Former Ugandan Sheikh Beaten, Home Demolished After Converting to Christianity

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

NAIROBI, KENYA (Worthy News) – A Muslim who said he abandoned Islam and “put his faith in Christ” after experiencing a vision in a mosque in eastern Uganda has been hospitalized after relatives beat him, demolished his home, and abducted his wife and six children, Christians said Wednesday.

Wambuzi Maka Uthman, 39, a former Islamic teacher, said the attack followed his conversion after an August 1 vision inside a mosque in Mayuge town council, Mayuge District.

“There I saw a man dressed in white, long clothing surrounded by four angels — the man called me by my name, ‘Uthman, Uthman, Uthman,’ three times,” Uthman told Christian news agency Morning Star News. “I was so frightened as I drew near to him, knelt down and worshiped Him. Thereafter He told me to go to my people and to tell them to repent and turn to the living God.”

Uthman said that on August 4 he began telling his wife, six children, and neighbors about Christ. His wife, convinced he had gone mad, alerted his brothers, who tried to take him to a psychiatric hospital.

“When we were about to leave, I told them that I was not mad and started sharing with them the dramatic vision of Issa [Jesus] appearing to me,” he recalled. “Immediately after realizing that I wasn’t mad, my elder brother hit me with kicks and blows on my mouth, nose and eyes, and I started bleeding, while others started beating me with sticks.

Uthman said he managed to escape through nearby bushland and was rushed by a Christian neighbor to a hospital in Mayuge town, where he was treated for one week. His wife took their six children to live with relatives, while his brothers demolished his home.

BROTHER ANGRY

“We cannot continue staying with this infidel who is telling us things about Jesus as the Son of God, yet for us we know him as a messenger of Allah alone,” Uthman’s brother, Said Isabirye Muhammad, was quoted as saying.

Uthman has since left the hospital and is in hiding at an undisclosed location for his safety.

Christian investigators said the attack was the latest in a string of incidents targeting Muslims who convert to Christianity in Uganda, particularly in the east where Muslims are heavily concentrated.

Uganda’s Constitution provides for religious freedom, including the right to change one’s faith. Yet Christians say local authorities often fail to protect converts from Islamic communities, where leaving Islam is seen as a betrayal and punished with violence or banishment.

Uganda ranks 35th on the 2025 Open Doors World Watch List, which identifies the 50 countries where Christians reportedly face the most severe persecution.

Advocacy group Open Doors cited violence against converts from Islam, pressure on families who turn to Christianity, destruction of churches, abductions, and beatings by relatives or local mobs as key reasons for Uganda’s high placement.

While Uganda is majority Christian — nearly 85 percent of its 48 million people identify as Christian — converts from Islam in rural areas remain particularly vulnerable, rights groups say.

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