Somalia: Christian Man Stabbed by Muslim Relatives, “The Dangers of Being a Christian in Somalia Are Extreme”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A newly Christian man in Somalia was hospitalized this month after being knifed by Muslim relatives, enraged that he left Islam, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. With an extreme, oppressive Islamic government and a society that largely views conversion from Islam as treasonous,

A resident of Kismayo in Somalia’s Lower Juba region, 40-year-old Mohammad Abdul, gave his life to Christ on Mar. 20 this year, MSN reports. When certain relatives came to hear of it, they began to threaten him. Abdul’s pastor, whose name is withheld for security reasons, told MSN that one of the messages read: “We are now aware that every evening you are praying in the name of Issa [Jesus] as well as reading a corrupted book and not reading the Quran, the holy book sent to Muhammad from Allah. If you do not stop this bad way of conducting religious activities, then you risk your life.”

Then, on the evening of May 5, Abdul’s Muslim relatives came to his house. “They were shouting and yelling that they were looking for my head,” Abdul was later able to tell MSN. “The attackers forcibly entered the house and started questioning me for forsaking Islam and joining a bad religion. My wife and children looked shaken.”

One of the relatives then stabbed him, Abdul said. The children began to scream, distracting the relatives, and Abdul was able to escape, bleeding to another relative’s home. He has been in hiding ever since. The attackers have taken his wife and children away with them.

“The dangers of being a Christian in Somalia are extreme,” the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization explains in a website report. “Somali society is overwhelmingly conservative, and leaving Islam is regarded in many places as a betrayal of the Somali culture and clan. Christian converts face intense pressure from their family and local community, which can lead to harassment, intimidation, and even death. Even being suspected of converting from Islam to Christianity can lead to life-threatening danger.”

Somalia ranks two on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

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