by Raymond Ibrahim
"[One of the Muslims] shouted that no Christian in the area should be left alive." — morningstarnews.org, February 6, 2024 - Pakistan.
Her family immediately went to police, who told them not to go public, and that they would help return Irene.... In early February, however, the family finally did go public -- and hinted that the authorities were complicit in the abduction and know exactly where she is. — copticsolidarity.org, February 292, 2024 - Egypt.
Muslim terrorists launched raids on several Christian villages. They murdered 23 people—six were burned alive—wounded 10 and abducted five more, along with setting 28 homes on fire. — persecution.org, February 21, 2024 - Nigeria.
[A] Nigerian cleric asserted that, because Nigeria's First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, is Christian, she should be put to death. — naijanews.com, February 22, 2024 - Nigeria.
"[One of the Muslims] shouted that no Christian in the area should be left alive." — morningstarnews.org, February 6, 2024 - Pakistan.
"...[T]hese pernicious laws... are deeply entrenched in Islamic Sharia law, and the determination to abolish them is lacking in a radicalized nation." — Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for the British Asian Christian Association, britishasianchristians.org, February 26, 2024 - Pakistan.
"He replied to me that he was acting in the name of Allah because it was not normal to have statues and that he had come to correct that." — charentelibre.fr, February 2, 2024 - France.
The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of February 2024.
The Abduction, Rape, and Forced Conversion of Christian Girls
Egypt: On Jan. 22, Irene Ibrahim Shehata, a 21-year-old medical student at Asyut National University, disappeared between midterm exams. Her family immediately went to police, who told them not to go public, and that they would help return Irene; the family complied. In early February, however, the family finally did go public -- and hinted that the authorities were complicit in the abduction and know exactly where she is. Their fears appeared confirmed: in late February, her family learned that the religion field on Irene's ID had been electronically changed from Christian to Muslim. Weeks before that, Irene had managed to make a desperate, tearful call to her brother, before a man seized the phone and said, "Okay, you heard her voice and know she's okay, right? Now go to hell!" and slammed down the phone. According to one source familiar with the case (name withheld for fear of reprisals),
"Her brother heard her screaming, someone was yelling at her, and then the call ended. It seems that she used his phone without his permission. This was a great piece of evidence that she was kidnapped."
The family then began its own investigation, but when they contacted police with the information they had gathered, "The police officers threatened to arrest the family if they tried to rescue her and warned them that the kidnappers are armed." As of mid-February, authorities "concluded" that Irene was never abducted but had rather run off with a Muslim man and had willingly converted to Islam. As her father said in an interview, though: if Irene had intended to run off, why would she do it in between exams, while carrying medical supplies as opposed to travel gear? The family's experiences with the authorities, the unnamed source concluded, are "Another way to mislead families." He added:
"The Muslim Brotherhood Sharia Association in the Asyut Governorate, under security cover from Asyut and Sohaj cities, coordinated the kidnapping of Christian college student Irene Shehata."
The abduction and Islamization of Christian girls in Egypt and is well-documented in a 2020 report by Coptic Solidary, "Jihad of the Womb": Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt, which documents "the widespread practice of abduction and trafficking" of Coptic girls.
Pakistan: On Feb. 12, four Muslim men kidnapped a 10-year-old Christian girl. Since then, Laiba Suhail was apparently compelled to convert to Islam. The man behind the child's abduction, Shaukat Shah, "is well-known in the area for forcibly converting children to Islam under duress, coercing them to file court statements that they willfully converted and later taking them from shelter homes on the pretext of giving them religious education." According to the child's handicapped father,
"This is Shah's modus operandi. No one knows what happens to his victims after they are handed to him. We fear that he and his accomplices are involved in sex trafficking, and they sell these minor girls when they see that the families are in no position to pursue the matter further in courts."
Police, arguing that the 10-year-old "willingly" converted, have refused to help the father recover his child:
"On Feb. 15, police informed us that an application had been filed by Laiba in the court of a magistrate in which she had claimed that she had converted to Islam of her own free will 'after being impressed with Islamic teachings.' We immediately went to the court where we saw our minor daughter surrounded by several policemen. We were not allowed to talk to her despite our repeated requests. The police later presented her before the magistrate where she reportedly repeated the contents of the application. She also sought to be sent to the Dar Ul Aman [women's shelter], which the magistrate admitted...
