On Christmas Day this year, Christians around the world will celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, not all of them will be able to worship and enjoy the event.
In recent weeks many Christians in Muslim countries have faced persecution and significant public and private discrimination, and have had to cancel their Christmas celebrations as they have been advised not to even decorate their homes.
Iraq
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that there has been what it calls an “exodus” of Iraqi Christians from Baghdad and Mosul since anti-Christian violence started mounting in the country. The report says that at least 1,000 families have fled the cities since 1 September for the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. A further 133 Christian families have registered with the Commission in Syria, as had 109 individuals in Jordan.
Iraqi Christian leaders have decided to cancel most evening worship services and forgo other festivities for the Christmas period. Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako in Kirkuk said church leaders across the country made an official decision to abstain from organising celebrations.
“This decision was taken by all the bishops in Iraq, not only in Kirkuk, two weeks ago, because after the attack on the (Sayidat al Najat) church in Baghdad many families left the capital, and also (in) Mosul, Christians have been martyred. So, we made a statement that we cancelled all the celebrations, except the masses, in the church and that prayer should be for peace and stability in Iraq,” he said.
The UN Commission described the movement as a slow but steady exodus, but Christian leaders disputed this. “I can tell you that the numbers the UN are citing are too low,” said Abdullah al-Naftali, head of Iraq's Christian Endowment Group.
“We have recorded a 213% increase in normal departures since the church massacre. It is not a slow, or steady exodus – it is a rapid one,” he explained.
Christian leaders say there have been few more defining years in their 2,000-year history in central Arabia.
Egypt
An Egyptian priest has also said that radical Muslims are trying to rid the Middle East entirely of Christians, who once comprised the largest religious group in the region. He expressed his frustration that the government of Egypt and other governments throughout the region “do not take serious action to relieve or solve these problems.”
“They want the Christians to evacuate from the Middle East and leave. And this is what is happening every day," he said.
The Christian minority in Egypt is coming under severe pressure.
Ashraf Thabet, a 45-year old Egyptian Christian, who left Islam to become a Christian and consequently lost his wife, children and business, is waiting to see if the government will now take away his freedom for “defaming” Islam. During his study on faiths, he shared his doubts about Islam and told others what he was learning about Jesus Christ.
Writing for the CNN News, Akbar Ahmed, Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University in Washington, and John Bryson Chane, Bishop of Washington in the Episcopal Church, explained:
“In Egypt, where Christians constitute 10% of the population, Christian girls are being kidnapped by shadowy Muslim groups and lured into Muslim marriages, with the state looking the other way. Christians in Egypt have no problem converting to Islam, but if Muslims want to convert to Christianity, they are refused permission to register as Christians on their ID cards, where religion must be stated. Riots are common, and Egyptian Christians live in fear for their lives.”
More than 100 Egyptian-Canadians, who fled to Canada and have been vocal about their opposition to Islam, are now being targeted on the Islamic Shumukh-al-Islam website. The website displays their pictures, addresses and cell phones saying “We are going to return back to Islam and all of the Mujahedeen (holy warriors) will cut off their heads”. Statements on the website call the Coptic Christians living abroad “dogs in Diaspora”, a derogatory reference in Arabic.
Iran
Several weeks before Christmas, Iranian authorities arrested a group of local Christians who had gathered together for peaceful worship and Bible study in a home meeting. Security officers confiscated Bibles, Christian literature and personal property belonging to the participants. According to the Iranian Christian News Agency, some of the Christians were sent to prison and others given bail with strict conditions.
Indonesia
The highest Islamic authority in Indonesia has issued a statement saying that Christmas decorations at shopping malls in the country could incite anger among Muslims. Ma’ruf Amin, of Indonesia's Ulema Council, warned:
“Christmas describes a certain religion, and if the religion advertises it too overtly – even though they have only a small number of followers – it will cause jealousy and anger from other groups.”
Indonesian retailers say Christmas trees, paper mache reindeers and carols serve no religious purpose and displayed to attract more shoppers during the holiday seasons. But Mr Amin said Christmas festivities could hurt existing tolerance.
“You can attract buyers without using religious symbols. Even the majority (Muslims) celebrate their big days modestly. How come a few followers who have plenty of money celebrate it the other way?”
Pakistan
A Pakistani Christian evangelist and recently ordained pastor was set on fire by hard-line Muslims in Pakistan's Punjab province. Pastor Wilson Augustine was seriously harmed when he went door-to-door to several homes in his neighbourhood, located on the outskirts of the city of Saraghoda, to discuss the Gospel with his neighbours.
“After setting me on fire, they started thrashing me again,” he said. “Because they were beating me with clubs the fire was extinguished, and they dragged me to some nearby shrubs. As they were dragging me I blanked out, and when I reopened my eyes, I was in the DHQ [District Headquarters Hospital] in Sargodha.”
Christians in the area said they found him unconscious with burns on his head, hands and arms near a bus stop on the outskirts of his village. Aamir Masih, a Christian elder at the village, said the local Muslims regarded verses from the Bible describing the resurrection of Christ as derogatory to Mohammed, the founder of Islam.
“This angered the Muslim men, and they ordered Augustine to leave the village at once and stop preaching the Gospel in the village immediately or face consequences,” he said.
Sources
Guardian
CNN News
CBN News
Daily Telegraph
Channel 4 (Video)
Reuters
Boston Globe
The National
Guardian
Washington Times
Related sources
Christian Concern: Attacks against Christians in Muslim Countries.
Christian Concern: Christian community in Iraq consider mass exodus.
Christian Concern: Islamist organisation kills 58 Christians in Iraq.
Christian Concern: Terror threat from Islamists radicalised in prisons.
Christian Concern: Unprecedented wave of assaults on churches in Malaysia over the word "Allah".