WASHINGTON — One-hundred percent of Christians in 21 countries around the world experience persecution for their faith in Christ as over 215 million Christians faced “high levels” of persecution in the last year, a leading human rights watchdog group reports. Continue reading “100% of Christians Face Persecution in These 21 Countries | re-blog CP World by Samuel Smith”
Tag: Somalia
Please Pray for Christians in Somalia – World Watch List #5
Peanut Gallery: Christian Persecution – Somalia #5 on World Watch List
It is too dangerous for believers to meet openly in this strictly Islamic state. Terrorist groups such as al-Shabaab target converts to Christianity and eliminate them.
Aid workers, Christian or otherwise, require tight security due to the risk of abduction.
The election of a new parliament and president in 2012 created a framework for a more legitimate government. But for Christians the future still looks bleak, as the provisional constitution does not allow for religious freedom. (Population: 9.8 million – a few hundred Christians)
Please Pray:
- Al-Shabaab, which is backed by al-Qaeda, remains a serious threat. Pray that its influence will diminish
- That Christian radio programmes will bring hope to isolated believers and those who are seeking God
- Some of those who have returned to Somalia following the political changes have been exposed to Christianity. Pray this will bring more tolerance towards Christians.
Prayer: Heavenly Father – May your Kingdom come… and your will be done… in Somalia, as it is in heaven. Feed your people and deliver them from evil. Lord Jesus – Come in power to Somalia… break their bondage to sin and death… set them free – may your Word go forth with power accomplishing your Kingdom purposes. Holy Spirit – Move among your people… strengthening, encouraging, protecting them. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Persecution dynamics
Islamic leaders maintain that Somalia remains a strictly Islamic state with no room for Christians. Children attend mandatory Madrasa Islamic classes, people are buried with Islamic burial rights whatever their religion might be, and it is extremely difficult to openly declare faith. It is too dangerous to meet openly and families of converts are fearful that they might be suspected of conversion and risk execution. Continue reading “Please Pray for Christians in Somalia – World Watch List #5”
Muslim Persecution of Christians: December, 2012 – Re-Blog
Peanut Gallery: Raymond Ibrahim’s stated purpose in cataloging these monthly incidents of “Muslim persecution of Christians” is twofold:
1) To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
2) To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.
Whether or not it is “systematic and interrelated,” you can decide for yourself. But it certainly is pervasive. And for the Christians on the receiving end, it can be terrifying… and sometimes horrific.
Prayer: As you read through the list, please pray for those people and places that God places on your heart.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 6.12 ESV
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Muslim Persecution of Christians: December, 2012
“Siad Deserved to Die Because He Was Not Committed to the Islamic Religion.”
by Raymond Ibrahim – February 6, 2013 at 4:00 am
Sweden: “Quite frankly we are at a loss why the Migration services [in Sweden] are so determined to deport [him]. People with weaker cases get permission to stay in Sweden, but not him.”
— Attorney for Reza Jabbari, a convert to Christianity seeking asylum in Sweden. If the Swedes return him to Iran, he is likely to face imprisonment or be sentenced to death for apostasy.
As usual, the month of Christmas saw an uptick in Christian persecution under Islam, in a variety of forms, from insults to murders. In Iran, Pastor Youssef Nadarkhani—after being imprisoned and tormented for years for converting to Christianity, then recently released thanks to international pressure—was rearrested again, on Christmas Day, to serve the remainder of his 45 days, which the court had earlier decreed could be served in the form of probation. In Syria, near Christmas, Islamic rebels beheaded Andrei Arbashe, a 38-year-old Christian man, and fed his body to dogs. In Nigeria, Christmas mass celebrations in several churches, were, once again, turned into scenes of carnage; and in Pakistan, Christians spent yet another “Dark Christmas.”
There were also the usual fatwas [Islamic legal decrees], forbidding Muslims to acknowledge Christmas: in “moderate” Indonesia, the nation’s top Muslim clerical body said that Muslims should not offer Christians greetings such as “Merry Christmas,” and that Muslims are forbidden from attending any Christmas celebrations. In Egypt, the Committee for Rights and Reform issued a similar fatwa, forbidding Muslims to congratulate Christians during Christmas. Even in the West, in Australia, the Lakemba Mosque issued a fatwa warning Muslims that it is a “sin” to wish people a Merry Christmas, because Christmas Day is among the “falsehoods that a Muslim should avoid … and therefore, a Muslim is neither allowed to celebrate the Christmas Day nor is he allowed to congratulate them [Christians].” Continue reading “Muslim Persecution of Christians: December, 2012 – Re-Blog”
Muslim Persecution of Christians: November, 2012 (Re-Blog)
Peanut Gallery: Persecution of Christians is wide-spread around the world… the most egregious country being North Korea, as documented by the Open Doors World Watch List. I am highlighting one country each Monday here on the Peanut Gallery.
Muslim Persecution of Christians is more focused – documenting accounts of Christian persecution in the Muslim world on a monthly basis. I have cross referenced the countries cited in the Open Doors World Watch List. The same bad actors keep showing up wherever Christians are being persecuted. Each of the accounts are documented in the original post… they are too numerous to include here.
I encourage you to read through these accounts – here or at the original post. It is sobering, to say the least. Please pray for those whom God places on your heart.
Muslim Persecution of Christians – About This Series.
Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching pandemic proportions, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month.
It serves two purposes:
- To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
- To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.
Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws that criminalize and punish with death those who “offend” Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like dhimmis, or second-class, “tolerated” citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination.
Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to India in the East, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.
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Muslim Persecution of Christians: November, 2012
by findalis, maggiesnotebook.com
Reports of Christian persecution by Muslims around the world during the month of November include (but are not limited to) the following accounts. They are listed by form of persecution, and in country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:
Church Attacks
Egypt: Following Friday afternoon prayers in northern Cairo, Salafi Muslims went to the construction site of a Coptic Orthodox Church service center, hanging a sign that read, “Masjed El Rahman,” or “Mosque of the Merciful.” They claimed that the church did not have the necessary permits to exist, even though local officials confirmed the church did have them. The Salafis occupied the construction center for some 24 hours. One of them reportedly said: “We have a small mosque at the end of the street and the presence of a church here will offend us.” Continue reading “Muslim Persecution of Christians: November, 2012 (Re-Blog)”
The Peanut Gallery 