"It is a blatant lie that my daughter has changed her faith willingly. Whatever little religious education she has is from the church's Sunday school. She has had no interaction with Muslims, because she used to stay at home all day long to take care of me and her mother."
According to the family's attorney,
"Laiba's case is yet another example of how sharia [Islamic law] is invoked to undermine the age of a minor. In her statement before the magistrate, the girl claimed that she's an adult, but her official birth document states her age is 10 years and two months."
The Muslim Slaughter of Christians
Nigeria: Between Feb. 16 and 19, Muslim terrorists launched raids on several Christian villages. They murdered 23 people — six were burned alive — wounded 10 and abducted five more, along with setting 28 homes on fire. A resident from one of the affected villages in Kajuru county said that "The attackers were on many motorcycles, shouting 'Allah Akbar [Allah is greater].'" Another resident said "We are killed because of our faith in Jesus."
On Sunday, Feb. 18, Muslim Fulani tribesmen ambushed six Christians as they were returning home from church. One man was killed, three sustained gunshot wounds, and a woman was raped.
On Feb. 28, Muslims terrorized a Christian village. According to local resident, Patience Ali,
"The attackers, who we know to be Muslim bandits terrorizing Christians in Kaduna state, attacked the Angwan Auta area of Gonin Gora and killed two Christians. They also broke into about 10 houses belonging to Christians and kidnapped dozens of members from these households."
According to a Feb. 15 report, Muslims killed about 200 Christians during raids on several villages in January, and then renamed the "conquered" villages with Muslim names.
On Feb. 14, while discussing this unaddressed genocide, Nigeria Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi said,
"The violent persecution and massacres in my diocese have increased exponentially since I was appointed as bishop in 2014 and continue to increase ... What is occurring in Benue State and elsewhere in Nigeria is an organized, systematic and brutal cleansing of Christians. Between November 2023 and January 2024, Nigeria has lost over 1,000 lives to these bandits, to these Fulani terrorists, and no arrests [have been made]."
Also in February, a Nigerian cleric asserted that, because Nigeria's First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, is Christian, she should be put to death. In a video, he could be heard saying,
"Now, Tinubu, his wife, is an infidel (Christian). As an infidel, she is a leader among the infidels. Allah's judgement says she must be killed. She's a pastor... a leader of infidels (Christians); Allah says they must be killed..."
Burkina Faso: On Sunday, Feb. 25, Muslim gunmen stormed into a Catholic church during service. They opened fire and murdered 15 Christian worshippers (12 immediately, three died later from their wounds). The report adds:
"This is just the latest in a series of atrocities blamed on terrorist groups active in the region, some of which have targeted Christian churches while others have involved the abduction of clergy."
Uganda: Two months after a former Muslim couple had put their faith in Christ, the parents of four young children were "slashed to death." On Feb. 2, according to the neighbor of Twaha, 38, and his 27-year-old wife, Nadiimu,
"I heard people talking and conversing loudly in Arabic and the Lugwere language, saying that Twaha is to reap the fruits of leaving Islam. After a few minutes, I heard loud wailing coming out of Twaha's house."
The neighbor contacted police; when they arrived, they found the married couple's corpses "with deep cuts." The husband also had "a swollen neck, possibly indicating strangulation." Several long Somali swords, knives, and an axe were left at the scene of the murder, presumably "as a warning to other Muslims considering conversion to Christianity." The slain couple leave behind four children, aged two, three, five, and seven.
Pakistan: On Feb. 5, six Muslim gunmen opened fire on a group of Christians at a marketplace. A 14-year-old Christian boy, Sunil Masih, was killed. According to the boy's uncle, who was with him at the time,
"We were talking to each other when suddenly Zaman Butt and his accomplices ... came there on motorcycles... [One of the Muslims] shouted that no Christian in the area should be left alive, after which Zaman opened fire on Sunil with his pistol, hitting him in the chest.... The other assailants also opened fire on us with their weapons, but we managed to save ourselves by taking cover of a wall."
