Strangers and aliens

'PAKISTAN: Extremists incite violence against Christians'
'EGYPT: Church opening blocked'

These are just two headlines from recent copies of EN concerning Christians living in Muslim countries. But what is it like for someone living in Great Britain who converts from Islam to Christianity?

It would be easy to think that life would be much easier for them. After all they will have the protection of our judicial system, and the support of a national church.

This month EN spoke to three men: Musa, Ahmed and Mahmoud (not their real names). All have rejected Islam and become Christians while living in this country. While their stories do not show us the full picture of what is going on, they should give us pause for thought and turn us to prayer.

1. Professing Christ and resulting persecution

Musa

Musa was born and brought up in Birmingham and converted in 1980. However, fearful of what would happen if he confessed his new faith he remained an underground believer. He knew that if he admitted he had trusted in Jesus he would be shunned by his family.

It made no difference that Musa was born and brought up in England. He would still be seen as an outcast, an apostate and ultimately worthy of death.

By 1988 Musa had drifted away from the gospel and had stopped going to church, and his family was pushing for him to marry a Muslim. He flew out to Kashmir and married the girl his family had arranged for him.

Still struggling in his faith, he moved to the North of England. Then, in 1996 Musa's brother suddenly died. The awful reality of death affected Musa deeply. He saw that he had to make a stand to live for Jesus and seek to serve him with his life.

He started going to church, a fact that his wife quickly discovered. He explained to her that he had believed in Jesus for years but had only now realised that he had to be open about it. To his horror, his wife forbade him to come anywhere near her or the children. She now perceived him to be unclean and didn't want him to defile them.

Heartbroken, Musa prayed. Amazingly, some time later, Musa's wife came to church with him and professed faith in Christ. The couple were later baptised and began a new way of life together, putting Jesus first and standing for him.

Life has been far from easy since then. When Musa told his family in Birmingham that he was a Christian he was immediately spurned. Not only this, Musa and his family then had to face persecution from the more extreme end of the Muslim community in which they lived. Musa's wife was harassed and snubbed in the street; their car was rammed and then torched and then there was an attempt to set his house on fire while he was at home with the children.

Ahmed

Ahmed was brought up in Pakistan in a strong Muslim family. As a teenager, he read a book called Aqwal-e-zareen or Golden Sayings. One by Jesus that he read, 'Love your enemies' struck him particularly. However, it was much later, in 1983, that Ahmed was really forced to question what life was about and how a relationship with God was possible.

Ahmed's brother died of cancer while in his early 30s. It made Ahmed see that he lacked the assurance of a real relationship with the God who was in charge of life and death. That Sunday Ahmed went to church and spoke to someone about his struggles. Amazingly, he was pointed to the very same verse he had found 13 years before: 'Love your enemies'.

In time Ahmed accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. All Ahmed's confusions were wiped away and he at last had assurance that he was a child of God, destined for heaven.

However, when Ahmed told his Muslim friends in England about his conversion to Christ, they replied that unless he kept his faith secret they would kill him. They gave him six months to change his mind and come back to Islam. Nevertheless, six months passed, then a year and Ahmed was still alive. However, things became more difficult.

Ahmed's family, knowing how close he was to his older brother, started putting pressure on his brother back in Pakistan in the hope of persuading Ahmed to come back to Islam. Eventually, his brother, now very ill, and his pregnant wife were kicked out into the street. Ahmed faced the awful turmoil of being begged by his brother to give up his Christian faith. Shortly afterwards, his brother died in hospital, and then the family blamed Ahmed for his death.

A year later there was another death in the family: his mother. Again, Ahmed was blamed, and the eldest brother, a violent man already twice imprisoned, told Ahmed he considered him dead. Ahmed had brought destruction upon the family and if he came back to Pakistan he would kill him.

Remembering the verse he had always treasured: 'Love your enemies', Ahmed knew he had to put it into practice. Strengthened by God's grace, he gave the properties he owned in Pakistan as a gift to this brother.

Mahmoud

Mahmoud hails from Israel and a large, well-respected family. He came to Christ at the end of his university years in this country. He had longed to have a real experience of God, to feel close to him and accepted by him. However, despite hours spent reading the Qur'an and seeking to live a good life he still felt guilty and knew he was unworthy in God's sight.

A friend suggested he read the Bible and he did so, even starting going to church. Some time later, he humbly repented of his sin and accepted Jesus as the one who could give him the relationship with God that he had craved for so long.
The reaction of his family back home and in this country was mixed. No one was supportive but it was his mother back in Israel who had the most negative reaction. Both she and her husband had very important jobs and she told Mahmoud that what he had done might mean they would be unable to continue working. His disobedience to his parents in his rejection of Islam would bring huge dishonour to the family name.

Mahmoud has not yet told his wider family, some of whom are more extreme in their views. He knows that when he does, life will inevitably become more difficult and there may be threats of violence or death.

2. Support from other Christians

Musa

When Musa faced such persecution in his community, losing his car and nearly his home, he expected that his predominantly British church would be there for him. But Musa felt he received no support. No one visited or offered help. Instead, there was only anger that Musa didn't move away immediately when his family was in so much danger. But it was financially impossible for Musa to do that - he just had to accept that, however hard it was, it was the Lord's will for them to remain in the area for the time being

Feeling alienated, misunderstood and snubbed, Musa and his family finally left the church and began to attend somewhere else.

Ahmed

When Ahmed became a Christian his Muslim friends warned him that the English church of which he was a part would never accept him. Sadly, these words proved all too true, as at church he felt ignored and rejected. He later discovered that before his arrival the church had been taken in by a Muslim man who had come to the church, claiming to be interested in Christianity. He had proved to be a fundamentalist Muslim, intent on his own agenda. As a result, the church was now deeply suspicious of Ahmed and his apparent conversion to Christ.

Ahmed felt under enormous pressure to constantly prove to them the reality of his conversion. This pressure finally became too much and he left the church and began to meet with Christians elsewhere.

Mahmoud - a happier story

While still at university, Mahmoud received lots of help from his church. The pastor met with him regularly and provided him with reading matter that answered his questions. Since then, Mahmoud has moved to another city and is part of a church with a strong emphasis on Bible teaching. Mahmoud feels greatly encouraged and strengthened by the teaching he receives week by week.

Conclusion

These three accounts teach us that, even in the UK, to turn to Christ from Islam can bring great persecution and suffering, but this should not surprise us.

Philippians 1.29 reads: 'For it has been granted to you for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake'. We should do all we can to help our brothers and sisters who face this sort of persecution. Perhaps we should echo the prayer of the apostles in Acts 4, asking that in the face of suffering they might have a sense of God's sovereignty over all their circumstances, and have the boldness to stay faithful to him. Lastly, let's pray and act so that our churches live out the reality of Christian family, embracing and serving those who may have been rejected by the earthly families they love so much.

Elisa Beynon

© Evangelicals Now - November 2003
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