© 2006 Barnabas Fund - Muslim Convert Butchered:

Back to the... HOLY LAND Index > Archive News Index> Barnabas Fund Homepage> Donate Online>

The body of a Muslim convert to Christianity who went missing in mid-July, has been returned to his family, slaughtered and cut into four pieces by Islamic extremists.

The man left his friends and family almost two weeks ago heading into a mountainous region of the Palestinian Authority area. He took Christian materials including cassettes, videos and Bibles with him. After approximately ten days during which his friends and family received no word from him, his body was returned to them. He had been brutally killed and his body carved into four pieces as a warning to other converts. He leaves behind a wife and two small children. The names and further details of those involved are being withheld by Barnabas Fund for their own safety.

Local Christians in this part of the Holy Land have been involved in supporting converts from a Muslim background who suffer persecution from Islamic extremists in the Palestinian Authority areas. Some of them have also been the target of attacks. Last year one such Christian received a phone call telling him that a Muslim convert was in a serious condition in hospital; in response he immediately set off in his car. On the way his vehicle was deliberately driven off the road by another car. The phone call later proved to be a hoax designed to lead him into trap. In another attempt on his life this same Christian was hospitalised. Local Christians working to support converts from Islam report that Islamic militants in the Palestinian Authority area deliberately target converts. Hamas in particular reportedly receives funding from Iran specifically for this purpose.

Please join with us in prayer...

1. Pray for the wife and children of this Christian man who has been so brutally and tragically murdered. Pray for God’s protection and presence to be with them at this time.

2. Pray for the protection of Christians who help the converts.

3. Pray for a lasting and just peace in the Holy Land, that the rights of all – Christians, Jews and Muslims – will be respected and that all may live together in peace.

4. Pray that increasing numbers of liberal Muslims will make a public stand against the harsh treatment of converts and call for a reinterpretation of the shari’a on this crucial issue.

For any links to other sites and related news items ensure that you check the bottom of the article page.