Another Christian youth was also shot but the bullet only grazed him. The murderers fled the scene "while hurling threats at the Christians and so far have not been arrested."
A day earlier, on Feb. 4, this same Zaman Butt, at the head of a group of intoxicated Muslims,
"attempted to kidnap Sharoon Masih, also 15 years old, for sexual assault at gunpoint. When Sharoon bravely resisted, he was subjected to a brutal beating that rendered him unconscious. To intimidate the community and deter any intervention, the assailants fired shots into the air."
It was to "avenge" himself on Sharoon's family, who had dared to contact police, that Butt, the following day, launched his fatal marketplace attack on random Christians, killing Sunil. Discussing this latest murder, Asif Masih, a local church pastor, said,
"The perpetrators were known for their consistent pattern of harassing and assaulting young Christian men in the community. They are part of a growing local paedophile ring that is known to the police but being ignored. Their vile depredations target the weak Christian community because authorities ignore our pleas for help."
Juliet Chowdhry, of the British Asian Christian Association, said,
"The tragic murder of an innocent Christian teenager could have been prevented. Fearful families, following a previous shooting incident [on a Christian wedding and church], opted to accept a peace deal ... fearing that the police would not provide adequate protection if they pursued justice through the courts. It is a damning indictment of the Pakistani law enforcement and justice system that the perpetrators of last year's shooting incident have escalated their violence to the extent of cold-bloodedly killing a 15-year-old. What is even more distressing is the fact that, to date, not a single arrest has been made."
This latest murder in the Punjab is the second in three months. On Nov. 9, 2023, a 20-year-old Christian medical technician student, Farhan Ul Qamar, was shot to death by a Muslim who reportdly hates Christians.
Separately, on Feb. 23, Asif Masih, a 38-year-old Christian man, was discovered in a water pond with his throat slit. The family eventually learned that Asif's Muslim employer had killed him and dumped his body in the water a month earlier, when the slain man's family first started frantically searching for him, with virtually no help from police. According to Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for the British Asian Christian Association,
"The murder and disposal of Mr. Masih's body in such a cold and calculated manner by an employer or anyone with a vendetta against non-Muslims is sadly not a new occurrence. Wealthy Muslims have long exploited the horrific Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, a law that has fostered one of the most despicable mindsets among sections of Pakistan's populace. Pakistani human rights activists have tirelessly campaigned for the removal of these pernicious laws, but they are deeply entrenched in Islamic Sharia law, and the determination to abolish them is lacking in a radicalized nation."
Iran: On Feb. 20, a Muslim convert to Christianity, who was exiled and imprisoned, was "found" dead at the age of 37. Authorities claimed natural causes, namely, a heart attack. During the Christian man's funeral, eulogist Mansour Borji, said:
"Ebrahim's untimely death is devastating. We have followed his case since he was arrested by the Iranian regime for going to a house-church and for being in possession of Bibles. The Islamic Republic of Iran had sentenced Ebrahim for 'acting against national security', but nothing could have been further from the truth. The freedom for everyone to have access to and possess a Bible was central to Ebrahim's life and ministry. It was the reason he was initially arrested and served almost seven years in prison for."
Ebrahim's experiences in Iran are not uncommon. The headline of a separate report from Feb. 19 says, "At Least 166 Christians Arrested in Iran Last Year for Their Faith."
Muslim Attacks on Freedom: Apostates, Blasphemers, and Preachers
Pakistan: A Muslim judge sentenced a Christian man to life in prison for allegedly committing "blasphemy" against Muhammad on social media. According to a Feb. 9 report,
"Fanson Shahid, 56, had been beaten in his home in Lahore when arrested in March 2022 and tortured into confessing after he was accused of posting a derogatory remark about the prophet of Islam in a comment on a post that another Christian had shared, his wife said. The phone on which the Facebook comment was made had been stolen from him in 2019, she said."
