disowned him, and he was denied custody of his daughters. In 2006 he was arrested for possessing a Bible. He was later brought to court for apostasy. The Afghan court told him to regret his Christianity and return to Islam, so he will be forgiven or else be killed (as what Muhammad had said so). Abdul has more bones than all the Muslims combined: he refused to return to Islam and is ready to face death, believing in Jesus Christ.
Last year, a Catholic newspaper used the word “Allah” to refer to “God” in one of their release. This quickly drew the attention and the high blood pressure of the local Muslims, civilians and government alike. The Muslims argued that the word “Allah” is only exclusive to Muslims and in Islam. The newspaper firm defended their use of “Allah” saying the word is already been used by non-Muslims even before Muhammad founded Islam. The firm even maintained that Christians in other Muslim countries like Indonesia and Jordan use the said word. Muslims fear that the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims could lure Muslims away from Islam. (They are afraid the same way Christian girls in Egypt are afraid of being kidnapped and raped by Muslim militants and forced to wear the veil or recite Koran verses.)
The case was brought to the highest court in Malaysia. The court, on December 31, 2009, has allowed non-Muslims to use “Allah” to refer to “God” in the Malay tongue. Days later in one of Malaysia’s state, non-Muslims could face fines or imprisonment for using 35 terms, including “Allah”, reserved for Muslims only. Stupid thing is, at a forum attended by Islamic experts, they arrived to the view that the word “Allah” is not an accurate translation.
The “Allah” controversy sparked attacks on churches and mosques. From the same country, former Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammad said that all Jews should be “periodically massacred”.
Church attacks also exist in Indonesia. A mob of men, women and children attacked a Catholic church during last year’s Yuletide season. At another part of the world’s biggest Muslim country in terms of population, a mob destroyed two churches, an incident which the police refused to interfere because the churches “lack permits” as they claimed. On January 29 this year, a mob of thousand Muslims torched two churches and a pastor’s home in North Sumatra.
Last Dec.26, 2009 in Pakistan, two Christians were shot for refusing to convert to Islam. Luckily they survived.
Last month in the same country, a 12-year-old house helper, a Christian, was raped, tortured and murdered by her employer, a rich and powerful Muslim lawyer. Her death highlights the pitiful situation of Christian domestic workers. The lawyers’ association sided with the suspect, even threatening to burn anyone who would defend the victim.
Such incidents of persecution also take place in Africa, especially in Nigeria where sectarian violence is rife. The Muslim terrorist group Al Queda offers to help Muslims in persecuting Christians. Muslims burning churches are also common incidents. Christians have to fight back too.
In the United States last year, a young American girl of Muslim Sri Lankan descent, aged 16, ran away from home fearing that her parents might murder her for becoming a Christian.
The decision of France and Switzerland to ban the burqa and the minaret respectively will only put more Christians in danger. Even people with critical views on Islam face censure for their remarks. Muslim hardliners regard Islamophobia as a crime against humanity, but what about the abduction of young Christian girls, abusing, torturing, raping them before forcing them to convert to Islam and killing them afterwards if the refuse to do so? Isn’t that a crime too? Say something bad about Islam and later you will have a Jihadist at home for your guest.
Even moderate and liberal Muslims earn the ire of fellow Muslims for their activities, which some Muslims branded as anti-Muslim. An American Muslim received death threats for staging an anti-terrorism movement. In France, a Muslim mob stormed a mosque managed by a liberal imam over his support of the burqa ban. Muslims who don’t hold extreme Islamist views are labelled as “hypocrites”. A verse in Surah 4 decrees, “Why are you thus divided concerning the hypocrites when God himself has cast them off…If they desert you, seize them and put them to death wherever you find them.” Due to the actions of terrorists and Islamists, peace-loving Muslims are put in a shameful light.
What a dangerous world indeed when certain Muslims are called upon to act in accordance with terrorism. But is there anything to be afraid of? Nay! There is nothing to fear from the terror attacks of the Jemmaah Islamiyah. There is nothing serious from the speeches spewed by terror-minded, hate-filled imams or mullahs. The angel Gabriel said to Mary, “Thou shall not fear.”
Islamists, i.e., Muslim extremists are trying to cast terror and fear among non-Muslims. One thing is for sure: they can destroy the body, but they cannot destroy the soul. Indeed Christ tells us to fear the one who can destroy both body and soul, not the one who can only destroy the body.
There is nothing for the non-Muslims to be afraid of the Muslim extremists or to ask protection from the civil authorities that bend to the will and cave into the demands of the Islamists. Martin Luther said, “The mighty fortress is our God.”
Viva Cristo Rey! (Long live Christ the King!) shout the Cristeros in Mexico.
Prayer for the Persecuted Non-Muslims in Muslim-Dominated Areas
Oh, Heavenly Father, of love and of mercy, we thank you for our faith.
We thank you for all the blessing in life.
We thank you for the hope and the promise of salvation.
Heavenly Father, we would like to pray for our brothers and sisters who continue to suffer in lands that refuse to receive Your love.
We pray that our persecuted fellows have the courage to endure in their faith against the blades, the bombs, and the bullets of those who vehemently hate and terrorize them.
Please empower them with faith and love so they can finish the race amidst the persecution.
Please clothe them in Your grace, bless them and protect them against the ravenous wolves.
Give them the hope to proclaim the message of eternal life.
Give them the strength and confidence to suffer for the One who have suffered for them.
We also pray for the people who refuse violence and have come into the aid of the persecuted. We pray that You also reward them in Your heavenly home.
This we pray for them, their families and friends.
We ask this in the name of the glorious and victorious Christ.
Amen.
(Photos from thesilentmajority.wordpress.com and Asia News)
