A young mother called “Umida” was killed by her husband in Uzbekistan on 9 February 2019 because she decided to leave Islam and follow Christ. She was attempting to escape his threats and fly to Turkey to seek refuge with Christian friends when he caught up with her at Tashkent Airport, forced her into a car and slit her throat.

Her two-year-old son must now grow up motherless. The little boy will also be effectively fatherless for many years as Umida’s husband has been arrested and is likely to serve a long time in jail.

What did Umida do to anger her husband? She became interested in Christianity, started going to church, and asked a friend for a Bible in the Uzbek language. This was enough to make him lock her in the house and remove their son. Just before her martyrdom, Umida had made the decision to leave Islam and follow Christ. 

Converts face loss of family, livelihoods, and even death
In many countries, conversion to Christianity can mean a loss of family, friends, and livelihood. In a few Islamic countries, there is even a death sentence for apostasy from Islam, as set out in sharia (Islamic law). Where there are no laws specifically against conversion, other laws may be used as a pretext to arrest and imprison the new believer. But more often, violence will come from other sources such as the local community or radical organisations. Christians who have converted from Islam often face persecution from their own relatives, as Umida did, because of the shame brought on the family by that person’s decision to follow Christ.

Even if there is no violence, converts are often thrown out of their homes, fired from their jobs, and any financial support the family gives them (such as fees for school or college) is stopped. Some may have their spouse and children taken from them.  

A little boy runs crying after his father, who is being dragged to his death
Father-of-five Anant Ram Gand was beheaded in India’s Odisha state on 11 February 2019, just two days after Umida died in Uzbekistan. He had left his old religion to follow Christ about nine months earlier but it was not until December – when he was baptised – that local extremists became really enraged. They reportedly armed and persuaded Maoist Naxalites to carry out the murder.

When three men came to Anant’s home, his wife and daughters (aged 13, 11, 3, and 2) were out, but Purno, his six-year-old son, was at home. The little boy was woken by the shouts and knocking on the door. As the men tied his father’s hands and dragged him away, Purno ran after them, crying. They told the child not to follow, and forced his father into a car, driving off at speed.

Later, Anant’s body and severed head were found lying on the middle of a road in broad daylight; his skull had been smashed by a stone before the neck was cut through. 

A mother, unaware, carries home death threats to her children
Ugandan Muslim, Umar Mulinde, was training to become a sheikh when he “found truth and love in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God”. His former zeal for Islam was now directed towards leading other Muslims to Christ. On Christmas Eve 2011, as he left church, radical Muslims poured acid over his face. He was horrifically burned and lost one eye, but, after extensive medical treatment, he bravely resumed his ministry. Of course, the Muslim extremists still sought to kill him and his family.

Umar’s wife became very nervous, especially when she went to the market to do her shopping. For she began to find, when she got home and unpacked her basket, that a note had been dropped into it by someone in the jostling market crowd. The notes were threatening to kill her and the couple’s children.

You can help courageous new believers and their children
Welcome converts into their new Christian family and show your love in a practical way by donating to our Convert Fund to provide converts with safe places to live in Christian communities that will love and embrace them. Barnabas Fund also pays school and college fees to support young people to continue their studies and offers start-up grants for small businesses so that converts can support themselves. We will help victims of violent persecution, like Umar Mulinde, with medical treatment costs for their injuries. We also fund specialised discipleship and Bible courses so that converts can grow in their new faith, and we support full-time workers, converts themselves, who are ministering to other converts.

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Date published: 25/04/2019
Written by: Barnabas Fund
Feature image: Uzbek Bible
Article source:  JOY! Magazine