The report adds that it is only on a technicality that the accused "lucked out" and was not handed a death sentence:
"Fanson Shahid was convicted under Section 295-C of Pakistan's blasphemy statutes, which calls for a mandatory death sentence for derogatory comments about Muhammad, but [Justice] Chadhar cited as a 'mitigating circumstance' that the comment was posted 'only once.'"
Uganda: Muslims beat and torched the home of Philemon Shuha, a 34-year-old Christian father of three, due to his evangelical work. According to his colleague, Titus, Muslims approached them on Jan. 30 and said,
"Why did you give out Christian literature to our people? Have you come to kill Islam by converting our people? Today you can't go unpunished."
Titus fled, but they managed to grab Philemon. After mobilizing a group of Christians for assistance, Titus returned:
"[W]e arrived at the scene of the incident, and the attackers fled in different directions. We found Shuha almost lifeless and unconscious and lying in a pool of blood. He had a deep cut on the right side of the head near the ear and blood coming from his right hand. He could not open his eyes."
They rushed him to a hospital. Later that night, sometime after 10:30 p.m., Titus received a phone call from Shuha's wife saying that an arson attack on her home was in progress:
"The church members who were with me in the hospital urgently rushed to the home of Shuha using the church van, but upon arrival the house was on fire. We tried to put out the fire, but unfortunately a big portion of the house had been destroyed."
South Sudan: A Muslim man beat and abandoned his wife, a mother of seven children, for converting to Christianity during their stay at a displaced persons refugee camp bordering Sudan. "My husband told me, 'Why did you believe in Issa [Jesus]? You are an infidel," before thrashing her, Hawa Abdalla, 44, said. According to the Feb. 14 report, 2,000 of the 9,000 refugees she lives with have also been persecuted for their Christian faith:
"The Christians who are fleeing the war in Sudan are facing persecution from Muslim refugees in both Darfur and the Wedwiel camp in South Sudan... [T]he 2,000 refugees and internally displaced people in Sudan who have converted to Christianity from Islam all face the threat of persecution."
Muslim Attacks on Churches and Crosses
Mozambique: On Feb. 9 — a Friday, when Muslims assemble at mosques and get riled against "infidels" — Islamic State militants torched several churches and Christian homes in Cabo Delgado Province. The report adds that, "although insurgents do not usually distinguish between Muslims and Christians, they have carried out attacks against specifically Christian communities, including cases where they separated people based on their religion, and executed Christians."
Another report states that on Feb. 12, Islamic State militants torched a Catholic mission in the town of Mazeze. According to its priest, who managed to escape, the Muslim terrorists,
"attacked and destroyed the mission buildings, particularly the presbytery, the church and the parish office, some of which were recently built, but without causing human casualties. Everything was machine-gunned, everything was razed, not even a single item of clothing remained."
Malawi: On Feb. 9 — the same Friday — Muslims in Machinga went on a "rampage ... burning to ashes a church and a house of a church minister. The Muslims claim Islam is under threat after Living Waters Church converted a number of Muslims to Christianity and joined the church." The report adds that "some church members were severely beaten up and undressed..."
France: On Feb. 2 — another Friday — a Muslim man desecrated the St. John the Baptist Church in La Couronne. He removed a large cross from the altar and repeatedly swung it at a large statue of St. John. It was completely destroyed and the cross badly damaged. Police arrested the man at the scene. The parish priest, Fr. Sylvain, arrived and questioned the man as to his actions:
"I told him what he did really hurt. He replied to me that he was acting in the name of Allah because it was not normal to have statues and that he had come to correct that."
The priest added:
"This act has spread a lot of violence, it is extremely painful. We feel sadness and revolt, but also a very strong feeling of insecurity and we hope that justice will do its job to prevent the irreparable from being committed."
The man was soon thereafter released — although he may need to undergo psychiatric treatment.
On Feb. 14, another Muslim man who had also been arrested for threatening a church and "glorifying terrorism," fled the hospital in which he was being treated but was rearrested on a train platform in Paris. According to witnesses, he was heard crying "Dirty Christians, I'm going to kill you all! The first one who comes, I'll kill him; the first who speaks, I'll kill him!"
