Tensions Rise As Controversial Islamic Clerc Returns to Indonesia
Christians and moderate Muslims in Indonesia fear new tensions after a hardline Islamic cleric returned from exile and held a massive wedding despite the coronavirus pandemic.
blasphemy
Pakistan Christian Woman, Children Flee After Husband’s Death Sentence For Blasphemy
A Pakistani Christian woman and her four children have fled after her husband was sentenced to death for blasphemy against Islam, well-informed Christians told Worthy News.
Somaliland Christians Fear More Executions After Detention Couple For Evangelism (Worthy News In-depth)
Christians in the self-declared nation of Somaliland fear more executions and other persecution after a married couple was detained for evangelism, Worthy News learned.
Pakistan Court Acquits Christian Facing Execution For Blasphemy
A high court in Pakistan has acquitted a Christian father who spent years on death row for blasphemy against Islam, his defense team confirmed to Worthy News.
Churches Urged To Join Global Prayers For Persecuted Christians
A Christian aid group urged churches Wednesday to join the November 3 ‘International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church’ amid “genocide” and other attacks faced by believers.
Appeal Hearing Of Pakistani Couple Sentenced To Death For Blasphemy
A Pakistani Christian couple was to face a court Thursday after spending six years in prison waiting for an appeal against their death sentence for “blasphemy”, trial observers said.
Pakistan Sentences Christian To Death For Blasphemy
Christians have appealed for prayers after a Pakistani court sentenced a Christian man to death by hanging for sending “blasphemous” text messages.
Brother-in-Law of Christian Asia Bibi Killed in Pakistan
The brother-in-law of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who faced the death penalty for “blasphemy” against Islam, has been killed, local Christians confirmed Wednesday.
Government, police, radical Hindus in cahoots against Christians in India
Police, state governments, and radical Hindu nationalist groups are joining together against Christians in India, marshaling the accusation that Christians are forcing people to convert to faith in Jesus.
Ex-Terrorist Leads Indonesia’s Christian Convert Movement
The married-father-of-three has come a long way since he nearly blew up a Protestant church in Jakarta. Author Ahmad Quraisy, which isn’t his family name, was a commander of the feared Islamic State of Indonesia (NII), an Indonesian militant group. But the former Islamic terrorist now leads an underground movement in Indonesia converting Muslims to Christianity or, in his words, ‘personal faith in Christ.’
Indian pastor tied to tree and beaten by radicals, charged with forced conversions
A pastor in India is in hiding after receiving charges for “illegal conversion” following a beating by more than 150 Hindu radicals.
Young Christian man in Pakistan killed by Muslim for ‘polluting’ water
A young Christian farm worker was killed in Pakistan by a Muslim landowner, who tortured the young man with farm equipment for rinsing himself after his day’s work in a well and ‘polluting’ it.
Finally Free: Asia Bibi releases new book
Asia Bibi has released a new book detailing her nearly ten-year-long blasphemy trial, and is now hoping to gain political asylum in France after her stay in Canada.
New Pakistani social media law could make already infamous ‘blasphemy laws’ more powerful
Pakistan introduced a new law on Jan. 28 requiring social media outlets to remove ‘unwanted or slanderous’ content within 24 hours, and Christians fear it could extend the reach of blasphemy laws that already carry a heavy penalty.
Kidnapped Christian girl in Pakistan returned to family, which is still receiving threats from captors
A 14-year-old Christian girl kidnapped from her school in Pakistan in January as been restored to her family, but not before receiving severe beatings and being raped by her captors, who are still threatening her family.
Underage Christian girls can be married off to Muslim men, Pakistani court rules
A High Court in Pakistan has judged that Muslim men may marry underage Christian girls as long as they have had their first menstrual cycle, contravening an earlier law that forbade marriage for any girl under the age of 18 in the face of widespread abductions.
Pakistani Christian refugees punished in Thailand, separated at Christmas
Twenty-eight Pakistani Christian asylum-seekers were detained in Thailand on December 19, and are facing longer-term detention and separation one from another due to ongoing repairs at the main detention facility in Bangkok.
Raskin, international observers call for end to blasphemy legislation across globe
On Thursday on Capitol Hill, a lawmaker and international observers called for an end to blasphemy laws and other measures that direct religious thought.
Asia Bibi gives first newspaper interview, says she is only one among many victims of blasphemy law
Asia Bibi, the Christian mother held on death row for 8 years in Pakistan under blasphemy charges, recently gave her first-ever newspaper interview with the Sunday Telegraph.
Christian mother Asia Bibi demands justice for blasphemy law victims: ‘The world should listen’
Christian mother Asia Bibi condemned Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws and issued an urgent call for reform in her first interview since being released from prison after spending eight years on death row on a false blasphemy charge.