Muslim relatives attack Christian convert family in Somalia
Mohammad Abdul had already suffered a knife attack in May. His Muslim relatives assaulted him and his family again this July, wounding him in the stomach, beating his children and fracturing his wife's ankle.
40-year-old Mohammad, who had converted to Christianity this March, became hospitalised due to a deep cut on his head and a broken hand following the first attack. He was also forced to relocate with his family when the perpetrators destroyed his rented home. During the July assault, he suffered injuries that affected his ability to talk.
His wife recalled that their Muslim in-laws started threatening them towards the end of June: “I started receiving calls from my relatives that I should return back to my people before we get converted to a religion which is not approved in Islam – ‘Please come back home to avoid endangering yourself and the children’. As several frequent and threatening messages continued streaming in, I started getting fearful.”
She recollected the circumstances of the latest incident when five Muslim family members knocked on their door: “My husband was then in the washroom. Immediately they started asking for the whereabouts of my husband. One of my relatives went outside the sitting room and came back with sticks and started beating the children, who started crying loudly. Another relative went outside and came with a blunt object and hit me on my left ankle. My husband gained courage and dashed out of the bedroom and came trying to save me, but he was easily overpowered and knifed at the stomach as another hit him all over his body. I thank God that this time round they did not mention their usual Islamic slogan of, ‘Allah Akbar [God is greater], which could have endangered our lives, because we are living in an Islamic region. The neighbours found my husband in a pool of blood and took us to a nearby medical clinic.”
The Somalian culture is collective, which means that people depend on their family and community for work, support and security. Many consider leaving Islam as a betrayal of their traditions, therefore Somali converts face absolute rejection by their family.
Islam is the constitutional religion of Somalia and the law does not recognise any other denominations. It requires that all citizens abide Sharia law and forbids the spread of any other religious ideology. Non-compliance carries the death penalty. The Somalian Islamic extremist group, Al Shabaab, is an ally to Al Qaeda and is responsible for many anti-Christian atrocities.
Source: https://morningstarnews.org/
