Muslims who convert to Christianity can find themselves facing harassment and even violence, not only in their home countries, but even once they relocate to Western nations.
The once-Christian West is becoming almost as anti-Christian as Muslim nations, while simultaneously becoming irrationally admiring of Islam. Perhaps that is because the West (especially Europe) has imported so many Muslims. To be an “Islamophobe” now is as awful a label to wokies as it would have been for someone in 1940s London or New York to be accused of being a “Nazi.” And so Muslims who convert to Christianity and hope to find a safe haven in Europe can find themselves instead being persecuted with almost no interest from authorities in their plight.
Islamic sacred texts endorse the killing of non-Muslims and the killing of “apostates,” or those who convert away from Islam. So Muslims who harass and assault and even kill converts to Christianity believe they are serving their demonic “god” Allah by doing so. It is no coincidence that 91% of honor killings worldwide are committed by Muslims, according to JihadWatch.
And, unfortunately, as increasing numbers of Muslim migrants move to Europe and Muslims rise to political power there, Christian converts have to worry more about their safety.
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International Christian Concern’s (ICC) Persecution.org reported on Sept. 12:
Even after relocating to such countries as Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, Muslim converts to Christianity can find themselves harassed, threatened, or physically attacked by adherents of their former religion…
On Aug. 22 of this year, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) reported a rise in anti-Christian hate crimes, ranging from vandalism and desecration to arson to physical assaults and, in a few cases, murder. The OIDAC emphasized that converts from Islam are especially at risk.
Sid Cordle, who heads the UK Christian Peoples Alliance, has been addressing the problem of Muslims targeting Christian converts since 2005. He said “subtle persecution of Muslim-background believers has certainly become more open.”
In London, for instance, Cordle said police are “happy to cooperate with an ‘anti-Islamophobia’ strategy led by [Mayor] Sadiq Khan.” Indeed, “The more the Muslim imprint, the bolder they are,” Cordle explained, per ICC. “This is why they’ve targeted mayor positions” as they did in London. The goal is to implement Sharia across Europe, and the UK is certainly at risk of that, as Cordle soberly noted.
One of the more high-profile incidents of open persecution occurred in November 2015, when Muslim-born Christian convert Nissar Hussain, a native of Pakistan living in the U.K., was attacked by two Muslim men, one of whom was armed with a pickaxe handle. The attack was caught on the victim’s home security video.
Another high-profile incident involved Hatun Tash [pictured above], a Christian convert and refugee from Turkey. She became an outspoken critic of Islam after arriving in the U.K. and was stabbed in broad daylight in July 2021 in London.
“Refugee” camps in Europe are often the worst places for Christian converts from Islam, ICC explained, with German camps being the scene for hundreds of assaults on Christians over the years. Sometimes the camps’ Muslim security are the perpetrators. Yet governments and media in Europe remain disinterested in addressing the problem, more concerned with avoiding the appearance of “Islamophobia” than with protecting Christians, per ICC.
It is tragic that in Europe, once the stronghold of Christendom, liturgical and spiritual activities including baptisms and Bible studies reportedly “often take place in secret because of the great danger to converts if their conversion is discovered by the family and local community,” according to Anja Hoffmann.
Hoffmann, executive director of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe, highlighted the experience of European NGOs that deal with Muslim converts to Christianity. They “point to frequent experiences” of intimidation and even of physical assault, ICC stated, and most incidents never are officially reported. “Most converts who experience violence and persecution remain silent for fear of making their situation even more dangerous,” Hoffmann said.
While this same problem is not yet as major in North America (which is bringing in slews of Muslim migrant men) as it is in Europe, Muslims who leave Islam can still face familial and community pressure, according to ICC. The group mentioned Abir, who left Islam after moving to Canada from Bangladesh a couple of decades ago. Abir is not Christian, but he praises Jesus and wears a cross, and he says his family in Bangladesh “hates” him “to the bone.”
In fact, Abir’s mother reportedly told her son to “come back home so we can beat you hard.” Abir said his cross strikes his fellow Muslims in Canada negatively, but he hasn’t been attacked. Muslims in Europe, he said to ICC, have “more of a mob mentality” that is “still forming” in North America.
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