Separately, in Dordogne, four large public crucifixes (cavalries) spread out in separate towns were defaced with references to Islam. One cross, built in the 1800s in a village of 146 people, had the word "Islam" and a crescent moon sprawled on it. Another had "Allah." Yet another was spray-painted with, "Today is the land of infidels, tomorrow the land of Islam." Responding to this latest act of anti-Christianism and Islamic supremacism, Quentin Marty, a Catholic farmer on whose land one of these crosses was desecrated, said,
"It's despicable, sickening, childish... And it's a reflection of today's society. Everyone makes fun of everything. I am ignoring the sacrilege and I am not going to engage in hateful speech, but those who wrote this are imbeciles who do not respect the religion of our ancestors."
Thierry Niquot, a priest and administrator of an affected parish, said "There is no need to add fuel to the fire," and that accusing Muslims "must be avoided at all costs."
Several other churches and statues were attacked and desecrated in France throughout February (such as here and here).
Germany: Soon after 5,000 "leftist" Germans demonstrated against the AfD, an anti-immigration political party, in the city of Hamm, the Church of Hamm was spray-painted with the Arabic words "Allahu akbar." ("Allah is greatest"). As the Feb. 21 report points out, such is the "gratitude" the Germans received for marching against "anti-Islam" and "racism."
There were many other attacks, including arson, and desecration of churches in Germany throughout February (for instance: here, here, here, here, and here).
Italy: On Feb. 26, the Church of the Madonna in Vasto was broken into, vandalized, and plundered. According to a report,
"The perpetrators furthermore left human excrement on the floor of the church. The parish priest expressed his shock and disgust about this gesture of degradation and disrespect.
"It is not the first time that the churches of Vasto have been the target of vandals and petty thieves."
It is also not the first time a European church in an area with a large Muslim presence has been smeared with feces.
Lebanon: Three people, two of whom are Syrian "refugees," were arrested for vandalizing and plundering ten churches in Mount Lebanon and Beirut. After adding that "These arrests come after several crimes were reported at the start of the year," the report cites that in just nine days, between Jan. 15 and 24, six churches were attacked.
Artsakh: Despite claiming that it will not desecrate ancient Christian heritage sites in Artsakh, Azerbaijan continue to deface churches. According to a Feb. 6 report,
"Vankasar Church, a world-renowned historical and cultural monument, stands proudly in the ancient cradle of Artsakh, a region marked by deep history and rich heritage....
"With deep concern, we learned about the recent malicious actions of Azerbaijani vandals who attacked the Vankasar church. Shocking footage has surfaced revealing that the sacred cross, a symbol of faith and spirituality, has been removed, leaving a heartbreaking void in the integrity of this revered relic....
"This act of vandalism represents not just an attack on stones and mortars, but a deliberate attack on the soul and heritage of a nation.
"It is imperative that the international community mobilizes to condemn these barbaric acts and urge Azerbaijan to respect international conventions protecting cultural and religious sites."
Turkey: After transforming the Hagia Sophia — originally one of Eastern Christianity's oldest and grandest cathedrals — into a mosque, authorities have targeted yet another iconic Christian monument, the Chora Church, for transformation into a mosque. According to a Feb. 6 report,
"The conversion of Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a powerful symbol for the world's Orthodox Christians, sparked an international outcry and caused an additional strain in tense ties between Athens and Ankara. Chora Church, or Church of the Holy Savior, is another emblematic monument listed among the masterpieces of UNESCO's World Heritage List.... Chora Church was the first to be looted when the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and was converted into a mosque under Sultan Bayezid II in the early 16th century, when it was renamed Kariye Camii and a minaret was added to the structure. The building was designated a museum by the Turkish government in 1945."
Chora Church is set to open as Kariya Mosque for Muslim worshippers by May 2024.
Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West, Sword and Scimitar, Crucified Again, and The Al Qaeda Reader, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location. It includes incidents that take place during, or are reported on, any given month.
Raymond Ibrahim
Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20526/persecution-of-christians-february/
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